KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Public Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) stressed Sunday that they are fully cooperating with the Public Prosecution regarding global reports of a relationship between Kuwait and the Malaysian sovereign fund, the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, also known as 1MDB, including charges of laundering operations and suspicions of corruption.

In a press release, Nazaha said they are in cooperation with prosecution because they are a responsible local judicial investigation authority that will provide any information and data obtained by the authority regarding the issue to the general prosecution, including information obtained that have a direct or indirect relationship with the damages to state capital.

In the statement, the spokesperson and Assistant Secretary-General for Nazaha Dr Mohamed Buzubar said, “the authority followed closely and with great interest news about Kuwait’s relationship to money laundering operations and suspicions of corruption in the case known as 1MDB.” Buzubar added that the authority has started collecting information and data at the local level, communicating with relevant authorities, and opening a communication channel with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MICC) to exchange information and collect inferences.

He stressed that this comes in recognition of their ethical role to exercise its rights entrusted to it under the law of executive regulations, and in accordance with its obligations towards the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). In addition to cabinet assignment to follow up on this matter, the statement added.

MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari on Sunday demanded forming a parliamentary investigations committee to look into alleged involvement of former state officials in suspected corruption and money laundering operations worth billions of dollars that included funding North Korea’s nuclear programme and corruption related to Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The lawmaker said his move depends on a report published by the New York Times about a network involving Chinese and North Koreans running money laundering operations to finance the North Korean nuclear activities in which the name of Kuwait was mentioned. “The image of Kuwait and its financial institutions is at stake because of a number of international scandals,” he said.