Arul Kanda arrested by MACC over 1MDB report tampering

(The Star) – Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) group president and chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy has been arrested and will be charged Wednesday over the 1MDB audit report tampering case.

His lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan confirmed that Arul Kanda was formally arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at 10.30am on Tuesday (Dec 11).

“They (MACC) will be producing him in court tomorrow (Wednesday) morning to be charged along with (former Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak),” Sivananthan told reporters at the MACC headquarters here.

Sivananthan also said Arul Kanda will be held overnight at the MACC headquarters, before he is produced in court on Wednesday (Dec 12) morning in Kuala Lumpur.

Sivananthan said Arul Kanda is likely to face a single charge under Section 23 of the MACC Act.

“As far as we know, it is only Datuk Seri Najib and Arul. I’m not sure if there’s any other person who is going to be charged tomorrow,” the lawyer said.

Najib was arrested at 11am on Monday after being questioned by the MACC but was released on bail at 1pm on the same day.

Arul Kanda and his lawyer arrived at the MACC headquarters at 9.30am, as he was scheduled to be questioned by anti-graft officers.

He had nearly caught the media unaware by entering the MACC building via a back entrance.

He wore a black cap to conceal his identity.

However, the media were quick to spot him as he was registering at the MACC reception.

On Nov 25, Auditor-General Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad had said that one of the changes made to the 1MDB final audit report was the removal of a paragraph or paragraphs mentioning the presence of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.

She revealed that the directive to make the changes had come from Tan Sri Shukry Salleh, who had served as the principal private secretary to Najib when he was prime minister.

Meanwhile, former Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa was also spotted entering the MACC headquarters at 9.30am.

An MACC source said his presence was not related to the audit report tampering case.

However, he had been questioned by the MACC over the same case before.