PM orders independent audit of 1MDB accounts for PAC perusal

(Malay Mail Online) – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has ordered the Auditor-General to conduct an independent check of 1 Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) accounts, his office said today.

The A-G’s report, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement, will subsequently be handed over to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for inspection.

It noted that the committee is a bipartisan panel as it comprises parliamentarians from Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties.

“If any wrongdoing is proven, the law will be enforced without exception,” Najib was quote as saying in the statement.

1MDB has come under heavy fire after a British paper, The Sunday Times in collaboration with whistleblower site Sarawak Report, ran an exposé last Sunday on Malaysian business magnate Low Taek Jho and his alleged links to 1MDB’s venture with oil exploration and production firm PetroSaudi International.

The series of reports cite details purportedly gleaned from thousands of leaked documents and emails involving 1MDB.

In the exposé, Sarawak Report accused the Malaysian tycoon popularly known as Jho Low, of siphoning off US$700 million (RM2.5 billion) from 1MDB and using PetroSaudi as a “front” in a 2009 joint-venture.

Petrosaudi, however, has denied the claim.

In The Sunday Times report, Putrajaya suggested the possibility of “political motivation” behind criticism of 1MDB, but pledged action in accordance with Malaysian law should there be any proof to back allegations of wrongdoing in the firm’s operations.