Xavier Justo, the Swiss banker slash whistleblower whose leaked information helped unravel the 1MDB financial scandal way back in 2015 has received a “gift” to the tune of US$2 million from Edge media group chairman Tong Kooi Ong for his troubles.
The Edge reported yesterday that Justo and his family met with Tong and the group’s publisher to present the former PetroSaudi employee with the RM8.2 million gift.
“The gift to Justo is in appreciation of his contribution to Malaysia in helping to expose the kleptocracy of the past government,” Tong said.
“Without him, the wrongdoings involving 1MDB, as exposed by The Edge, would not have come to light.”
In case you forgot (we haven’t), Justo gave an interview to Singaporean daily, Straits Times, in 2015 alleging that he had been promised US$2.7 million for the data on his former employer, PetroSaudi International.
At the time, he also claimed that The Edge had said that they were going to fudge the documents, with the objective of toppling Barisan government.
The Edge has admitted to telling Justo as much, but have said that they only misled him in order to get the information in the first place. Four years ago, the also called Justo a disgruntled man, saying he was upset with the financial paper for “not paying him what he wanted.”
Yesterday, with one wallet now thickly lined, and another significantly lighter, everyone seemed to be singing a different song.
Tong thanked Justo for having remained strong, even when in a Thai prison, saying that he had been wrongly made to suffer for “helping to reveal the truth.”
He also added that Justo did not “steal” the data.
In return, Justo thanked Tong, saying that his generous gift would help him, along with his family, “rebuild our lives.”
“I take comfort (from the fact) that I have not suffered in vain. Malaysians got to learn the truth (about 1MDB) and I eventually got my freedom back,” he said.
Nothing a cool two milli can’t solve, amirite?!
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