Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday distanced himself from a growing storm over the decision to drop criminal charges against Mr Riza Aziz, stepson of former premier Najib Razak, who was accused of laundering US$248 million (S$353 million) in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
"The Prime Minister wishes to stress that he was not involved in the agreement to the discharge not amounting to acquittal... reached by the prosecution and accused," Tan Sri Muhyiddin's office said in a statement.
His statement came hours after former attorney-general (A-G) Tommy Thomas again denied that he had agreed to the so-called "sweetheart deal", under which Mr Riza would return US$108 million to the government in exchange for his discharge.
Tan Sri Thomas said the settlement sum was a "red herring", as Mr Riza was surrendering assets that had already been seized by the authorities in relation to the case.
The discharge granted to Mr Riza last Thursday has sparked widespread criticism, coming just two months after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government collapsed and was replaced by Perikatan Nasional, the new ruling alliance that includes Umno, the party Najib belongs to and used to helm.
Leaders of opposition parties decried the decision in a joint statement on Sunday, saying it was "a signal that other high-profile cases involving political figures will find the same resolution".
Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor, current Umno president Zahid Hamidi and other party figures are facing hundreds of graft charges which were filed after PH won the general election in May 2018.
Mr Muhyiddin insisted yesterday that he would not "interfere in the affairs of the Attorney-General's Chambers and judiciary in deciding on criminal cases in the country, including high-profile cases".
Earlier, Mr Thomas had refuted claims by current A-G Idrus Harun that his predecessor, Mr Thomas, had "agreed to the (settlement) in principle". The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had made similar allegations, saying that the deal was agreed to between Mr Riza's defence team and the former A-G.
Mr Thomas said that "since Tan Sri Idrus is at pains to emphasise the weight he gave to my so called 'agreement in principle' (which itself is a fiction), let me state publicly that I would have never sanctioned this deal".
Mr Thomas, who resigned as A-G in February when PH was ousted, said that during his 20 months in office, the United States Justice Department (DOJ) had already been returning "billions of ringgit" seized in the global hunt for the alleged US$4.5 billion embezzled from 1MDB.
The purpose of prosecuting Mr Riza - whose film production company Red Granite has already surrendered US$57 million allegedly stolen from 1MDB - "was not to strengthen the chances of securing monies", Mr Thomas said, as the "DOJ would have returned these monies in any event because it belongs to Malaysia and was stolen from Malaysia".
"Riza is not offering to pay any new money or monies from any source other than DOJ seized assets. Thus, Riza is unnecessarily getting credit for returning monies that are not his. Hence, it is a sweetheart deal for Riza but terrible for Malaysia," Mr Thomas said.
1MDB was controlled by Najib when he was in power from 2009 until his defeat in the 2018 election. He is facing 42 graft charges involving the state investment fund including claims he received US$700 million belonging to it.
Critics have also noted that the settlement is far less than the sum Mr Riza is alleged to have laundered.
"So anyone who wants to steal, just give back half to the government, and you can enjoy the rest. I have no idea if this is legal but it has never happened before in Malaysia," former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.
