The DAP MP says the transfers were confirmed by 1MDB and the police can easily verify the facts.
MP Tony Pua wants to know if police have probed the money transferred to a company said to belong to businessman Jho Low.
KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition MP Tony Pua wants to know if the police have investigated the US$1.03 billion (RM4.2 billion) transferred to Good Star Limited which is said to belong to businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
Pua said the transfers were confirmed by sovereign state investment fund 1MDB, and the facts could easily be verified by the police.
“Have the police questioned witnesses from Bank Negara who have confirmed that Good Star belongs to Jho Low, which is consistent with all the findings exposed by the US’ Department of Justice (DoJ)?” he said in a press conference at the Dewan Rakyat media centre today.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP was commenting on a recent statement by Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun that Low was not linked to any decisions or business deals made by 1MDB.
Fuzi said police had carried out investigations into 1MDB based on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2016.
However, Pua claimed that PAC and the auditor-general had failed to probe Low as present PAC chairman Hasan Arifin and other Barisan Nasional (BN) members had blocked all attempts to summon him as a witness.
“In addition, 1MDB refused to submit financial statements and accounts of its foreign subsidiaries to PAC which is stated in the PAC report.
“This means there is no way for PAC to probe the financial flows from 1MDB to Jho Low.”
The DAP MP said Bank Negara had written twice to PAC, on April 4, 2016 and again two days later, to confirm Low’s direct involvement with 1MDB.
“Bank Negara wrote again to PAC on April 6, 2016 to confirm that the individual who owned Good Star Limited was none other than Jho Low. But Hasan has refused to distribute the letter to PAC members,” Pua said.
On March 7, Fuzi said police investigations so far revealed that Low had never worked in 1MDB, and there was no strong evidence that he was involved in its dealings.
He said evidence showed that all decisions were made by the management or board of the sovereign investment company after carrying out investigations against 1MDB, based on the PAC report tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2016.
Fuzi also said if police received any new evidence against Low, they would take appropriate action against him according to the relevant laws.
In 2016, Putrajaya said Good Star Ltd was owned by Saudi oil firm Petrosaudi International.
The finance ministry said 1MDB’s records showed it belonged to the Middle Eastern firm when payments were made in 2009.
“The payments were made so that 1MDB could obtain a 40% stake in a joint venture,” the ministry had said.
The Petrosaudi-1MDB joint venture was terminated in 2012, but 1MDB said it had not lost any money.
It also claimed to have made a US$488 million (RM1.98 billion) profit from the deal.
The issue of Good Star’s ownership turned controversial after PAC members accused Hasan of deleting two sentences from the committee’s report on 1MDB relating to the ownership of the firm.
Hasan had responded by saying “the deletion of two sentences in no way affects the final report by PAC on 1MDB”, adding that the sentences were deleted because of their unclear status, or because the matter was under investigation and not for public consumption.
IGP: Jho Low not linked to any 1MDB decisions or deals
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