1MDB boss to testify before PAC on December 1
(Malay Mail Online) – 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) president Arul Kanda Kandasamy has been summoned to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on December 1, which falls on the final week of this year’s Parliament session.
Malay Mail Online understands that besides Arul Kanda, former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi has also been summoned to testify and is scheduled to appear for a hearing a week earlier on November 25.
“A letter of notice for the meetings has been sent to PAC members, witnesses and the ministries involved today,” an official notice from the PAC sighted by Malay Mail Online said.
Tycoon Low Taek Jho or Jho Low was not on the notice list.
Newly-appointed PAC chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin said earlier this week that the 1MDB probe ― which was suspended after the committee’s previous head and four members resigned ― is resuming, but did not disclose when this will be.
Aside from the PAC, the Auditor-General is also conducting an audit on the accounts of 1MDB, which has reportedly amassed debts of some RM42 billion since it was incorporated in 2009.
The PAC and AG began their investigations into 1MDB after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in March ordered the probes to address allegations of mismanagement against the firm.
The PAC was last investigating 1MDB when its chairman then, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, resigned after he was made deputy home minister.
Aside from Nur Jazlan, four other Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs also resigned after they were brought into the federal administration.
The resignations prompted Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to suspend the PAC’s proceedings, drawing protests from the remaining opposition lawmakers on the committee.
Two weeks ago, Hasan was named as Nur Jazlan’s replacement while the remaining BN vacancies have also been filled.
The composition of the panel is otherwise unchanged.
Prior to its suspension, the PAC had been due to question 1MDB’s current chief executive Arul Kanda and his predecessor, Shahrol on August 4 and 5.
