KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday rejected a request to reopen an investigation into issues surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), despite the US Department of Justice (DoJ) having filed a lawsuit last month seeking to recover some US$1 billion (RM4.03 billion) in assets that it claimed were embezzled from the state-owned strategic development company.
The lawsuit aims to recover some 17 assets in the US, which have been allegedly acquired through 1MDB funds.
PAC member Tony Pua said the bipartisan parliamentary committee also rejected his request to reopen an investigation into SRC International Sdn Bhd, which obtained a RM4 billion loan from Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) in 2011. SRC was then wholly-owned by 1MDB, but the ownership was later transferred to the ministry of finance.
Speaking to pressmen outside Parliament house after a regular meeting by PAC yesterday, Pua, who is DAP national publicity secretary and member of parliament (MP) for Petaling Jaya Utara, said his requests were rejected by both PAC chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin and Gerakan secretary-general and MP for Simpang Renggam Liang Teck Meng, as both had deemed DoJ’s allegations against 1MDB as mere speculation and PAC doesn’t investigate based on speculation.
Pua also said the duo were of the view that there is no misappropriation in 1MDB’s accounts and administration by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as revealed in the PAC investigation report on 1MDB published in April this year.
He added that Najib had never once been called during the PAC probe into 1MDB.
“PAC has the right to call anyone to furnish evidence to facilitate an investigation. Why are we [so] afraid of Najib?” Pua asked.
With the latest move from DoJ, Pua said there is a need to reopen an investigation into 1MDB and call on Najib to explain the case himself.
“If they (the allegations) were not true, then the prime minister has to produce the evidence and let PAC clear his good name. If there was corruption involved, then PAC must take action on this,” Pua remarked.
Last month, US federal prosecutors launched civil suits against several individuals including Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz and businessman Low Taek Jho, seeking to recover more than US$1 billion worth of assets linked to a conspiracy to launder funds taken from 1MDB.
None of the US lawsuits names Najib but they contain details that appear to directly implicate the prime minister. Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing.