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PAC: Najib and former top guns to be questioned.
8. National Audit Department’s former audit performance director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad.
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11 December 2018
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PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) group president and chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy was arrested on Tuesday (Dec 11) and will be charged on Wednesday over alleged tampering of the state investment fund’s final audit report.
Arul Kanda’s lawyer N. Sivananthan confirmed that he was formally arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at 10.30am.
“They (MACC) will be producing him in court tomorrow (Wednesday) morning to be charged along with (former Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak),” Sivananthan told reporters at the MACC headquarters here. Najib had been arrested at the MACC on Monday, but was later released on bail.
“As far as we know, it is only Datuk Seri Najib and Arul. I’m not sure if there’s any other person who is going to be charged tomorrow,” the lawyer said.
Najib will face the charge of abusing his position as premier to order the auditor-general to remove certain parts from the 1MDB final report.
Arul Kanda, who helmed the scandal-ridden company from January 2015 to June this year, will be charged with abetting Najib in committing the offence.
One of the changes made to the 1MDB final audit report was the removal of a paragraph or paragraphs mentioning the presence of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low at a meeting of the 1MDB board of directors, Auditor-General Madinah Mohamad has said.
She revealed that the directive to make the changes had come from Shukry Salleh, who had served as the principle private secretary to Najib when he was prime minister.
The changes were made on Feb 26, 2016, on grounds that it was a sensitive issue and to prevent this from being manipulated by the political opposition.
Madinah said the original 1MDB final audit report without the amendments and removal of paragraphs was handed over to the MACC and police for their action.
Besides Najib and Arul Kanda, MACC has also questioned top officials mentioned by Madinah – former chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa, her predecessor Ambrin Buang and ex-MACC chief Dzulkifli Ahmad, who had attended one of the meetings as a legal officer with the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Sources in MACC confirmed that Arul Kanda and Najib would face one charge each.
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https://twitter.com/buletinmalaysia/status/1072335467608203264
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PUTRAJAYA: Former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) group president and chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy will be hauled to court tomorrow to face charges over the tampering of the company’s final audit report.
Arul Kanda, who helmed the scandal-ridden company from January 2015 to June this year, will be charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with abetting Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in committing the offence.
Najib will also be in court to face the charge of abusing his position as then prime minister to order the (then) auditor-general to remove certain parts from the 1MDB final report.
Sources in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed that the two would be in court to face one charge each.
“Najib was said to have asked the auditor-general to remove certain things from the final audit report. This is tantamount to abuse of power,” said a source.
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Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/11/arul-kanda-next-to-be-charged-former-1mdb-ceo-said-to-have-tampered-with-audit-report/#4Ihxeu2lAWbMYV3j.99
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26 November 2018
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malaysiakini.comVerified account @malaysiakini
Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang turns up at MACC, evades reporters
Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang called at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters at Putrajaya today, presumably to assist in the investigation into the alleged alteration of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) final audit report.
Ambrin arrived at the MACC office at 3.15 pm, according to a MACC source.
Reporters waiting at the main entrance of the MACC office failed to detect the vehicle he had used to come to the office.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/453499
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KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya has sacked Bank Rakyat chairman Shukry Mohd Salleh effective immediately, saying the decision was due to his involvement in the original audit report on 1MDB.
Entrepreneur Development Minister Redzuan Yusof said the decision was made under the Bank Kerjasama Rakyat (M) Berhad Act 1978 (Special Provision 202).
In a statement, Redzuan said all decisions made under Shukry’s leadership in the bank would be reviewed “and cancelled if they undermine the interest of Bank Rakyat”.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/11/26/bank-rakyat-chairman-sacked/
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After attending a dinner held by the Administrative and Diplomatic Officers’ Alumni Association on Sunday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad told reporters that the government will release a report on damage control undertaken by his administration latest by next year.
He also dismissed former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lawyers’ claim that the release of the 1MDB audit report is a contempt of court.
He revealed that a statement will be made by the National Audit Department over former Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang’s act of removing certain content related to Jho Low in the 1MDB audit report in 2016.
THE STAR
https://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/?p=145317
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Najib’s lawyer slams 1MDB report tampering claims
LAWYER Shafee Abdullah tonight rebutted claims that his client, former prime minister Najib Razak, had tampered with the auditor-general’s report on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Shafee questioned points raised by Auditor-General Madinah Mohamad over businessman Low Taek Jho and Najib’s role in tampering with the report before it was presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in 2016.
