Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): Former chief secretary to the government Tan Seri Ali Hamsa today denied that he issued threats to former auditor-general Tan Seri Ambrin Buang to amend the National Audit Department’s (NAD) 2016 audit report of the controversial 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

Testifying at the high court here as the fourth prosecution witness in the joint trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy for allegedly tampering with the audit report in 2016, Ali said that at a meeting with Ambrin and others on Feb 24, 2016, Ambrin was not pressured into removing content or making changes to the report.

In this February meeting, which was a coordination meeting between top government officials and Arul Kanda, it is alleged that Ambrin was instructed to make various changes to the audit report on 1MDB.

Arul Kanda’s lawyer Datuk N Sivananthan was cross-examining Ali on behalf of his client and Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah, who was on sick leave today.

Ali had testified that on Feb 22, two days before the meeting, Najib had instructed him to call for said meeting to hold discussions between the NAD and 1MDB about the unfavourable audit report.

Sivananthan: Was he (Ambrin) pressured? Did you compel him to do that (make changes to the audit report)?

Ali: No he wasn’t. It is within his powers (to make changes to the report).

Sivananthan: In the meeting, everyone gave feedback but [in] the end the Auditor did what he did?

Ali: Yes.

Sivananthan: Did you threaten him to follow whatever you said?

Ali: I never threatened him, Yang Arif.

Ali then reiterated that at the meeting, no one was forcing or coaxing the Auditor to change the report.

The meeting resulted in the removal of four items from the auditor-general’s audit report on 1MDB which misrepresented the actual state of affairs in the investment arm including the discovery that it had submitted two versions of its financial statements for 2014.  

Sivananthan also grilled Ali on Tan Sri Shukry Mohd Salleh, the then chief private secretary to Najib, who attended the meeting.

Sivananthan: Why did Shukry comment about the dual account, he has nothing to do with the meetings?

Ali: I don’t know, I cannot recall.

Sivananthan: Why was he allowed to make comments when he has no business with the audit?

Ali: He was from the PMO.

Ali said he didn’t stop Shukry from asking questions because he was representing the PMO.

Ali had also defended Arul Kanda’s involvement at the meeting. He said Arul Kanda was defending 1MDB but the ultimate decision on removing and/or tampering with the report was still the onus of Ambrin.

There were other matters dropped from the audit report as well, including the presence of now-fugitive businessman Jho Low at a board meeting, as well as the agreement between Country Group Securities Thailand and Acme Time Ltd, a company linked to Low.

Najib is charged with abusing his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final audit report to avoid any action being taken against him while Arul Kanda is charged with abetting Najib in making the amendments to the report.

Both of them were charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which provides a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

For more stories on the 1MDB audit report tampering trial, click here.

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