KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz has pledged that no one will be spared under the Anti Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and that includes 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the Ministry of Finance-owned strategic investment company.

“We cannot condone,” she said in the wake of suspicions raised by Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli that it’s hands are tied in the 1MDB matter. “If there’s any contravention of the Act by anyone, irrespective of whether they are individuals or organisations, we will investigate.”

She was also commenting on Petaling Jaya Utara MP, Tony Pua, urging Bank Negara to probe 1MDB and Penangite Jho Low under AMLA on the purchase of the Utama Banking Group (UBG Bank) in 2010.

She was speaking after releasing the BNM Annual Report and Financial Stability and Payment Systems Report 2014.

Any investigation, added Zeti, will depend on the appropriate legislation applicable and which agency is responsible. “BNM is only one of many different enforcement agencies.”

Deputy BNM Governor, Nor Shamsiah Moh Yunus, also pointed out that AMLA only empowers the central bank to investigate money laundering if the offence comes only within its jurisdiction.

BNM can act under Amla or the Financial Services Act (FSA) for example, she added, “The common offences under FSA are illegal deposit taking, and illegal remittance.”

The police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC), among other agencies, are empowered to act on money laundering together with predicate offences like criminal breach of trust (CBT) and corruption.

Investigation reporting by The Edge and The Sarawak Report, the UK-based whistleblower site run by Sarawak-born Editor Clare Rewcastle Brown, a sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has revealed a complicated trail where “hundreds of millions of ringgit from 1MDB went round the world before returning to Malaysia disguised as a much flaunted ‘foreign direct investment’ from the Middle East.”

Briefly, Javace Sdn. Bhd. acquired UBG Sdn. Bhd. for USD1.4 billion– USD700 million was financed by AmBank – and USD465 million went to former Sarawak Chief Minister and present Governor Taib Mahmud and family. The trail allegedly leads back to Jho Low and funds originating from 1MDB.