PAC members claim Hasan Arifin edited 1MDB report without approval
YAHOO NEWS.
KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 ― Several opposition members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) accused its chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin today of editing the panel’s report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) without the knowledge of other members.
DAP lawmaker Tony Pua claimed that Hasan had deleted a sentence that states that Good Star Limited ― which had received US$700 million (RM2.7 billion) in its RBS Coutts Bank Ltd account, part of the US$1 billion that 1MDB had invested in a joint venture with Saudi Arabian oil company PetroSaudi International Ltd, according to the PAC report ― is a company owned by a person not linked to the PetroSaudi Group.
“The PAC report on page 25 says that ‘Based on the documents provided by Datuk Shahrol Azral on June 5 2015 and his testimony during the PAC meeting on November 25 2015, the account is owned by Good Star Limited which is a subsidiary of the PetroSaudi Group, since September 1 2009.’
“However, the PAC chairman had cut off a subsequent sentence which was agreed upon in the meeting, that is ― ‘Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) was voluntarily informed by the country's authorities that Good Star Limited is a company owned by an individual with no links to the PetroSaudi Group’,” Pua told reporters in the Parliament lobby here.
Pua said that Hasan's alleged action to leave out what is deemed to be a crucial sentence in the PAC report is an outright violation of the PAC's Meeting Orders and has now provoked suspicion on whether the parliamentary panel head intends to close the 1MDB case.
“Datuk Hasan Arifin has never discussed the matter with us, officially or otherwise,” Pua said, demanding that Hasan correct the report immediately via a correction paper to Parliament.
Also present at the press conference were Kepong MP and PAC deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw, Teluk Kemang MP Datuk Kamarul Baharin and Selayang MP William Leong. All three echoed Pua's sentiments.
“We found that the PAC chairman had made serious editing on the report, which was approved in the PAC meeting on April 4 2016.
“With the latest news yesterday that International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) had cancelled its debt-asset swap with 1MBD, we ask that Datuk Hasan Arifin call a PAC meeting soonest to discuss this matter,” they said in a statement which was also undersigned by Kota Baru MP Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan who was absent from the news conference.
The members said they were very concerned, especially after the Finance Ministry (MOF) issued a statement yesterday saying it will bear all of 1MDB's unsettled payment obligations following a dispute with Abu Dhabi state firm International Petroleum Investment Company.
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