‘Tampered’ emails narrative to shield 1MDB?
“Is it not significant that with all the talk of tampered emails the PSI spokesmen have not produced one substantive point of evidence to show a distortion of the facts?
Nigel Aw, Malaysiakini
The tone of the news – both in the mainstream and online media are similar – PetroSaudi International’s (PSI) leaked email communications with 1MDB, which were used to allege financial misappropriation against the latter, were tampered with, and therefore cannot be believed.
This “tampered information” narrative, which became ‘universal truth’ in less than 24 hours, was a coup of sorts for 1MDB which had constantly been on the defensive, fending off claims of wrongdoings.
But interestingly, the “tampered information” narrative did not come from the authorities.
It was sourced from UK-based cyber security firm Protection Group International (PGI), which was hired by PSI to investigate the leaks.
So how did the evaluation of a private firm, paid by an interested party, suddenly become the authoritative voice in determining the credibility of the leaked information?
It began with New Straits Times‘ (NST) front page report about the arrest of former PSI staff Xavier Andrea Justo in Thailand, who is alleged to have stolen the information and passed them to whistleblower site Sarawak Report.
But the key part of the Umno-linked newspaper’s report is its quote of an unnamed PGI expert about the data obtained by Justo.
“Simply put, it is incomplete data, creatively selected and edited to fit a desired narrative,” said the expert.
