Datuk Seri Najib Razak has never been out of the spotlight ever since the authorities have started to quicken the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) investigations. Every day, we learn something new about the case and him, which leaves the entire nation pretty shook sometimes.
Recently, everyone was surprised when The Malay Mail reported that Auditor-General Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad confirmed that the content of the original 1MDB audit report had been tempered with by the former prime minister. OMG!
Source: The Malay Mail
This confirmation comes after several reports claimed that Najib altered his and Low Taek Jho’s involvement in the 1MDB final audit report. Therefore, to set the record straight, Madinah listed out the dates of when the report was altered in chronological order.
Here’s the order of events according to the dates, as reported by daily;
20 February 2016:
- Najib’s former private secretary Tan Sri Shukry Salleh requested for the 1MDB audit team to prepare a final report.
22 February 2016:
- Najib ordered the removal of two paragraphs from the audit report during a meeting which was also attended by ex-Chief Secretary Tan Sri Ali Hamsa and former Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang.
- The two paragraphs contained the 2014 financial statement and the authorities’ recommendations for a thorough probe on the state fund.
- Hence, the audit report’s presentation was postponed to 4 and 7 March 2016. Initially, the report’s presentation to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was on 24 February 2016.
23 February 2016:
- Another meeting was held at the Chief Secretary’s office which was attended by Ali, Shukry and Ambrin.
- The 1MDB audit team was notified that the then-government had classified the final audit report as a “crisis”.
24 February 2016:
- Another meeting was held with 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy, the Attorney-General’s Office’s (AGC) representatives and Ministry of Finance.
- A few more paragraphs were ordered to be removed and amended from the audit report.
25 February 2016:
- The former Chief Secretary ordered the audit team to attend a meeting in his office with Najib and Arul.
- More reported findings were removed as a result of that meeting.
Auditor-General Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad | Source: The Borneo Post
26 February 2016:
- Shukry ordered for the paragraph, which detailed the involvement Jho Low during the 1MDB board of directors, to be removed from the report.
- Shukry claimed that the aforementioned action was necessary so that the then-opposition will not “exploit” the facts.
28 & 29 February 2016:
- Shukry asked for the amended version of the 1MDB report to be given to him.
- On 29 February 2016, the report was handed to the ex-Chief Secretary.
1 March 2016:
- The 1MDB audit team was asked to meet to discuss the amended final version of the report at the ex-Chief Secretary’s office.
- This time around, only the ex-Chief Secretary and Arul went through the report thoroughly with the audit team.
- More amendments were made to the report.
2 & 3 March 2016:
- The finalised version of the 1MDB audit report was printed.
- On 3 March 2016, two copies of the report were given to Shukry and Ali.
4 & 7 March 2016:
- Ambrin tabled the final 1MDB report to the PAC.
Source: FMT
Following that, Madinah said that she had already briefed the cabinet about this revelation on 23 November 2018 and the Cabinet had instructed her to release an official statement about the issue.
Prior to this, Ambrin said no one had tampered with his report because he had complete authority over it and Najib claimed that his relationship with Jho Low was “strictly professional”. Najib also blamed Goldman Sachs for not being able to guard Malaysia’s interest because they didn’t alert his administration about Jho Low’s effort to defraud the local investment firm.
Well, we hope that the authorities will quickly find a solution to this international graft scandal so that we can focus on rebuilding the country.
Don’t forget to leave your thoughts on this matter in the comments section!
Also read: Tun M: “Stolen Money From 1MDB Will Be Returned to Malaysia”
