OSA on 1MDB audit report meant to be temporary, says Ambrin

Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang said he had made the decision to classify the 1MDB audit report under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) when he was in charge, but it was supposed to be temporary.

The classification was only meant to last until the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) completed its probe into 1MDB, he said.

"I think you just go back to the history, because before the final report was issued, there was an interim report.

"Even the interim report was presented to the PAC.

"So, to not disturb the proceedings of the PAC, I decided to classify it under the OSA, but the intention was later, when the PAC had finished their deliberation, there is no reason for it to remain classified under OSA," he was reported as saying by the Malay Mail today.

He claimed he was not under external pressure to place the report under 1MDB.

However, the PAC itself later decided the audit report should not be released to the public, he claimed.

"Our original intention, we were thinking that the PAC would annexe our report to their report, you see, but they decided against it," Ambrin said.

When he consulted the "government security office", he said he was advised the report should remain under the OSA.

Although he had not been summoned, Ambrin said he is ready to facilitate any probe into 1MDB.

Previously, the PAC had said that classifying the final 1MDB audit report under OSA was meant to prevent information leakage, especially in light of the preliminary report being leaked to the media before that.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad instructed the police to unseal the final 1MDB report from OSA last week.

Shortly after, the current auditor-general Madinah Mohamad declassified the 1MDB report. - Mkini