Flashback Sunday: When Najib told Parliament Jho Low had no links to 1MDB
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
Malay Mail25 November 2018
File picture shows Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad (left) and Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee posing with a copy of the 2017 Auditor-General's Report in Parliament August 15, 2018. — Picture by Azneal IshakMore
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — Auditor-General Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad’s confirmation that the original audit report on scandal-plagued fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) had been tampered with and altered came as a shock to many.
What’s even more shocking however is the disclosure of fugitive broker Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low’s involvement in 1MDB and how this was detailed in the audit report.
In her lengthy statement, Madinah listed down all the instances where the audit report had been tampered with.
On February 23, 2016, during a meeting at the Chief Secretary’s office which was attended by former Chief Secretary Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, former private secretary to ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Tan Sri Shukry Salleh and ex-Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang, the 1MDB audit team was informed that the government had classified the final audit report of 1MDB as a “crisis”.
The next day, during another meeting but this time with 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy, representatives from the Attorney-General’s Office (AGC) and Ministry of Finance, it was decided that a few more paragraphs from the report had to be removed and amended.
On February 25, the audit team was instructed by the ex-Chief Secretary to attend a meeting at his office with Najib and Arul to “continue” discussions about the final audit report where more reported findings were ordered to be removed. The next day, Shukry instructed a paragraph detailing Low’s attendance during a 1MDB board of directors meeting to be removed from the audit report.
Shukry claimed back then that this was done so that the federal opposition would not “exploit” the facts to an otherwise sensitive issue.
The Auditor-General statement released early this morning confirmed Low’s direct role during a 1MDB meeting with its top brass, but ex-PM Najib had in the past denied this.
But the internet never forgets.
Khairil Yusof@kaerumy
Dozens of official written replies by previous Minster of Finance @NajibRazak in @MYParlimen can be searched and looked up in @sinarproject http://pardocs.sinarproject.org to fact check current statements on 1MDB, Jho Low amongst others https://pardocs.sinarproject.org/documents/2015-mar-apr/written-questions-soalan-bertulis/soalan-265.pdf/view … #OpenParl
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During the March-April parliamentary session back in 2015, Najib told Parliament that Low had never worked in 1MDB, or had any business dealings with the investment fund.
Former Raub MP Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz had asked Najib, who was the-then Finance Minister to state 1MDB’s justification in issuing a support letter to Low when the latter put a bid to purchase a chain of hotels in London, as well as the fugitive businessman’s relationship with 1MDB.
This was the Finance Minister’s reply:
“1MDB has never issued any support letter to Mr Low Taek Jho in the bidding process of a group of hotels in London.
“Mr Low Taek Jho has also never worked for 1MDB or had any business relations with 1MDB. All decisions involving 1MDB’s financial dealings are made by the management and board of directors of 1MDB.”
Past parliamentary replies by Najib on 1MDB and related matters can be accessed online thanks to Sinar Project, an initiative which uses open technology and applications to systematically make important information public and more accessible to the Malaysian people.
Najib has repeatedly claimed that his relationship with Low was strictly professional and was forged with the country’s economic interests in mind.
The former prime minister also blamed US investment banking goliath Goldman Sachs for failing to safeguard Malaysia’s interests by not alerting his administration of Low’s efforts to defraud the Malaysian investment firm.
