Pua: Lines deleted by PAC chief from 1MDB report were crucial

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said the lines Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chief Hasan Arifin deleted from the 1MDB report were crucial to the investigaton.

Pua, who is a PAC member, said this in response to Hasan, who yesterday owned up to editing the 1MDB report but played down its significance by claiming that it in no way affected the committee's final report.

The lines concerned Bank Negara's information that Good Star Limited, in which US$1.03 billion from 1MDB's joint venture with PetroSaudi International was diverted to, was owned by an individual and not linked to the PetroSaudi group as claimed.

"This finding is crucial to the entire investigations of 1MDB because the company and its executives have testified to the PAC that Good Star Limited is a subsidiary of Petrosaudi.

"However, the company was unable to provide any concrete evidence, such as a company search or certificate of incorporation from the relevant authorities, despite repeated requests, to back up its claims to both the auditor-general and the PAC.

"All 1MDB could provide was a letter dated 2015 from Petrosaudi to 1MDB making a claim that Good Star Limited was part of the Petrosaudi group.

"This letter would certainly hold no water in any court of law and the PAC would make itself a laughing stock of the world if we were to accept the letter at face value," Pua said in a statement today.

Pua questioned why Hasan would unilaterally delete the lines if they were indeed inconsequential as claimed and criticised the PAC's chief explanation that he did so because the information was unclear or under investigation.

"The PAC chairperson should inform Parliament and all concerned, what exactly is so unclear about Bank Negara’s findings that 'the ultimate beneficiary of Good Star Limited is an individual unrelated to the Petrosaudi International Ltd'?

"Is the PAC chairperson questioning and challenging the authority and investigative findings of Bank Negara Malaysia?" asked Pua.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Hasan was adamant in his refusal to call up Bank Negara for clarification during the PAC proceedings but was now claiming that information provided by the central bank was unclear.

"If he is questioning the findings of Bank Negara, then why did he persistently, as recorded in the Hansard on at least five occasions, refuse our request to call Bank Negara to testify to the PAC?

"Is there something that Hasan is aware of, which he doesn’t want PAC members to find out?" asked Pua.

He added that the PAC at no point empowered Hasan to delete the said sentences.

"The fact of the matter is that the final meeting of the PAC which included members of the backbenchers and the opposition, approved the final draft which included the above information," he said.

Pua said that in light of Hasan's actions as well as the latest collapse of the debt-asset swap deal between 1MDB and IPIC, the PAC should reconvene and re-open its investigation into 1MDB.

"The failure to do so under the current circumstances would mean the failure of the PAC to fulfil our duties and obligations to the Parliament and the rakyat," he said. -Mkini