Deathly silence about Umno man at Justo meeting
War of words about Tony Pua but not a word about which BN man wanted to buy 1MDB data
(Free Malaysia Today) – Barisan Nasional politicians have maintained a rigid silence about news reports on Friday that an Umno man had been among the 10 Malaysians buyers who negotiated to buy leaked documents about the controversial government company 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
Instead, two Umno MPs have tried to place the spotlight on the DAP’s Tony Pua, and engaged in an online sparring match, exchanging mutual insults on social media. Late on Saturday night, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang asked why cabinet ministers had said nothing about the Umno man.
News about the Umno man broke on Friday, when The Straits Times in Singapore reported that Thai police had said that about 10 Malaysians, one of them “from the same party as the prime minister” had met former PetroSaudi International executive Xavier Justo about buying confidential company data and documents.
Justo is in custody in Thailand on charges of attempting to extort PetroSaudi of 2.5 million Swiss francs. He is said to have confessed to Thai police that he stole company data from its computer servers.
PetroSaudi was a joint venture partner of 1Malaysia Development Bhd, which has been the subject of intense criticism for its debts of RM42 billion and its dubious financial transactions and investments. Reports of 1MDB’s problems have resulted in a campaign against the prime minister, Najib Razak, to force his resignation.
Thai police have said Justo had confessed to being the source of confidential documents that have been published by Sarawak Report.
On Thursday, the New Straits Times reported Thai police as saying that Justo had met a Malaysian media tycoon and a Malaysian opposition figure for discussions about buying the data on 1MDB. The next day, The Straits Times reported that an Umno member was among the group of 10 individuals who had met Justo.
However, on Friday and Saturday, Barisan Nasional ministers Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Ahmad Shabery Cheek made no mention of the Umno man, and instead kept up a series of attacks on the opposition, challenging them to own up.
