The two latest whistleblowing feats of website Sarawak Report have raised the disturbing question whether the Malaysian Parliament is the first in the world to be denied the opportunity and materials to decide whether its Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had done a proper and competent job, in its inquiry into the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal.
Yesterday, Sarawak Report published some of the contents of what it claimed was the Auditor-General’s report on 1MDB, which was submitted to the PAC on March 4 and was the basis of the PAC Report on 1MDB presented to Parliament on April 7, but the AG’s Report on 1MDB was not tabled in Parliament on the ground that it was classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
Sarawak Report listed out the various concerns that auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang had pointed out in his report, especially with regard to several questionable fund transfers.
Sarawak Report said it will publish more details from the auditor-general’s report in the coming days.
Today, Sarawak Report made the revelation of another key document in the PAC probe on 1MDB, a letter from Bank Negara Malaysia to the PAC Chairman, Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin, related to its correspondence which among other things, confirmed Penang billionaire Jho Low was the sole owner of Good Star Limited, which had received US$1.03 billion from 1MDB.
How far can the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, the Cabinet, Parliament, the PAC, the various law enforcement and investigative agencies, whether Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Police, Bank Negara, Attorney-General’s Chamber, continue to play the collective role of the three traditional monkeys of eyes that see not, ears that hear not, and mouths that speak not, while outside in the borderless world in an information era, information are freely available pointing to 1MDB scandal as a heinous crime which is global embezzlement, money-laundering and corruption scandal?
As a first step, the Report of the Auditor General on 1MDB which had been submitted to the PAC should be made public forthwith without any further delay, which will allow Members of Parliament the opportunity to decide whether to approve or demand further PAC investigations on the ground that the PAC Report touched only on the “tip of the iceberg” of the global 1MDB scandal.