THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has opened an investigation into allegations that former prime minister Najib Razak had ordered the final audit report on the scandal ridden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) be edited.

In a statement tonight, the anti-graft agency said it had compared the original version of the report against the final draft that was released by the National Audit Department in 2016.

“The MACC has initiated an investigation in relation to allegations that the auditor-general’s report on 1MDB was tampered with,” it said in the statement.

MACC said it will call up several witnesses soon to help in the investigation.

The agency’s decision comes after Auditor-General Madinah Mohamad confirmed that Najib had summoned her predecessor Ambrin Buang on February 22, 2016, and instructed that certain parts of the report be expunged.

In her statement, Madinah said a paragraph in the original report stating that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho was present at a 1MDB board meeting was removed from the final report.

She alleged that Najib’s former private secretary, Shukry Mohd Salleh, had ordered the removal of the paragraph, on the grounds that it was a sensitive issue and to prevent it from being manipulated by the opposition.

Madinah also said two days after Shukry ordered the removal of references to Low, Najib ordered the removal of another two paragraphs from the audit report which contained 1MDB’s 2014 financial statement and recommendations for a full investigation into its accounts.

The order was made in the presence of former chief secretary Ali Hamsa and Ambrin, she said.

Madinah, who briefed the cabinet on Friday on the changes to the final 1MDB audit report, said that on March 1, 2016, Ali instructed the 1MDB audit team to once again convene at his office to discuss the amended final version of the report. Only Ali and former 1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy were present.

More amendments were then made during that meeting, said Madinah.

A day later the finalised version of the 1MDB audit report was printed and two copies were handed to Shukry and Ali.

Ambrin tabled the final report to the PAC on March 4, 2016.

Today, Utusan, the Malay-language paper owned by Umno, branded the former prime minister a traitor if he did indeed order the amendments.

The paper also voiced its deep disappointment over the conduct of former senior civil servants who were in cahoots with Najib. – November 25, 2018.