Walk the talk and give proof, 1MDB tells Pua

1Malaysia Deve­lopment Bhd (1MDB) challenged its staunch critic Tony Pua to provide evidence of alleged embezzlement to the investigating authorities.

1MDB said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP had been making claims that he had “clear-cut” evidence of criminal breach of trust, abetting misappropriation and embezzlement.

“These are serious criminal accusations, so we urge Tony Pua to walk the talk and provide his “clear-cut evidence” to the lawful authorities for further investigation,” 1MDB said in a statement yester-day.

1MDB said this in response to Pua’s claim that 1MDB was trying to cover up their “criminal shenanigans” by obsessing over who leaked the information.

Pua who was a member of the Public Accounts Committee said in a statement yesterday he placed greater priority on misappropriation, embezzlement and criminal breach of trust involving the fund rather than on figuring out who leaked the information on the investigation into 1MDB.

1MDB said even the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had cleared them after reviewing relevant documentation contained in the Bank Negara investigation papers. Bank Negara had recommended action against 1MDB for alleged breaches under the Exchange Control Act 1953.

1MDB said the AGC’s confirmation was consistent with the Malay­sia Anti-Corruption Commis­sion (MACC) statement on Sept 22 affirming that the company was not under investigation.

But MACC denied the fund’s claim it was not under investigation.

“We never said that there were no investigation.

“We only said MACC is not conducting investigation against 1MDB. But we mentioned that the police were carrying out the full investigation.

“Therefore any queries pertaining to the investigation should be referred to the police,” it said in a statement yesterday.

Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi called on authorities to check the bank account balance of those suspected of leaking information to outsiders including foreigners.

“Sarawak report had on Monday stated clearly that they have received documents from Bank Negara,” he said.

Mohd Puad regretted that Bank Negara had kept mum despite the severity of the allegation.