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KL paper takes fight to govt over 1MDB

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s The Edge media group yesterday defended its decision to publish a series of articles alleging US$1.83 billion (S$2.51 billion) had been creamed off state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in a joint venture with a Middle Eastern energy company, saying that its reports were based on thousands of emails and documents verified by an information technology forensics expert.

The Edge published a series of reports on July 20, 2015 detailing Penang-born tycoon Low Taek Jho’s alleged role in the 1MDB controversy, and hinted that it could be its last article. Photo: Malay Mail Online

The Edge published a series of reports on July 20, 2015 detailing Penang-born tycoon Low Taek Jho’s alleged role in the 1MDB controversy, and hinted that it could be its last article. Photo: Malay Mail Online

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KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s The Edge media group yesterday defended its decision to publish a series of articles alleging US$1.83 billion (S$2.51 billion) had been creamed off state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in a joint venture with a Middle Eastern energy company, saying that its reports were based on thousands of emails and documents verified by an information technology forensics expert.

“What we read shocked us. What was supposed to be a joint venture that will bring economic benefits to the country was nothing more than a scheme to scam billions of ringgit from Malaysia by a small group of Malaysians and their foreign partners,” publisher and group chief executive Ho Kay Tat said in a statement, referring to data it obtained from an unnamed individual early this year on 1MDB’s dealings with PetroSaudi International.

He added that the information was handed to the Malaysian authorities this week to assist in their investigations, and that he has also given a statement to the police. “We are comforted that the various investigators — the Auditor-General, the Public Accounts Committee, Bank Negara, the police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Attorney-General — have given their commitment to uncover the truth without fear or favour,” he said.

“It is, indeed, their responsibility and their duty to the people of Malaysia to do just that. Just as it was our duty to pursue the story.”

The Edge has reported extensively on 1MDB since 2013 after it emerged that the government-owned entity had run into financial difficulties.

Early this year, The Edge was told someone was willing to share information on 1MDB’s joint venture with PetroSaudi International. “This person, whom we shall not name, showed us thousands and thousands of emails and document attachments,” said Mr Ho, who did not reveal if the person was Xavier Justo, the ex-PetroSaudi executive who has been arrested by Thai police for attempting to blackmail his former employer. Mr Ho said that an IT forensic expert confirmed the authenticity of the information, which has been used in articles published by The Edge in recent months.

In its latest article on Monday, The Edge detailed an alleged scheme in which US$1.83 billion was creamed off 1MDB following an aborted joint venture with PetroSaudi, adding that it could be its last article on the scandal. Controversial Malaysian billionaire Low Taek Jho was allegedly behind the scam between 2009 and 2011, the report added. 1MDB has dismissed the report as baseless and accused the paper of regurgitating “old and unproven” allegations against it.

Mr Ho maintained that there was no political agenda or conspiracy in the paper’s coverage of the issue.

“We were not involved in any theft, we did not pay anyone and we did not tamper with any of the emails and documents we were given,” he said. “The easiest thing we could have done after coming across what we found was to walk away. Why look for trouble?”

“But we could not do that,” he said.

1MDB is currently under investigation by at least four federal agencies over its RM42 billion (S$15.1 billion) debt as well as allegations that US$700 million had been funnelled from 1MDB into bank accounts purportedly owned by Prime Minister Najib Razak. AGENCIES

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