PAC should scrutinize Najib over 'new leads' in Al Jazeera interview

MP SPEAKS | The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which has been directed by the Parliament in a special motion to reinvestigate the 1MDB scandal, should welcome former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s semi-aborted interview with Al Jazeera, as Najib had opened up on many new leads on the scandal, and should be asked to elaborate on them.

The first issue the PAC should ask Najib to elaborate is his cryptic statement in the interview that 1MDB investigators should not stop at Jho Low, but should probe others who were allegedly involved in stealing from 1MDB.

Saying all the culprits must be investigated to find out where the money had gone, Najib said:

“Fine… let them do their work but don’t just stop at Jho Low. Get others who are involved as well because there are other international figures who probably are involved. They must also be investigated.

“We want to know where the money flowed to. And who really benefited from the whole 1MDB issue. I would like to know, too”.

Najib should be asked to explain:

(1) Who are these 'other international figures who are probably involved' in the 1MDB scandal;

(2) Why he had not launched investigations into them instead of carrying out an international façade and charade claiming that there was never a 1MDB scandal, that everything was clean, upright and proper, with Arul Kanda Kandasamy (photo) employed with the sole objective to white-wash the 1MDB scandal;

(3) Whether he would lodge reports with the various authorities with regard to these 'other international figures who are probably involved' in the 1MDB scandal;

(4) Whether he is aware that he shocked not only Malaysians, but the whole world, when he said he also wanted to know 'where the money flowed to' and who really benefited from the whole 1MDB issue?

(5) Is Najib aware that as prime minister, finance minister and the chairperson of the 1MDB advisory board, which must approve all major 1MDB decisions, his claim of ignorance and innocence of 1MDB as 'kleptocracy at its worst' is totally incredible, most heinous and irresponsible?

(6) In June 2017, the Chief Secretary to the government Ali Hamsa said the government is studying the possibility of using the polygraph – lie detector – test as a mechanism to help curb cases of corruption among civil servants. Is Najib prepared to take the lie detector test and answer questions on the 1MDB scandal?

The second major issue of the 1MDB scandal on the RM2.6 billion donation to Najib’s personal banking accounts and the third one on Rosmah Mansor’s US$27.3 million 22-carat pink diamond necklace and 27 other million-dollar assorted gold necklaces, as well as other major issues, should open up to tons of questions.

Other former Umno ministers and leaders who had made various claims about the 1MDB scandal, both inside and outside the country, should also be asked to appear before the PAC to answer relevant questions about their fictitious claims.

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LIM KIT SIANG is the MP for Iskandar Puteri. - Mkini