A former Court of Appeal judge is perplexed over Malaysia's “extremely disappointing” rejection of the request for assistance, under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, from the Swiss Office of the Attorney General in its 1MDB investigation.

Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, who served with the Court of Appeal from 2009 to 2015, admitted he is not privy to the confidential information in attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's possession, pertaining to the 1MDB investigations in the country.

Yet, Mohd Hishamudin found it difficult to fathom how rendering assistance to the Swiss authority could “prejudice” the criminal investigation being carried out by the Malaysian authorities, as Apandi stated.

“What ‘prejudice’ could there be for our investigating authorities?

“On the contrary, Malaysia should be eager to give whatever assistance we could to the Swiss authority, particularly so when the Swiss authority has said that the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds could expand beyond the US$4.8 billion announced (by the Swiss authority) earlier this year.

“Surely the rendering of the assistance by Malaysia, as requested by the Swiss authority, will be done under the condition of strict confidence.

“We should also welcome the offer by the Swiss authority to share the outcome of its investigations on 1MDB with the Malaysian authorities,” Mohd Hishamudin told Malaysiakini when contacted.

The former judge has also served as a federal counsel in international law with the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

He holds a Master’s degree in International Law and Constitutional Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.

Mohd Hishamudin said Apandi has the right to reject the Swiss request under Section 20(1)(I) of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2002 but this should not be taken lightly, given the magnitude of the 1MDB case.

“Indeed, considering that a forfeiture proceeding is now being commenced by the Department of Justice in the United States, the Malaysian AG's vague explanation that, in his opinion, rendering the requested assistance to the Swiss government could prejudice the 1MDB investigation in Malaysia is extremely disappointing,” he said.

Swiss AG Michael Lauber said last week that Apandi believes the Swiss MLA requests could “prejudice a criminal matter in Malaysia”, but added there was “no issue of Malaysia blocking the Swiss criminal inquiry”.

Why is the investigation taking so long?

Mohd Hishamudin said Apandi also owes Malaysians an explanation as to why the investigation into 1MDB was taking such a long time.

“And are there any obstacles to the investigation process (such as difficulties in tracing witnesses or alleged wrongdoers who have disappeared); and if so, what are the steps taken to overcome these obstacles?” he asked.

Retired Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram (photo) also concurred with Mohd Hishamudin that it is within the AG's discretion whether to lend assistance on the MLA request.

“Whether the discretion was properly exercised is a question of law. It is a question for the court to decide in proceedings properly brought by a person having (legal) standing to bring it.

“But the impact of the refusal on the international scene is a political question, which the government has (now) to deal with,” Sri Ram told Malaysiakini.

Besides the DOJ action and Swiss investigations, another 1MDB-related trial is going on in Singapore, involving former Swiss BSI banker Yeo Jiawei.

Yeo is facing four counts of perverting the course of justice by urging witnesses to lie to the police while he was released on bail, after police arrested him on March 17. This is in connection with Singapore's largest money-laundering investigation related to 1MDB.

He is also facing several counts of money-laundering, cheating and forgery in a separate trial scheduled to be heard next year

Last week, former BSI managing director Yak Yew Chee was sentenced to an 18-week jail term and a fine of S$24,000 (approximately RM75,000) after pleading guilty to four criminal charges in the Singapore court.

Yak, a former bank relationship manager for Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, pleaded guilty to forgery and failure to flag suspicious transactions in the investigations related to 1MDB.