Former National Audit Department (NAD) director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad today insisted that the February 2016 audit report of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was already finalised as it had been sent for printing, the High Court was told today.
Saadatul Nafisah, who had previously led NAD’s special audit team for 1MDB, was testifying today against Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is accused of abusing his position as the then prime minister to tamper with the firm’s 2016 audit report, along with former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy who is alleged to have abetted him in the process.
Under cross-examination, Najib’s lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, quizzed Saadatul Nafisah on her statement to the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on December 6, 2018.
He read to the court the transcripts of the PAC hearing, where Saadatul Nafisah had testified under oath that a report could not be considered final unless it was presented to the PAC, and subsequently, tabled in Parliament.
While she told the court that she had spoken the truth during the PAC hearing, she further explained that in the case of 1MDB, its February 2016 audit report was already final as a copy had been sent to the printers.
Shafee then retorted, asking her whether her statement to the PAC was the “truth”, to which she insisted that it was.
“While I stand by my statement to the PAC, what I meant to say for a report that had yet to be printed. In the case of 1MDB, its report was already printed,’’ said Saadatul Nafisah.
On February 24, 2016, a meeting was held with major stakeholders, including NAD, at then chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa’s office that eventually resulted in the removal of four items, including 1MDB’s two conflicting 2014 financial statements.
Saadatul Nafisah had also testified in court today that amendments can be made to an audit report provided there are reasonable justifications.
In the case of 1MDB, Saadatul Nafisah stated that four amendments were made, including the omission of 1MDB’s two differing financial statements from 2014, because NAD was promised that a police report would be made by the Treasury Department on the matter. – MMO
Earlier reports:
Aug 24, 1MDB Audit Trial: Without Najib’s Instructions Meeting Would Not Have Happened
Aug 13, 1MDB Audit Trial: Ambrin Asked by Ali Hamsa to Remove His Opinion
Aug 12, 1MDB Audit Trial: Najib Did Not Pressure Ambrin on Conflicting Financial Statements
Aug 11, 1MDB Audit Trial: Ambrin Felt Insulted After Arul Kanda Allowed to Review His Audit Report
Jul 27, 1MDB Audit Trial: Arul Kanda Had No Power to Influence Probe
Jul 27, 1MDB Audit Trial: Ali Hamsa Denies Threatening Auditor-General Ambrin to Get Report Changed
Jul 23, 1MDB Audit Trial: August 7 for Decision on Striking out Application
Jun 24, 1MDB Audit Trial: Court Allows Prosecution to Amend Charges Against Najib, Arul Kanda
Jun 17, 1MDB Audit Trial: Defence Says Charge Amendments Substantial Not Just Typos
Jun 16, 1MDB Audit Trial: Prosecution Seeks to Amend Charges
Jun 16, 1MDB Audit Trial: No One Threatened Auditor-General into Altering Reports
Jun 16, 1MDB Audit Trial: Ali Hamsa Calls Taping of Meeting Unethical as No Permission Granted
Jan 16, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day Nine
Jan 14, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day Eight
Jan 14, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day Seven
Nov 29, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day Six
Nov 28, Former A-G Ambrin Told That Tarnishing Najib’s Reputation Akin to Sullying Nation’s Image
Nov 27, Ambrin: I Ordered Auditor Salwani to Save Sole 1MDB Audit Report, Destroy the Rest
Nov 21, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day Four
Nov 21, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day Three
Nov 20, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day Two
Nov 19, 1MDB Audit Trial: Day One
