Najib's brother slams 1MDB top execs over no show at inquiry

Najib's brother slams 1MDB top execs over no show at inquiry

PETALING JAYA - It is unacceptable that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) top executives did not attend the Public Accounts Committ­ee (PAC) inquiry, said Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.

In an Instagram post, the brother of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, slammed 1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy, as well as its former CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, for not being at the inquiry yesterday.

Nazir, the CIMB group chairman, posted a picture of the front page of a financial news daily, with the comment: "Your company has triggered a national crisis and you can be too busy to face Parliament? Unacceptable."

Several parliamentarians also hammered Arul and Shahrol for giving excuses for not attending.

Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang said their absence was an act of contempt and showed that they had something to hide.

He wondered whether having a prior commitment overseas was a good enough reason for one of the 1MDB executives to miss the meeting.

"The PAC should have higher priority. In fact, he should be chasing after the PAC," Lim said.

Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin said the non-appearance of the two executives did not make sense.

"They are the people responsible for all this. They should tell what's going on. I think the PAC can use its authority to summon them," he told reporters at Parliament.

Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said that the PAC could invoke its powers under the Parliament Act and fine both individuals for being in contempt.

The PAC said it would set a new date for the executives to appear before the inquiry.

Arul and Shahrol said they could not attend the inquiry yesterday because they were away on official business. Also, they asked for a month's extension to prepare for their meeting with the PAC.

"They requested 30 days ... We may give them less," PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed told the media on Monday.

In Sendai, Japan, the Prime Minister said Arul and Shahrol would not run away from attending the inquiry.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said both had given him their guarantee that they would attend.

"They will attend. They will not run away. They just have to sort out some matters first," he said.

Shahrol was the first CEO of 1MDB until he left the government strategic development fund for the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, or Pemandu.

He was the chief executive from February 2009 to March 2013.

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