KUALA LUMPUR: The office of former Malaysian premier Najib Razak ordered changes to a 2016 audit report of scandal-plagued state fund 1MDB, including removing mention of financier Low Taek Jho’s presence at a board meeting, authorities said.
Financier Low has been described as a central player in the alleged corruption and money laundering at 1MDB, according to Malaysian and US authorities investigating the fund. He had no official role in 1MDB, but advised on investments and negotiated deals for the fund, the authorities have said.
Najib, ousted in a May 9 election by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is facing multiple charges of graft, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust related to 1MDB. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and has consistently denied wrongdoing.
In a statement dated Saturday, Malaysia’s auditor-general Madinah Mohamad said “several” findings from the audit report submitted in February 2016 to Najib were “dropped and amended.”
The audit report before the amendments has been submitted to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police for further investigation, Madinah said.
“The former prime minister ordered the deletion of the paragraph containing two versions of the 1MDB financial statement for the year ended 2014 and directed an investigation to be carried out by the enforcement authorities,” she said in a statement.
Najib’s private secretary also “directed the former auditor general to drop the paragraph on the presence of Low Taek Jho in one of the 1MDB Board meetings on the ground that it is sensitive and to avoid the fact being twisted around by the opposition.”
A spokesman for Najib did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an interview with Reuters in June, Najib said he should not be blamed for the scandal at 1MDB and that he knew nothing about money from the state fund appearing in his personal account.
Low, who is at large, has previously maintained his innocence.
Malaysia, under the premiership of Najib, had classified the audit report in 2016 under the Officials Secrets Act when the fund’s financial troubles were being investigated. The Mahathir government in May declassified the report that showed senior officials at 1MDB withheld information from its board.
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Malaysia says former PM Najib’s office ordered changes to 1MDB audit report
Malaysia says former PM Najib’s office ordered changes to 1MDB audit report
- Najib has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and has consistently denied wrongdoing
- Malaysia’s auditor-general Madinah Mohamad said “several” findings from the audit report submitted in February 2016 to Najib were “dropped and amended”
Ethiopian troops mobilize on Tigray border
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian federal and Tigrayan troops have massed along the border of the country’s northern Tigray region, a Western diplomatic source told AFP on Tuesday, raising fears of renewed war.
The Tigray civil war of 2020-2022 pitted federal troops — backed by local militias and the Eritrean army — against rebels from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and killed at least 600,000 people according to estimates from the African Union.
A peace deal was never fully implemented and there was renewed fighting in January, prompting the suspension of flights to and from Tigray for several days.
“The ENDF (the federal army) is encircling Tigray,” a Western diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that Tigrayan forces “are also deploying toward their borders.”
“Such large numbers of troops positioning themselves face to face is not a good sign,” he said.
A local source in Tigray, also speaking on condition of anonymity, described it as “a massive mobilization of federal forces and Tigrayan forces.”
“If the international community does not exert pressure on the parties to the conflict to resolve their dispute through dialogue, the risk of war increases,” the Tigrayan source added.
Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have deteriorated since they fought together against Tigrayan rebels.
The Ethiopian government now accuses Eritrea of supplying the rebels with weapons, which the Eritrean government has denied.
Last week, Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the parties to the conflict in Tigray to take urgent de-escalation measures “before it is too late.”
Eritrea gained independence in 1993 after decades of armed struggle against Ethiopia.
The two Horn of Africa countries later fought a 1998-2000 border war in which tens of thousands died.
The Tigray civil war of 2020-2022 pitted federal troops — backed by local militias and the Eritrean army — against rebels from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and killed at least 600,000 people according to estimates from the African Union.
A peace deal was never fully implemented and there was renewed fighting in January, prompting the suspension of flights to and from Tigray for several days.
“The ENDF (the federal army) is encircling Tigray,” a Western diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that Tigrayan forces “are also deploying toward their borders.”
“Such large numbers of troops positioning themselves face to face is not a good sign,” he said.
A local source in Tigray, also speaking on condition of anonymity, described it as “a massive mobilization of federal forces and Tigrayan forces.”
“If the international community does not exert pressure on the parties to the conflict to resolve their dispute through dialogue, the risk of war increases,” the Tigrayan source added.
Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have deteriorated since they fought together against Tigrayan rebels.
The Ethiopian government now accuses Eritrea of supplying the rebels with weapons, which the Eritrean government has denied.
Last week, Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the parties to the conflict in Tigray to take urgent de-escalation measures “before it is too late.”
Eritrea gained independence in 1993 after decades of armed struggle against Ethiopia.
The two Horn of Africa countries later fought a 1998-2000 border war in which tens of thousands died.
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