KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — Multiple investigations into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption case have shown significant progress, 1MDB committee head Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman said today.
Abu Talib, however, refused to reveal further details, adding that the public should not set a specific timeframe as to when they would be concluded.
“The probes are going well, the whole picture is getting clearer.
“You cannot give a timeframe to probe teams. It may look simple but the tasks can be complicated,” he told reporters when met at Ilham Tower today.
The former attorney general said the committee, in charge of overseeing multiple probes on the state investment firm, had previously found overlaps between two investigative agencies, which have now been resolved.
He pointed out that the five-member panel was exclusively tasked with ensuring all probes by various agencies, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Securities Commission (SC) and the police, do not encroach on each other’s work.
“Yes, we have identified some overlaps in the SC investigations with the police, but we have rectified them,” he said.
Abu Talib also confirmed that his team met with Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Commissioner Datuk Seri Amar Singh Ishar Singh today.
He, however, said that no document was submitted by the police as the task to review all investigation papers does not fall under the committee’s jurisdiction.
When approached by reporters, Amar Singh declined to comment further, adding that he was just updating the committee on police’s own investigation.
“I cannot tell you more except that we had a meeting with the 1MDB committee... It was just a meeting,” he said, while leaving the building.
On June 22, Abu Talib told reporters that the probe into the scandal “was almost completed” following briefings by two 1MDB taskforce members — MACC head Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull and its former chief, Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed.
The committee, established on May 17, comprises four other members: PricewaterhouseCoopers partner in risk assurance Nik Shahrizal Sulaiman, Naqiz & Partners senior partner Syed Naqiz Shahbuddin Syed Abdul Jabbar, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan Indonesia (the Indonesian financial services authority) senior adviser Faris Rabidin and Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) founder Cynthia Gabriel.
