At a press conference today, the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) and Bersih 2.0 said the money was derived from the illegal movement of 1MDB funds.
They said this was clearly explained in several press releases from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) on the sanctioning of three Swiss banks – BSI Bank, Falcon Bank and RBS Coutts – for money-laundering offences linked to 1MDB.
Last week, 1MDB said it could not claim the money simply because the money did not belong to it or even the government of Malaysia.
It added that the RM430 million comprised fines imposed on banks by the Swiss financial regulatory authority, and that it belonged to these banks.
The Swiss parliament earlier this month shot down a plan pushed by some of its lawmakers to return the money to the Malaysian people.
“1MDB should stop lying. All three cases are indeed centred around 1MDB money, and such blatant money laundering should merit deep concern not only by 1MDB, but by the Malaysian public as well,” the group said in a statement read out by Bersih acting chairman Shahrul Aman Saari.
Shahrul said Finma had consistently referred to the “fines” as a “disgorgement of illegally generated profits”.
“As such profits derive from the illegal movement of 1MDB funds, it is disingenuous for 1MDB to claim that their house is in order.”
C4 executive director Cynthia Gabriel said they would continue to support the asset recovery process by sending an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court) submission to the Swiss Federal Courts to allow them to submit information pertaining to the ongoing court cases against BSI and Falcon, even though they weren’t a party to the case.
She said Swiss national councillor (MP) Carlo Sommaruga was in the process of preparing a second parliamentary motion to allow for the restitution of illegal profits rather than it being defaulted to the Swiss treasury.
Cynthia noted that the Swiss government had in the past restituted at least US$1.7 billion, inclusive of kleptocratic assets, to Nigeria and the Philippines.
Separately, on the issue of the Election Commission’s (EC) redelineation exercise, Shahrul said 107 objectors would lodge a police report against the EC for failing to inform them of the status of the inquiry into their objections.
He said they only learned on March 9 through the EC’s media broadcast that it had completed the redelineation process and submitted the final report to the prime minister to be tabled in Parliament.
Swiss Parliament rejects call to return ‘1MDB profits’ to Malaysia