Former employee of 1MDB joint venture partner PetroSaudi and current inmate in a Thai prison, Xavier Andre Justo has claimed in a written confession that PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar made an offer to buy information on the national development fund from him.
Justo, currently serving out a three-year sentence for blackmail in Thailand, said Nurul Izzah was one of several individuals who expressed interest in purchasing data he had stolen from PetroSaudi servers, and that she was ultimately not his preferred buyer.
According to Justo’s confession, which was first reported in the New Straits Times, Nurul Izzah offered USD2 million in exchange for the sensitive information in Justo’s possession, but would not pay in cash.
Rather, Justo claims, she promised him USD2 million (RM6.7 million) in government contracts once PKR and other opposition parties overthrow the Barisan Nasional coalition and take over Putrajaya.
Justo also claims that Sarawak Report founder and editor, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, acted as broker in the negotiations, introducing Justo to Nurul Izzah.
“Around September 2014, Clare contacted me and invited me in (sic) Bangkok. She said the daughter of (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim was interested in buying the data.
“I declined as Nurul wanted to pay USD2 million in future government contracts when they come into power, instead of cash. I declined the offer as I saw no purpose for it.”
Speaking in response to the confession, Nurul Izzah insisted that Justo’s claims were false, and denied that she had made such an offer to him, or that she had even met Justo.
“For the record, I categorically deny that I have ever offered US$2 million to Justo in future government contracts when the opposition came into power. I have never met him before,” Nurul Izzah said in a statement today.
The Malaysian Insider reports that Nurul Izzah, daughter of jailed former Federal Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, said Justo’s claims, published by the NST and Berita Harian, both government-owned newspapers, were an attempt to divert public attention from “real issues” involving alleged wrong doing by Prime Minister Najib Razak and 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
Najib has been dogged for the past two months by allegations that RM2.6 billion was improperly transferred into his personal bank accounts in 2013, two months before the 13th General Elections. 1MDB has been combatting public criticism over debts totalling RM42 billion since its inception in 2009.
“The real question is not about Xavier Justo’s so called stolen documents. It is about what those documents, together with reports by The Wall Street Journal, Sarawak Report and The Edge say about the grand corruption, money laundering, embezzlement and electoral bribery allegations surrounding 1MDB,” Nurul Izzah said.
