Najib to take WSJ defamation suit to the US?

(Malay Mail Online) – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s legal team may be taking their court battle against the Wall Street Journal to the US daily’s home base instead of mounting a challenge here.

Citing an unnamed source, The Star Online reported today Umno lawyers are preparing for a filing in the US and have been consulting defamation specialists in New York.

“We are still preparing the legal work before we send our letters to Dow Jones,” the English-language news site quoted an unnamed source as saying, referring to the WSJ publisher.

In its exposé on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) last Friday, WSJ had claimed Najib to be the final recipient of nearly US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) from the state-owned investment fund.

The international business paper had cited from government documents that purported to show the money trail from 1MDB’s accounts through government agencies and companies before deposits in bank accounts said to be owned by Najib.

Najib has denied taking money for personal gain and categorised the allegations as “political sabotage”.

A special taskforce comprising four federal agencies are currently investigating WSJ’s claims and yesterday froze six bank accounts, but did not disclose the names of their owners.