PAC seeks explanation for 1MDB top guns' absence

KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will seek an explanation from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) top guns in regard to their absence from a hearing on May 26.
PAC member Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara) said 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy and his predecessor Datuk Shahrol Halmi, who is also board of director members, must explain why they could not attend the hearing.
While the two have previously stated that they have prior appointments overseas and that the notice to attend the hearing was too short, Pua said their explanations were lacking in detail.
"Why were they not able to attend? They said they have prior appointments overseas, but if so, where were these appointments, when did they take place, and when did they book the flight tickets? Is it before or after they received the notice (to attend)?" he said.
These are among the questions that the PAC will ask ask the two when they are called up again next month, which PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed previously said the Committee will not accept any more excuses.
Nur Jazlan also said it was not the PAC's fault that they got the notice as it was sent to the Finance Ministry on May 6, six days more than the required 14 days' notice, and that it is the Ministry's duty to channel them to the persons concerned.
On an unrelated issue, Pua also slammed the Finance Ministry for giving unsubstantial answers to three questions related to 1MDB in Parliament.
"All the answers started with 'Based on the information that 1MDB provided ... '. This is highly irresponsible as Parliament is the highest legislative authority in the country, and answers given in the house cannot be based on hearsay," he said.
Pua added that the Ministry's excuse that they will not answer the question as it was based on unverified news reports by online news portal was ridiculous since nowhere in the questions did it state that it was based on the reports.
The questions were regarding the US$3 billion (RM10.9 billion) in bonds raised by 1MDB to fund the Tun Razak Exchange development and the debt-laden sovereign fund's joint venture with PetroSaudi International.