No laws exist requiring donations to be vetted, says ex-auditor

There are no laws requiring donations to be audited, says a former auditor who previously served on two of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) oversight panels.

Walter Sandosam said this in reference to a call for authorities to vet funds received by Umno to help former prime minister Najib Razak pay a RM50 million fine.

He said a donation drive launched by the party in September to raise funds for the former prime minister to settle a RM50 million fine was a private and personal initiative.

“No coercion was involved.

“Umno is not required to divulge details of those who contributed to the initiative,” he told FMT.

Yesterday, DAP’s Tony Pua urged the authorities to audit the donations raised to help settle the fine which allows Najib to serve the remainder of his corruption sentence under house arrest.

The former Damansara MP said an audit by Bank Negara Malaysia and MACC was vital to ensure the funds raised were legitimate and not laundered.

Sandosam went on to say that only those who donated can call for it to be audited, but pointed out that there was no undertaking at the onset for it to be scrutinised.

“There’s no need for transparency in this case, when even the government can choose what to make public and what not to. Tony is being naughty,” he said.

He also questioned why Pua was talking about the need for these donations to be vetted only after the sum had been collected.

Sandosam said, however, that the entire affair underscores the importance of enacting a political finance bill.

In September, law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said urged all parties to state in writing whether they support or oppose the proposed legislation.

Azalina said the government wanted official responses from all political parties registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS), which number about 72.

She said the responses would provide evidence of the parties’ positions, rather than relying solely on surveys or other informal feedback.