PAC: 1MDB accounts yet to be audited

KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) has yet to have its accounts audited for the year end March 2015, says Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
He said he was informed of this by audit firm Deloitte, when its partners were present here for the PAC's proceedings on 1MDB in parliament.
"An audit should be carried out two or three months after a financial year ends.
"For a Government Linked Company (GLC), 1MDB should have carried out its auditing after the financial year ended in March," he said.
Nur Jazlan noted that Deloitte, who had carried out the audit on 1MDB accounts last year, was not instructed to do another audit on this year's accounts.
"This is up to the prerogative of the Finance Ministry to do so," he told reporters here during a press conference.
Nur Jazlan had earlier chaired a four-hour proceeding, said that the meeting with several of its Malaysian partners, was fruitful and informative.
"It was a blessing in disguise as it provided plenty of information to the PAC to questions the 1MDB top management," he said, adding that it was an insight besides getting information only from news reports.
He also noted that 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former president Datuk Shahrul Azral Ibrahim Halmi will be called in on the first week of August.
"There is no excuse for them not to attend the proceeding," he stressed, referring to the absence of both individuals in May.
Nur Jazlan added that based on the accounts audited last year, the sovereign fund group had assets worth RM13.4 billion.
He said that PAC was informed that 1MDB business was then a "going concern" to operate as a soverign fund as it had at that point of time enough assets.
When asked if there was any problems encountered by Deloitte during the audit, Nur Jazlan replied: "Based of the terms of engagement, it was done in true and fair view."
He noted that there is no complaints of "political interference" during the audit.
Nur Jazlan added that PAC will also call another auditing firm KPMG, which audited 1MDB's account in 2011 and 2012.
He also does not deny the possibility of calling Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and businessman Low Taek Jho, who is allegedly linked to 1MDB, into the proceedings after all the main stakeholders have been questioned.
"We want to go through the sequence of questioning first," he added.