1MDB MAY HAVE COMMITTED CRIMINAL BREACH OF TRUST, PERKASA SAYS

(Malay Mail Online) – Eager for news on Putrajaya’s probe into the debt-laden state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Perkasa claimed today that there could be criminal breach of trust issues tied to the company.

The Malay rights group also questioned the speed of the authorities’ investigations into 1MDB, stating firmly that “no one is above the law”.

“The 1MDB issue, according to many reports and statements, can be classified as a big CBT case that may involve many parties,” Perkasa’s monitoring and integrity bureau secretary, Muhammad Azrul Akmal Sharudin, said in a statement today.

Noting the multiple police reports lodged against 1MDB, Muhammad Azrul said the police are required to carry out each investigation “without unnecessary delay”, citing Section 120 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

He pressed the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to quickly disclose to the public the status of investigations and the actions taken against 1MDB in the interest of truth and justice.

He noted that Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had previously said a joint task force would only start its probe into 1MDB after the Auditor-General (A-G) completes his audit.

“Has this violated the spirit of the law where unnecessary delay has taken place in the investigation process?” he asked.

On March 10, Khalid said the joint task force headed by the AGC and including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will only probe 1MDB if the A-G uncovers wrongdoings, but confirmed on March 22 that the special group had decided to go ahead with its probe without waiting for the A-G’s findings.

On April 14, Perkasa urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to form a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate 1MDB and its purported RM42 billion debt to placate critics.

It noted that the state investment arm’s debt burden has raised questions among the public on whether financial mismanagement was involved, also saying that investigations by the Auditor-General, external auditors and the police may be inadequate to dispel doubts.

Perkasa’s Azrul proposed that the RCI on 1MDB comprise former chief justices such as Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad or Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, as well as former attorneys-general Tan Sri Abdul Talib Othman.

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reportedly said it may launch its own audit on 1MDB if the A-G takes too long to probe the state investment firm.

Najib told the A-G on March 4 to audit 1MDB’s accounts and to share its findings with the PAC, amid growing demands for an explanation of the firm’s allegedly opaque investment decisions and for amassing a reported RM42 billion debt pile.

The move did not convince former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is critical of 1MDB and its debts, and now pushing for Najib’s resignation.