Saturday, March 26, 2016

Is Arul Kanda casting doubt on the integrity of the AG’s Report even before it has been tabled in Parliament?

I  am  stunned  that  1MDB  President  Arul  Kanda has  started  to  pre-empt  the findings  of  the Auditor-General’s (AG) Report which has been submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) even before it has been tabled in Parliament.

Arul  Kanda  said  he  is  confident  that  the  parliamentary  Public  Accounts  Committee  (PAC) would not just rely on the findings of the auditor-general’s report on 1MDB when it compiles its own report. 

"What I can say on the general terms is that the auditor-general’s report (on 1MDB) is very detailed, comprehensive  and  professional.I  am  sure  the  PAC  report  will  reflect  all  the findings  PAC has made,  not  just  based  on  the  auditor-general’s  report,  but  also  on  the interview  and  the additional  information  PAC  obtained,"  he  said  during  his  interview  with BFM89.9 yesterday. 

First  of  all,  given  that  the  AG’s  Report  was  classified  under  the  Official  Secrets  Act  (OSA), how did he know the contents of the Report? 

Secondly, is Arul Kanda now worried that the AG has tabled a damning report against 1MDB, that he is counting on the BN-dominated PAC to reject the conclusions of the report? 

In the past, Arul Kanda has used the fact that the AG’s investigation is proof that 1MDB and the Government  are  transparent  and  have  nothing  to  hide. Why  is  Arul  Kanda  now attempting to cast doubt on the integrity and accuracy of the completed AG’s Report? 

Instead Arul Kanda should tell Malaysians if he has cooperated fully with the AG to ensure that  the AG  had  access  to  all  necessary  documents  to  complete  its  findings,  especially  on bank statements of its overseas subsidiaries.   

If he has failed to submit even simple bank statements which demonstrates the money trail of 1MDB’s funds, then he is obviously lying to Malaysians when he blamed  Malaysians for not trusting explanations from the state-owned fund “because the facts are boring” while the “baseless allegations” made by politicians are “sexy”. 

What's more, the 1MDB President has also stubbornly refuse to clarify the simple but substantive allegations Wall Street Journal has made that 1MDB has transferred billions of US Dollars to a fictitious “Aabar Investment PJS Limited” set up in the British Virgin Islands which is completely unrelated to Abu Dhabi’s “Aabar Investment PJS” or its parent, International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC).

If  1MDB  did  not  make  these  allegedly  fraudulent  payments,  why  not  just  give  an unequivocal “NO” in its statements?  Instead of answering the allegations, Arul Kanda only chose  to twist  and  turn,  while  going  on  the  hyperbole  to  allege  some  global  malicious conspiracy against 1MDB and Malaysia.

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