KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Malaysian anti-corruption body said Sunday that it has launched an investigation into a claim that an audit report on state investment fund 1MDB had been tampered with.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said in a statement that it was studying original documents produced by the National Audit Department.
This comes after Auditor-General Madinah Mohamad claimed an aide to former Prime Minister Najib Razak had instructed her office to remove a paragraph mentioning Malaysia businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, who has been the focus of the ongoing 1MDB investigation but remains unaccounted for.
"MACC will summon several witnesses in the near future to record their statements and facilitate investigations," said the statement.
Madinah earlier issued a statement listing down in chronological order all the times the report was altered.
According to her, two crucial deletions were made to the report at the request of a private secretary of then Prime Minister Najib in 2016. One was on the financial status of 1MDB and the other on the presence of Low at a meeting of the 1MDB board of directors.
The changes delayed the presentation of the audit report to the Public Accounts Committee.
Madinah added she had briefed the Cabinet of incumbent Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on the amendments to the 1MDB final audit report that was finalized and presented to the committee.
"The 1MDB final report prior to the amendments was submitted to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Royal Malaysia Police in 2018 for investigation," she said.
Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, the leading defense attorney representing Najib, said the claims of tempering were politically motivated.
"By her own admission, the Auditor General's press statement which was unusually released to the public on a Sunday morning was made under orders of the cabinet," he said.
Najib has repeatedly said his relationship with Low was strictly professional despite claims Low was a family friend and alleged mastermind of a scheme to siphon public funds through 1MDB.
Najib faces 38 charges including some accusing him receiving hundreds of million U.S. dollars in public funds connected to the scandal. He has pledged not guilty to all the charges.
