1MDB’s Arul Kanda should be sacked, says Rafizi

PKR's Rafizi Ramli says 1MDB's current and former top executives should not give excuses after both say they cannot attend a Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the debt-laden company. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 25, 2015.

PKR's Rafizi Ramli blasted 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) current and former top executives for skipping tomorrow's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into the debt-laden company, saying that their actions showed a severe lack of accountability.

The Pandan MP said both president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi should at least make an effort to face the PAC.

"To me, their refusal to appear before PAC showed clearly that they are not fit to be there.

 "It was bad enough in the past they did not openly come out to clarify and set the facts straight, but now with their refusal to attend the PAC meeting – that's the final insult and they should be sacked immediately," he said.

In confirming that PAC had postponed tomorrow's proceedings, its chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the duo could not attend as they were overseas for work.

Shahrol, who is currently on 1MDB's board of directors, was the company's first CEO from February 2009 to March 2013, while Arul Kanda was appointed in January this year.

Both are key witnesses in the PAC's inquiry on Finance Ministry-owned 1MDB, which has incurred RM42 billion in debts in just six years of operations.

A staunch critic of the state investment arm, Rafizi said in other parliaments across the world, people would turn up when summoned by their respective PACs.

He said the duo’s no-show could be due to directives from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who wanted to prevent more worms from spilling out of the can.

Najib, who is also finance minister, is the chairman of 1MDB's advisory board.

"Najib does not want them to come because once you put them across the firing line of the PAC, there is a fear they cannot manage the questioning and more worms will come out of the can. That's why Najib took this risk of not allowing them to come at all despite the public anger," he said.

The PKR secretary-general added that the no-show was a reflection of Arul Kanda and Shahrol's lack of accountability.

“Even if there were instructions for them to attend, a person of professional integrity would have said, ‘I have to attend because I am responsible for this.’ It's okay if they come and fumble. Or say 'I can't answer that', it's fine but have some respect for Parliament and the PAC.

“I’d rather they come and say 'I'm sorry, I can't answer that'. At least people feel okay lah, you cannot answer because you have to answer to your boss, fair enough.

“But turn up and own up to your responsibilities,” he said.

Nur Jazlan earlier told reporters that the PAC had received a letter from the Finance Ministry last Friday requesting that the proceedings be postponed.

He said the committee had agreed to the request and hoped that both men would be ready with all the necessary documents and information when their turn came.

"The PAC wants them to be present in the proceedings.

"With the postponement, we hope they will be ready with all the documents when they appear before the committee," he told reporters earlier today.

Nur Jazlan added that they would summon the company's auditor Deloitte next.

The international auditing firm came under fire today by another PAC member, DAP's Tony Pua, who said its audit of 1MDB's accounts had been "highly questionable".

The auditors had signed off on 1MDB's 2014 accounts in early November last year, but two weeks later, the state investment firm struggled to repay an RM2 billion loan.

Deloitte is still 1MDB's auditor for the financial year ending March 2015.

It is the third auditor for 1MDB since the troubled company started operations in 2009, and the frequent change of auditors has raised eyebrows.

Criticism has been mounting over the Finance Ministry wholly-owned investment vehicle, established in 2009, which has chalked up debts of up to RM42 billion, backed by Putrajaya.

The auditor-general is currently looking through 1MDB's books, with a preliminary report expected to be submitted to Parliament in June, while Parliament’s PAC started its investigation into the company last Tuesday.

- TMI