KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy said today he is confident that Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will give him a fair hearing this August.

The 1MDB CEO noted that the PAC is a lawful authority and the appropriate forum for him to answer questions on the controversy, even after being savaged by the watchdog’s DAP member Tony Pua.

“Notwithstanding the various public statements on 1MDB from PAC member YB Tony Pua, I have every confidence that the honourable members of the committee will allow me a fair opportunity to explain 1MDB’s position, to a lawful authority, per the requirements of due process,” Arul Kanda said in a brief media statement.

He added that the 1MDB team is currently focused on the delivery of the rationalisation plan that was presented last month to the federal Cabinet, noting that the firm has successfully repaid a RM3.6 billion loan and will soon issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for investors in its Bandar Malaysia project.

In a statement early this morning, Pua accused 1MDB of glossing over the truth to protect the alleged lie told by Arul Kanda over the nature of the US$1.1 billion that the firm had redeemed earlier this year from Cayman Islands.

1MDB had yesterday insisted in a statement that Arul Kanda, when explaining the matter in a Singapore Business Times interview in February, had only said that he had seen the statements and had not said that the funds were in the form of “cash” as reported.

In the weeks after the interview, the Finance Ministry was forced to make an embarrassing correction in Parliament after it was revealed that the funds were actually in the form of “units” and not in “cash”.

Despite 1MDB’s denial, Pua insisted today that Arul Kanda had specifically said in the interview that, “the cash is in our accounts and in US dollars. I can assure you (about that)... I have seen the statements”.

These inconsistencies along with the 1MDB president’s claim that the firm recovered all its funds from the Petrosaudi International deal and even profited from it “proved that Arul Kanda is an unscrupulous liar and a man without any honesty and integrity”, Pua said in his statement.

1MDB is currently the subject of at least three investigations by separate federal agencies.

Arul Kanda is expected to face the PAC on August 5.