This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 2, 2019 - December 8, 2019

THE National Audit Department (NAD) discovered the existence of two versions of a financial statement for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and the deliberate omission of businessman Low Taek Jho’s name in the meeting minutes of the state-owned strategic investment company, it was revealed at the audit tampering trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the company’s ex-CEO, Arul Kanda Kandasamy, last week.

Former auditor-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang said the financial statement was for the year ended March 31, 2014. One, sent to the Companies Commission of Malaysia, indicated that 1MDB’s funds have been utilised to repay borrowings while the other, sent to the Finance Ministry, Deutsche Bank and AmBank, stated that the funds were still in its accounts.

The NAD was also uncertain as to whether Low — now a fugitive — had attended a 1MDB board meeting on Sept 26, 2009, where 1MDB approved a US$1 billion investment in a joint venture with PetroSaudi International Ltd, as it found contradictory meeting minutes.

Ambrin said the meeting minutes that the NAD obtained from 1MDB’s premises contained Low’s attendance at the board meeting.

“The NAD thought the attendance of Jho Low, who did not have any position or role in 1MDB’s meeting at the time, was something not right,” he told the court last week.

But 1MDB did not allow the NAD to make copies of the document. To verify Low’s attendance, Ambrin said he interviewed all of 1MDB’s board members and that its former chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh confirmed Low had attended the meeting. Bakke also brought along meeting minutes that contained Low’s name.

The NAD decided, however, that Bakke’s copy could not be used for audit purposes as it had been obtained from a third party.

Ambrin then met Bakke’s successor, Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, and 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy and demanded for the meeting minutes. Only after a number of requests did 1MDB provide certified minutes, which did not contain Low’s name on the list of attendees. 1MDB’s company secretary insisted the certified copy was the correct one, Ambrin said.

Yet, another issue was the NAD’s audit findings on SRC International Sdn Bhd, which Arul Kanda and former chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa suggested be removed because the unit was then no longer a subsidiary of 1MDB.

However, Ambrin rejected the request as he said SRC was still a subsidiary of 1MDB in the financial period ended March 31, 2015.

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