KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 ― Tony Pua told 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) today that he was a witness in a police investigation on an alleged attempt to topple the government, after the state investment firm told the DAP lawmaker to quit the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) pending the probe.

Pua, who is Petaling Jaya Utara MP, also questioned how a conflict of interest could occur even if he were to be investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code for committing activities “detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, amid investigations on 1MDB that is facing a debt burden of RM42 billion.

“I've been specifically informed by the police that I am being questioned only as a witness to their investigations,” Pua said in a statement.

“Is 1MDB saying that I should quit my place in the PAC‎ just because I'm assisting investigations as a witness?” the DAP publicity chief added.

National news agency Bernama reported Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar as saying recently that Pua would be recalled, in an investigation on an alleged attempt to topple the government, to record his statement over a New Straits Times (NST) report quoting former PetroSaudi International (PSI) executive Xavier Andre Justo’s claims against the Petaling Jaya Utara MP from the DAP.

NST reported Tuesday Justo, who recently pled guilty in Thailand to attempting to blackmail Saudi-based PSI over purportedly incriminating documents, as saying in a written confession that Pua and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown had arranged for 1MDB data to be sold to The Edge Media Group owner Datuk Tong Kooi Ong.

Pua said today that he was not a suspect in the case of the billions he dubbed as being “embezzled” from 1MDB and that he has not received any “donation” from the state-owned firm either.

“Hence, why on earth should I step down from the PAC investigating the financially distressed company as I pose no conflict of interest?” he said.

The opposition MP also said the only way 1MDB could refute a report by US-based paper the Wall Street Journal that claimed Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) never received 1MDB’s US$1.4 billion (RM6.01 billion) payment ― with the money reportedly absent from the wealth fund’s financial statements ― was to get a public confirmation from IPIC that it did indeed still held the money in cash.

“With such a huge sum of money ‘disappearing’, 1MDB should be demanding an explanation from IPIC to ensure that Malaysian interests are protected,” said Pua.