THE special committee on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) today heard further explanations from the Finance Ministry, Audit Department and Securities Commissions on the recently declassified 1MDB audit report. 

The committee’s chairman, Abu Talib Othman, said he met representatives from the three bodies today. 

“They explained to us the details of the recently declassified report,” he said at Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur today.  

However, Abu Talib refused to elaborate on the matter as they were still at a “premature” stage of the investigation. 

“There are some issues on which we needed clarification because, as I had said and the prime minister had said, the investigation must be fair and in accordance with applicable law, rules and procedures. We cannot assume things,” he said, adding his committee would try to resolve the matter promptly. 

He also said the public should wait for the completion of the investigation by police and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) before speculating on the matter.  

“I think the police and MACC are proceeding with their investigations. That’s what they said, so let’s see what the outcome of the investigations are,” he said. 

On May 15, Auditor-General Madinah Mohamad had announced that the 1MDB audit report had been officially declassified. 

The report was classified as secret on January 22, 2016, and presented to the Public Accounts Committee on March 4, 2016. 

Besides Abu Talib, the 1MDB committee also comprises PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) partner in Risk Assurance Services’ Nik Shahrizal Sulaiman; Naqiz & Partners’ senior partner Syed Naqiz Shahabuddin Syed Abdul Jabbar; Indonesian financial services authority senior adviser Faris Rabidin and Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) founder Cynthia Gabriel. – May 30, 2018.