THE informer who provided data on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, Xavier Justo denied stealing files and emails from his former employer PetroSaudi International Ltd.

“The most important thing is that those files ... they were not stolen, they were given to me. And I gave them without any kind of modification, alteration, adding or withdrawing.

“Those are the genuine files of the PetroSaudi server, which pretty much told the story of 1MDB and PetroSaudi,” the 52-year-old Swiss international told The Star in an exclusive interview. 

He also said that his confessions while in Thai custody were made under duress. 

“I had no choice and said: ‘Okay. ‘Give me the paper and pen, and tell me what you want me to write.’

“And that’s what I did. So, I said I downloaded the data. They made me say I stole the data. But I never stole it,” he said, adding that part of the game was to paint him and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown as the bad guys. 

“All the rest, all the companies and management (of PetroSaudi) became good people.

“That was the deal: ‘Do that and you’ll be out in six months, or don’t do that and you’ll spend 10 years in jail (in Thailand)’,” he said. 

Justo, a former director at PetroSaudi International Ltd 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 said that he was trying to clear his name after being convicted of blackmailing PetroSaudi over its ties to 1MDB. 

Justo said he did what he had to do to reunite with his family. 

“It was a survival operation for me. I would have confessed to pretty much whatever they asked of me.

“Nobody knows what it is like to spend 18 months in a Thai jail unless they have been there. You will do whatever it takes to leave,” he said.

Justo also added the files were given to The Edge Communications’ Tong Kooi Ong through Rewcastle-Brown after he was convinced of their sincerity and the motivation to expose 1MDB scandal. 

“They explained to me how this 1MDB corruption machine was working. At the beginning, of course I said I wanted money. I could have sold these files for a lot of money. I just wanted the money owed to me by PetroSaudi.

“I just want all of them, starting from the first to the last, to be punished for their crimes. It’s not only about the money they stole. Yes, it’s very bad because this money was supposed to go to (things like) children’s education and healthcare instead of luxury bags, boats, jets and prostitutes. This is a financial crime.

“They also did worse than that. They killed people. They threatened people. They sent me to jail. They threatened my wife with arrest.

“They warned my wife that my son would end up in a Thai orphanage. They have to pay for that,” he added. 

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 Razak 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 25, 2018.