XAVIER Justo today posted on Facebook a picture of himself meeting Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday – the same day whistleblower and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown landed in Malaysia.

The picture came with the caption, “What a great privilege and what an incredible moment”.

Dr Mahathir has vowed to get to the bottom of the 1MDB financial scandal involving billions of dollars, and Justo may be the logical place to start. A central figure in the 1MDB affair, Justo is a former director at PetroSaudi International Ltd who leaked the documents that allegedly incriminated former prime minister Najib Razak and which led several countries to launch investigations into embezzling and money-laundering of funds from the Malaysian state investor.

He was recently released from jail in Thailand, and had told Reuters in March that he was trying to clear his name after being convicted of blackmailing PetroSaudi over its ties to 1MDB.

Justo leaked the 1MDB documents after leaving PetroSaudi in 2011. 

Meanwhile, Rewcastle-Brown, with whom he shared his information and who reported the scandal as it unfolded, is also in town and due to appear in an interview with a mainstream news portal tonight. She was declared persona non grata in Sarawak following her exposes on the former chief minister Taib Mahmud.

Switzerland, Singapore and the US are among the countries pursuing investigations into laundering of 1MDB funds on their soil.

The US Justice Department alleges US$4.5 billion (RM20 billion) was misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB, including the “Malaysian Official 1” at the time. 

Former prime minister Najib is under investigation in Malaysia over suspicions of money laundering in connection to 1MDB, which he set up in 2009 when he took office. – May 20, 2018.