KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Following the conviction of Swiss national Xavier Andre Justo in Bangkok, Malaysia’s Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said today that its Thai counterpart has responded positively to its requests for evidence amid investigations here on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy.

The AGC did not elaborate, however, on what kind of evidence it is seeking from Thailand or which probe it is meant to assist, merely saying that it is now in the process of obtaining the information.

This, it said, is in keeping with the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters that all ASEAN member nations are bound by.

“The Attorney General’s Chambers assures the public that all investigation papers submitted by the Royal Malaysia Police for its attention will be studied thoroughly and given the serious attention due to such allegations as these offences will affect the stability of the country,” the AGC added.

Justo, a former director of PetroSaudi International (PSI), the oil firm that entered a now-aborted joint venture deal with 1MDB in 2009, was sentenced to three years’ jail by a Bangkok court yesterday for attempting to blackmail his former employer.

The 49-year-old was charged under Section 338 of the Thai Penal Code, which carries a jail sentence of between one and 10 years, and a fine of between 2,000 baht and 20,000 baht (RM230 and RM2307).

Justo, who was arrested at his home in Koh Samui on June 22, is believed to be the source of leaked documents on PSI’s US$1.2 billion (RM4.51 billion) joint venture with 1MDB that purportedly suggest that hundreds of millions were siphoned out.

According to past reports, Justo had attempted to blackmail and extort 2.5 million Swiss Francs (about RM10 million) from PSI over the release of these purportedly incriminating documents.

Justo later admitted to the blackmail charges to the Thai police and provided information on the data from PSI that he had stolen when he left the firm in 2011.

The documents leaked by Justo were published by whistleblower site Sarawak Report (SR), which is run by London-based journalist Clare Rewcastle-Brown.

On August 4, police here confirmed that an arrest warrant has been obtained for the Sarawak-born Rewcastle-Brown for offences under Sections 124B and 1241 of the Penal Code.

Section 124B, which covers activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, stipulates that those convicted under the law will be liable to a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Section 124I, on the other hand, states that “any person who, by word of mouth or in writing or in any newspaper, periodical, book, circular, or other printed publication or by any other means including electronic means spreads false reports or makes false statements likely to cause public alarm, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years.”

Commenting on the matter today, the AGC revealed that the arrest warrant was obtained following SR’s July 30 report titled, “Arrest Warrant for the Prime Minister — The Real Reason The Attorney General Was Fired”.

The report had republished what it claimed was a draft document from the AGC that showed the agency was in the final stages of preparing charges against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

According to SR, the draft document was the real reason behind the unceremonious removal of Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail from the post of Attorney-General late last month.

Abdul Gani’s successor Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali has since rubbished this claim, however.

“Attorney General’s Chambers would like to emphasise to the public that these are serious offences under the law,” the AGC said today.

“It has also been brought to the Attorney General’s Chambers attention that police reports have been made against persons both within and outside the country which are being investigated under sections 124B and 124I of the Penal Code,” it added.