‘There were dealings between The Edge and Justo’
(The Rakyat Post) – Former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak is certain The Edge had indeed “dealt” with Xavier Andre Justo.
In a blog post, the Sabah State Assembly Speaker noted that whatever it may be, even if it is true The Edge cheated the Swiss national of his money, as they had admitted to, the fact remains that there were dealings and many negotiations involved.
“The fact that The Edge may have cheated Justo or never intended to pay from the beginning is one thing.
“That there were dealings between The Edge and Justo is an undeniable fact. And that is what the whole issue is about, not the issue that Justo was cheated of his money,” Salleh wrote.
Every revelation by the leading Singapore newspaper, The Straits Times, from the details of an interview it had with Justo, who is currently in a Thai jail, clearly showed that the two had a deal.
“It appears, however, they were not able to complete the transaction because Justo was arrested before the money could be transferred.
“According to Justo, the delay was due to The Edge not being happy with the way the money was going to be transferred, which would leave a paper trail. They wanted to make sure that nothing would be traceable.”
However,finally it was agreed that the money would be transferred through a ‘middleman’ who would then transfer the money to the former PetroSaudi employee, which intended to protect The Edge from any traceable links with Justo.
“So The Edge already knew that what they were doing was wrong and they wanted to cover their tracks.
“The Edge says it never paid Justo anything because it never intended to pay in the first place. Justo says he does not know if the money was actually paid to the ‘middleman’ in the end because he was arrested before he could receive any money.”
So Salleh believes that based on what Justo said, there is always a possibility that the ’middleman’ did receive the money and is still holding on to it.
Justo was nabbed by Thai authorities over allegations he had tampered with documents related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd of which was used by several media outlets for their reports on the state investment arm.