Time for Najib to explain all on 1MDB, says MP

Charles Santiago says the recent exposé by The Edge Financial Daily had made it even more pressing that the PM explain everything about 1MDB.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak has no choice but to answer now, says DAP’s Charles Santiago who today opined that the task of explaining the controversy surrounding him and the recent revelations about 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) could not be delayed any longer.

In a statement today, the Klang MP said that the situation was now exacerbated by a recent news report in The Edge Financial Daily that showed that the various transactions between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International (PSI) were a scam to steal USD$1.83 billion (RM6.9 billion) from Malaysia.

“It’s time for Najib to explain the dizzyingly complex scheme to swindle money from the Malaysian public and how it ended up in his bank account,” said Santiago, who added that the multi-task force investigating the scandal had outlived its usefulness, particularly given The Edge’s exposé.

“None of these backdoor deals could have been possible without Najib’s knowledge.”

He pointed to the blocking of the Sarawak Report website by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as a clear attempt by Najib and others implicated in the 1MDB scandal, to hide something.

Santiago also pointed to businessman and entrepreneur Jho Low as being complicit in the whole affair, explaining that if Najib was unaware of the deals, it would mean then that he was “taken for a joy ride” by Low and others.

“It’s the scheming done by flamboyant businessman Low Taek Jho together with elements within the government for financial greed that destabilised the financial stability of the country,” said the MP.

“All that’s now left is for the cabinet to ask Najib to resign. Or we can conclude that the cabinet is also in cahoots with the Prime Minister.”

The Edge had in its four-page exposé, which it suggested could be its last such report, claimed that Jho Low had worked with PSI to siphon USD$1.83 billion in cash from 1MDB through the 1MDB-PetroSaudi Limited joint venture company.

“We have in this report, which is possibly the last on this subject, laid out all the key facts about what happened during the three-year business ties between 1MDB and PSI – especially what happened to the USD$1.83 billion of real cash invested by 1MDB,” it said.

It claimed that its exposé was corroborated by documents, including bank transfers and statements, all of which would now be handed over to the authorities with whom they would fully cooperate with.