PAC to haul up Deloitte next after key 1MDB duo delay appearance

Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed says PAC will not allow delays to stop them from probing into 1MDB. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Kamarul Ariffin, May 25, 2015.

Auditors Deloitte will be summoned next by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as it begins inquiry into debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), following postponements requested by the strategic development fund's president Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Shahrul Ibrahim Halmi.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who heads the bipartisan PAC, said they received a letter from the Finance Ministry last Friday requesting that proceedings for Arul Kanda, who is also group executive director, and Shahrul, be postponed.

Nur Jazlan told reporters at the Parliament lobby today the delay would not stop them from calling the auditors next.

"We discussed and made the decision to call other witnesses, such as the auditors, Deloitte, to give an explanation."

Deloitte 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, and Pua said it should restate 1MDB's accounts from the previous year to provide a true picture.

Deloitte is the third auditor for 1MDB since the strategic investment firm started operations in 2009, and the frequent change of auditors has raised eyebrows.

Nur Jazlan today confirmed earlier reports that Arul Kanda and Shahrul would skip the PAC's scheduled session on 1MDB tomorrow.

Shahrol was 1MDB'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.

Nur Jazlan said the PAC decided to agree to the request and hoped that both men would be ready with all the necessary documents and information.

"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 today.

The parliamentary bipartisan committee began its own hearings on the matter last Tuesday, after deciding not to wait for an independent probe by the auditor-general to be completed.

- TMI