I fully agree with the statement by human rights group Proham that allegations of criminal breach of trust surrounding state-owned fund 1MDB is not the sole responsibility of its former chief executive officer.
Responding to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1MDB, Proham chairperson Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari and secretary-general Denison Jayasooria in a joint statement expressed shock over the disclosure of weak governance structure and monitoring instituted for such huge sums of public funds.
They said: “We express deep concern over the failure of the board of directors, the advisory council and the Finance Ministry to institute adequate checks and balances.
“We are not in agreement that the criminal breach of trust lies solely on the CEO of 1MDB and therefore the speedy release of the auditor-general’s report is imperative.”
The 106-page Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report on 1MDB, released in the Dewan Rakyat on April 7 had, among others, urged authorities to probe 1MDB former chief executive officer Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and others in the management.
Shahrol Azral, however, had stressed that there was no wrongdoing or illegal activity at the company under his watch.
The PAC, in its 1MDB Governance Management Control Report said Shahrol Azral must take responsibility for the government-owned strategic investment company’s weaknesses and shortcomings.
It is impossible that Shahrol was solely responsible for the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal as Shahrol was 1MDB director for the past seven year since the inception of 1MDB and even when it was Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), apart from being the Chief Executive Officer for four years from 2009 to 2013.
On the Internet, Shahrol’s c.v. refers to him as “an expert in value creation in multiple sectors”, and although Shahrol has proved to be a great disaster in the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal, I am strongly convinced that he is unfairly blamed by the PAC Report as the worst culprit in the 1MDB scandal. Continue reading “Jho Low is also welcome to attend and answer all charges against him at the Wednesday forum in Shah Alam on “Has the PAC Report on 1MDB exonerated Prime Minister Najib from wrongdoings in RM50 billion 1MDB scandal?””