Justo under investigation in Switzerland for economic espionage
The Swiss Attorney General has opened an investigation, on the grounds of suspected economic espionage, into the whistleblower who brought to light the 1MDB corruption scandal.
(MT) – Xavier Justo, a Swiss citizen who leaked data from his ex-employer PetroSaudi to show massive siphoning of cash from the 1MDB Malaysian sovereign fund, is now the subject of an investigation opened last November by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).
The OAG confirmed the probe – as well as the September authorisation by then justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga to prosecute Justo – on Thursday, confirming reports in several Swiss newspapers.
The OAG declined to give further information on the case but said that it fell under article 273 of the Swiss Penal Code: suspicion of economic espionage.
Justo, a former employee of PetroSaudi, was at one point during the 1MDB case arrested and imprisoned in Thailand for attempted blackmail of the energy company. He is now free.
PetroSaudi accuse him of having stolen the data, which reveal corruption involving the 1MDB fund to the tune of $4.5 million. Justo says he was given the information by an IT engineer.
The report by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation said the country’s justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga had authorised to prosecute Justo, amid a debate in Switzerland on the extent of which whistleblowers can be protected in cases involving corporate corruption.
The report said an investigation into Justo, who in 2015 leaked 1MDB-related documents from PetroSaudi International, was opened in November last year.
Justo, who was arrested for leaking the documents from the oil and gas firm, was later jailed in Thailand for allegedly demanding payment in exchange for not disclosing confidential information.
Last month, The Edge Media Group chairman gave Justo a gift of US$2 million (RM8.2 million) for his role in exposing the 1MDB scandal.
“Without him, the wrongdoings involving 1MDB, as exposed by The Edge, would not have come to light,” said the media company’s chairman Tong Kooi Ong.
