KUALA LUMPUR, (May 19): There is no need at the moment to call up Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and businessman Jho Low to assist the probe of

1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today after a three-hour long enquiry into the controversial state-owned strategic investment fund.

"I do not see a need at the moment," said PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed when asked if PAC is looking to call up Najib and Low, the two personalities who have been linked to 1MDB, which has a whopping RM42 billion debt.

But when asked if it made more sense to call up Najib, also the Finance Minister who has the authority to approve any transactions including any mergers and acquisitions for 1MDB in the past and present, Jazlan opined that it was "too early to tell ... (because) it is just one meeting" and that it cannot make any conclusion on it based on one meeting.

Najib is also the chairman of the advisory board of 1MDB, which has in the past five years went on an asset acquisition trail on borrowed dimes.

Jazlan was speaking to reporters after PAC conducted its first round of investigations into 1MDB. PAC had interviewed treasury's secretary-general Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah, who sits on 1MDB’s board of advisory, and Economic Planning Unit (EPU) director-general Datuk Seri Dr Rahmat Bivi Abdullah for today’s probe.

The bi-partisan PAC today started its own inquiry on the governance control of the debt-laden 1MDB by calling its board members and relevant government officials.

Initially PAC wanted to wait for the preliminary results of the Auditor-General's probe, which ends in June, but it decided to start its own investigations into 1MDB.

Former chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Shahrul Ibrahim Halmi, who helmed the top post when 1MDB was first set up in 2009 until March 2013, as well as current CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy are also expected appear before PAC to give their statements at Parliament on next Tuesday.

Jazlan assured that there will be no limitations on its scope when doing its investigations.

"We are just going on basically getting facts established, if there are issues like those (financial mismanagement) we will then go deeper into it," he added.

Jazlan stressed that PAC will not hesitate to make the necessary recommendations if at all during the course of investigations if it leads to any "improprieties".

PAC will also call up all the audit firms that were involved in the auditing of the financial accounts of 1MDB; Ernst & Young, KPMG and Deloitte, he added.

Jazlan also noted that the meeting went well and that all the parties were very cooperative and that they had briefed the PAC about their role and functions concerning 1MDB.

Meanwhile, Jazlan noted that PAC did not need help from the external parties on the questions to be posed to the relevant individuals. He said the outcome of the investigation would be provided in a report, which will be “good, objective and professionally done”.

“We are going to provide a report that is good, objective and professionally done that can provide people with the history of 1MDB and what has happened in it," he added.