He said the purported presence of the businessman popularly known as Jho Low at a 1MDB meeting had already been disclosed in Parliament in on December 21, 2015.
“The Ministry of Finance had clearly stated that Jho Low’s presence at the board meeting was to represent Prince Turki Bin Abdullah as the owner of PetroSaudi Inc.
“Jho Low’s presence at the said 1MDB board meeting was also revealed and discussed in the proceedings of the PAC on 1MDB on November 25, 2015, where the previous auditor-general was also present,” he said in a statement that provided a link to the parliament hansard
Shafee said the parliamentary reply and the PAC proceedings predates the alleged instruction to remove mention of Jho Low’s presence in a 1MDB meeting from the auditor-general’s report.
He said it is normal for auditors and the audited to discuss the draft report for clarification and correction before the report is made final.
He said Najib will provide a more comprehensive explanation on allegations in the auditor-general’s statement at the appropriate time.
https://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/?p=145286
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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 ― A parliamentary watchdog will be calling on eight people, including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as it investigates tampering into the 2016 audit report on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, chairman of the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee (PAC), confirmed that Najib and his former principal private secretary Tan Sri Shukry Salleh, are among the top two to be questioned, New Straits Times reported today.
The other six on the list are former chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad, former 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy, former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang, current auditor-general Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad and the National Audit Department’s former audit performance director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad.
The eight are expected to be required to show up in PAC proceedings from December 4 onwards.
The previous PAC committee then chaired by Barisan Nasional’s Rompin MP Datuk Seri Hasan Ariffin had previously received the audit report before clearing Najib of wrongdoing over 1MDB.
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https://twitter.com/gst183/status/1066870728979447809
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25 November 2018
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Auditor-General confirms Najib ordered audit report on 1MDB altered
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KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — Auditor-General Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad has confirmed that the content of the original audit report on scandal-plagued fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) had been tampered with and altered.
This comes amid reports that Datuk Seri Najib Razak wanted his involvement and fugitive broker Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, omitted from the report prepared by the-then auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang.
In a statement, Madinah listed down in chronological order all the times the report was altered. It started back in February 20, 2016 where the former private secretary to ex-prime minister Najib, Tan Sri Shukry Salleh had requested for the 1MDB audit team to prepare a final audit report on the troubled state fund.
Two days later, during a meeting with Najib and in the presence of former Chief Secretary Tan Sri Ali Hamsa and former Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang, the former prime minister had ordered the removal of two paragraphs from the audit report which contained its 2014 financial statement and recommendations for a full investigation by authorities on 1MDB.
Because of that, the audit report which was supposed to be presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on February 24, 2016 was postponed to March 4 and 7 of the same year.
On February 23, 2016, during a meeting at the Chief Secretary’s office which was attended by Ali, Shukry and Ambrin, the 1MDB audit team was informed that the government had classified the final audit report of 1MDB as a “crisis”. The next day, during another meeting but this time with 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy, representatives from the Attorney-General’s Office (AGC) and Ministry of Finance, it was decided that a few more paragraphs from the report had to be removed and amended.
On February 25, the audit team was instructed by the ex-Chief Secretary to attend a meeting at his office with Najib and Arul to “continue” discussions about the final audit report where more reported findings were ordered to be removed. The next day, Shukry instructed a paragraph detailing Low’s attendance during a 1MDB board of directors meeting to be removed from the audit report.
Shukry claimed back then that this was done so that the federal opposition would not “exploit” the facts to an otherwise sensitive issue. On February 28, 2016 Shukry had asked for the amended version of the 1MDB audit report to be given to him. The next day, the final report was given to the ex-Chief Secretary.
Then on March 1, the ex-Chief Secretary instructed the 1MDB audit team to once again convene at his office to discuss the amended final version of the report. This time, only he and 1MDB’s Arul went through the report, page after page with the audit team.
More amendments were then made.
On March 2, the finalised version of the 1MDB audit report was printed and the next day, two copies were handed to Shukry as well as Ali. On March 4 and 7, Ambrin tabled the final report to the PAC.
“On November 23, 2018, I briefed the Cabinet on these amendments to the final audit report of 1MDB before it was finalised and presented to the PAC on March 4, 2016,” Madinah said in the statement, adding that the Cabinet had instructed her to come out with an official statement on the matter.
Last month, Ambrin had insisted that nobody had tampered with his report, as he had full authority over it.
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https://twitter.com/SumishaCNA/status/1066652521224011777
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weehingthong 