KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 — A member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today thrashed the excuse given by a senior minister for the absence of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy from last week’s PAC hearing, arguing that the latter had ample time to reschedule.

Petaling Jaya-Utara MP Tony Pua said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah had given a “cock and bull story” by claiming that Arul Kanda had a prior appointment to discuss the reported US$1 billion (RM3.69 billion) deal with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) to repay a US$975 million loan that was due in August.

“PAC gave 20 days notice to Arul Kanda via his (Ahmad Husni’s) Ministry. Arul could easily have changed his appointment date or give us a new date earlier,” Pua said in a post on his Facebook page.

“But no, he chooses to inform PAC he can’t make it only 3 days before the hearing,” the DAP leader added.

Last night, Husni said in an interview aired on national television that Arul Kanda had to postpone his meeting with the PAC as he had prior appointments to secure the US$1 billion deal to help the firm meet its debt obligations.

“Others can’t give appointments as (you) will. BSI cannot give appointment (simply)... When there is appointment, it can’t be that (you) want to retract the appointment,” he said in the interview.

Pua today, however, poked holes at Husni’s logic, arguing that no bank in their right mind would turn away a client that is worth billions.

“And what nonsense that Arul can’t see 1MDB’s own bank, BSI S’pore, where it deposited alleged US$1bn of assets. Any bank will drop everything to meet a US$1bn client!” Pua said.

PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed previously said that the PAC had sent a letter on May 6 to the Finance Ministry, requesting that Arul Kanda and his predecessor Datuk Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi appear before the committee on May 26.

Arul Kanda, however, claimed later that 1MDB had only received the notice from the Finance Ministry on May 21, and that he had responded on the same day.

The parliamentary bipartisan committee began its hearings on the matter on May 19, after deciding not to wait for an independent probe by the auditor-general.

Aside from the PAC, the Auditor-General is also conducting an audit on the accounts of 1MDB, which has reportedly amassed debts of some RM42 billion since it was incorporated in 2009.

1MDB was incorporated in 2009, after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the decision to turn the Terengganu Investment Authority state fund into a federal agency.

Since then the fund has been dogged by negative publicity over its finances and debts with the most recent being the controversial land deal with Lembaga Tabung Haji.