Salleh: PAC report the final word about 1MDB

Auditor-General’s findings were among many aspects in report by Public Accounts Committee, says BN strongman

(FMT) – The Public Accounts Committee’s report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd is the final report on the company, and not the report by the Auditor-General, says Umno’s Salleh Said Keruak.

In a blog posting today, he said it was the Public Accounts Committee which had conducted hearings into the government-owned investment company.

The report by the Auditor-General was just one of the sources used by the PAC to compile its report on 1MDB, said Salleh in response to a claim by the Sarawak Report web site that it had obtained a leaked copy of the A-G’s report which, it said, contained the truth about 1MDB.

Salleh has been vocal on behalf of Barisan Nasional in rebutting criticism of its administration of government affairs.

He said: “The PAC investigation was not based entirely on just one source but on many sources. We can allow Sarawak Report the benefit of the doubt in that they were misinformed or were not aware of this very crucial fact.”

However, he said, if Sarawak Report was aware, then it would be guilty of misleading the public. “But then this has always been the modus operandi of Sarawak Report since 2010.”

Salleh said many reports were tabled at the PAC meeting which all members of the PAC, including those from the Opposition, had discussed at length. They, too, were aware that there were many other reports.

“The final report on 1MDB is the PAC report. The PAC report was compiled from many other reports, investigations and interviews done,” Salleh said. The A-G’s report only addressed one aspect of 1MDB’s affairs.

He said that Sarawak Report’s articles on the leaked A-G report had compromised the integrity of the PAC members, as it insinuated a cover-up by the PAC members, including those from the opposition.

The PAC report was released in April. The DAP’s Tony Pua, MP for Petaling Jaya Utara had stated at the time that he was only “80 per cent” happy with the 106-page report, and had claimed that some “crucial” sentences had been omitted.

Police said earlier today that they would check on the authenticity of extracts from the audit report, which is classified as an official secret.

Salleh had called for an urgent police investigation yesterday to determine how Sarawak Report had obtained material from the report which was prepared as part of the PAC investigations into the controversy over 1MDB’s finances and investments.