Unidentified Benefactor Offers $30M Reward For Identity Of MH 17 Bombers; MAS Criticises Kiwi Author For Suggesting MH 370 Pilot Plotted Death Of Passengers & Crew

Wifka, a private fraud investigation firm in Germany, was hired to investigate the July 17 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 17, which killed 298 passengers and crew on board the ill-fated plane.

Josef Resch, the head of Wifka, disclosed on Thursday that its client, who chose to be unidentified, offered a $30 million reward for information that would identify who is behind the downing of the Boeing 777 jet that left Amsterdam for Kuala Lumpur.

The common belief is that Ukraine rebels backed by Russia were the ones who launched the missile that hit the jet and caused it to crash in eastern Ukraine.

Wifka said in a statement that the generous benefactor believes the victims' families and the public deserve to be given clarity about the circumstances behind the tragedy and be given evidence. It noted that none of the two things had been accomplished.

Resch allegedly told Capital, a finance publication in Germany, that the person he spoke to has a Swiss accent. His theory is that the sponsor is a rich Russian who wants to pinpoint the blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin and result in the president being unseated from power, 9News reports.

It said the benefactor paid Wifka €40,000 for the probe and promised another €500,000 if Resch could identify who shot the MH 17 down. The $30 million reward, which is in Switzerland, breaks the record set by the $25 million offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden of the terror group al-Qaeda which was the author of the 9/11 tragedies.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines criticised Ewan Wilson, former chief executive of Kiwi International Airlines and author of a book titled The Truth Behind the Loss of Flight 370, for his theory that MH 370 pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately killed his passengers and crew by cutting their oxygen supply and then committed suicide by crashing the aircraft.

Read: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370: Aviation Exec Says Pilot Deliberately Killed Passengers & Crew By Cutting Oxygen Supply

The embattled air carrier, which has been losing money since the two air tragedies four months apart and has stopped trading of its shares ahead of a major restructuring programme, said in a statement, "There is no evidence to support any of the claims made in this book, which is a product of pure conjecture for the purposes of profit by the author and publishers." The airline also hit Wilson and co-author Geoff Taylor for making money from "the suffering of the families and undermining the dignity of all of those on board."

Read: Malaysia Airlines Flight MF 370: Indonesian Police Chief Claims He Knows What Happened To Missing Jet

The family of MH 370 victims are also offering reward money for information about the ill-fated jet, although it is only 10 per cent of the offer for information on MH 17

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