MAKE no mistake, 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) Arul Kanda Kandasamy is auditioning for a top job.

He is angling to replace Azman Mokhtar as the Khazanah Nasional chief when the latter’s term ends next year. He also would not mind being appointed a senator and serving as a minister in the Najib administration should Barisan Nasional win GE14.

Nothing wrong with ambition. Nothing wrong with shooting for the stars.

But we should reject any attempt by Arul to propel himself to stardom on the conveyor belt of lies and half-truths he has been spewing over the 1MDB scandal.

Last night, he spoke to some 200 people in Shah Alam and in a flippant manner dismissed the gargantuan losses suffered at 1MDB as business losses.

No, it wasn’t.

1MDB was a rip-off from Day One. It was set up ostensibly as a sovereign wealth fund but was used mainly as a slush fund for GE13 and as a bank for Low Taek Jho and friends.

To be fair to Arul, he was not in the picture then, having been brought in to clean up the 1MDB mess after Jho Low bolted and the original management of the company was booted out.

But Arul knows the back story of 1MDB and for him to put a spin on the theft of government funds is disgusting.

As disgusting as his feeble attempt last night to say that Najib Razak was never involved in any of the alleged wrongdoings at 1MDB.

Najib was not a figurehead chairman who didn’t know what was going on at 1MDB. He was very much pulling the strings with his buddy Jho Low. He was in direct contact with 1MDB’s first CEO, Shahrol Halmi.

Don’t take our word for this.

If Najib was as innocent as painted by Arul, why hasn’t he till today filed a suit against the Wall Street Journal or New York Times that named him as a main player in the scandal.

For good measure, Arul has been defending Jho Low, even saying that the fugitive businessman was not being sought by other countries.

Really?

When was the last time Jho Low stepped into Singapore or the US.

If Arul Kanda gets a rush from spinning a yarn about 1MDB around the country and feels that this is his national service for Najib and BN, good for him.

But make no mistake, these are fairy tales. – April 29, 2018.