Sarawak Report editor to join 1MDB forum tomorrow, says Tony Pua

Staunch 1MDB critics, PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli (left) and DAP's Tony Pua will be the main speakers at the '1MDB: The Ultimate Low Down' forum to be held at the Crystal Crown hotel in Petaling Jaya tomorrow. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 14, 2015.Malaysians can hear directly from Sarawak Report editor Claire Rewcastle Brown about debt heavy 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) when she joins two other local critics in a forum about the state firm this Sunday.

Rewcastle Brown, an investigative journalist based in Britain, will participate in the  "1MDB: The Ultimate Low Down" forum via a video conference, DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said in a statement released yesterday.

She will be joined by Pua and PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli, two of the more outspoken critics against the 1MDB.

"As we all know, the exposés on the Sarawak Report presented crucial evidence – both previously secret documents as well as email conversations – to vindicate the various critics of 1MDB over the past few years," Pua said, adding that Rewcastle Brown may reveal more information on 1MDB tomorrow, based on the thousands of documents she had allegedly obtained on the state firm.

Pua said the forum will be held at 3pm tomorrow in the Crystal Crown Hotel in Petaling Jaya, and all were invited to attend.

"The forum will be moderated by Cynthia Gabriel, the executive director for Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4)," the Petaling Jaya Utara MP added.

Sarawak Report has released a series of hard-hitting exposés over the past few weeks on 1MDB, with Rewcastle Brown recently promising in a media interview that there would be more to come.

Sarawak Report had claimed that controversial businessman Low Taek Jho, popularly known as Jho Low, had used PetroSaudi International (PetroSaudi) as a front to siphon off US$700 million from 1MDB.

It also alleged that Low had engineered the joint-venture between both companies, which resulted in 1MDB repaying a loan to PetroSaudi. But the funds allegedly went to a company controlled by Low, called Good Star Limited.

Low, PetroSaudi and 1MDB have since publically denied they had committed any wrongdoing, while the Cabinet on March 4 cleared 1MDB, saying the allegations only concerned external parties and not the strategic investment vehicle.

However, after much pressure, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that the Auditor-General will be directed to conduct an independent audit of 1MDB's accounts. The report will then be passed to the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for any further action.

Najib has vowed action against any wrongdoing if found.

- TMI