Najib’s lawyer questions A-G’s motive

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s lawyer has questioned the motive behind the revelation by Auditor-General Tan Sri Dr Madinah Mohamad that the original audit report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) had been altered.

Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Dr Madinah’s statement, which was unusually released on a Sunday morning, was made under orders of the Cabinet.

“This seems to indicate that there were political undercurrents and considerations taken for the decision to issue the press statement, which, read by any ordinary person without the benefit of all the documents and testimony pertaining to 1MDB, suggests that our client had attempted to cover up the alleged wrongdoings in 1MDB and of (businessman) Jho Low (Low Taek Jho),” he said in a statement issued last night.

Earlier yesterday, Dr Madinah said she had briefed the Cabinet last Friday on the amendments, including the removal of a paragraph mentioning Jho Low’s attendance at a 1MDB board meeting, to the 1MDB final audit report that was finalised and presented to the Public Accounts Committee on March 4, 2016.

Shafee said the Finance Ministry had on Dec 21, 2015, stated that Low’s presence at the meeting was to represent Prince Turki Bin Abdullah as the owner of PetroSaudi Inc.

The statement also said Dr Madinah had made no attempt to contact Najib for an explanation about his alleged role in the alteration before her statement was issued.