Ambrin 'insulted' Arul Kanda allowed to review his audit report
AUDIT REPORT TRIAL | Former auditor-general Ambrin Buang (above) said it was insulting that 1MDB was allowed by the government to review the National Audit Department's (NAD) report on the company, page by page, before it was published.
"I find it insulting that the auditee (1MDB) is given the honour to review my report, page by page, paragraph by paragraph, so whatever opinion we expressed in the report will be removed.
"I was told to keep my opinion to myself. Write a book how could I be happy," he said while under cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah during former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's 1MDB audit tampering trial.
However, during proceedings before the Kuala Lumpur High Court today, Ambrin did not elaborate on who had told him to keep his thoughts to himself.
Ambrin said the meeting on Feb 24, 2016, which was called after Najib's then principal private secretary, Shukry Mohd Salleh, learnt about the draft report and asked for the removal of certain contents which was "abnormal".
"The amendments were not only in terms of specific issues like the separate financial statements (of 1MDB for 2014)...
"What I was not happy about was that (then chief secretary to the government) Ali Hamsa authorised (then 1MDB chief executive officer) Arul Kanda Kandasamy (photo) to sit down with my team and review our report, page by page, paragraph by paragraph, and remove references. This is abnormal," he said.
Shafee, in his cross-examination, also zoomed in on Ambrin's previous statement in 2018, where he maintained that the NAD's audit report on 1MDB was not tampered with, something which he reiterated to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in December that year.
Ambrin maintained that he disagreed with the term "tamper", stating that he had authorised the changes to the PAC report at the request of the government, albeit grudgingly.
Shafee: You were not pleased with the insinuation that you allowed the report to be tampered with?
Ambrin: The issue was with (the term) "tampering". Tampering (means) it was unauthorised. Here there were amendments to the audit report and authorised in my capacity as the auditor-general (at the time). So it was not unauthorised. I appeared before the PAC to say there was no tampering by someone outside my control.
Shafee: You were not pleased with any suggestion that your report consists of some tampering?
Ambrin: I simply do not agree with the word "tampering".
However, he maintained there were two versions of the audit report, one was the draft that the NAD was prepared to present and another which it had amended after requests by the government to omit certain details.
This includes the fact that 1MDB had produced two different versions of its financial report for the same year (2014) on grounds that a police report would be lodged over the matter.
Ambrin said the meeting on Feb 24, 2016, saw the NAD having to do "abnormal things beyond the normal practice".
Asked if he had aired his unhappiness when he went before the PAC investigating the alleged tampering in December 2018, Ambrin said the hearing was not completed due to the matter later going to court.
Despite the "abnormalities", Ambrin said he ultimately authorised the changes.
Shafee: You may grumble about the extra work but nobody put a gun to your head and say you alter this or else...
Ambrin: Nobody.
Shafee: You found justification to alter?
Ambrin: Yes.
Meanwhile, during the open court proceedings before judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan today, Ambrin testified that he was unhappy with his then successor Madinah Mohamad’s statement issued on Nov 25, 2018.
On that date, Madinah (above) had issued a media statement claiming that Najib and others had tampered with the NAD audit report on 1MDB.
She had among others alleged that the tampering took place following her predecessor, Ambrin, and then-chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa, being summoned to a meeting with Najib on Feb 22, 2016. This was two days before the crucial Feb 24 meeting.
Shafee: You were not happy with the matter raised by Madinah, your successor, without consulting internally with you and your team (first)?
Ambrin: Yes, I was surprised when she made the statement alleging the tampering. If she had contacted me for an explanation, I could have explained what happened.
Shafee: You were never consulted by her?
Ambrin: Not by her.
When Shafee asked if others from NAD had contacted Ambrin about the issue, the sixth prosecution witness said that he was contacted by a deputy of Madinah on whether he (Ambrin) was willing to explain the matter to the PAC, adding that he then went to the committee to explain it.
Under questioning by Shafee, Ambrin also testified that he stands by the integrity of the NAD audit report on 1MDB, and denied he was an accomplice due to any alleged pressure.
Proceedings before Zaini will resume on Wednesday morning.
Near the end of proceedings today, the judge also vacated trial initially scheduled for tomorrow, because a member of the prosecution team had to attend a separate court matter.
Najib is charged with using his position to order amendments to the 1MDB audit report before it was presented to the PAC to avoid any action being taken against him.
Co-accused Arul Kanda is charged with abetting Najib in making the amendments to the report.
Both of them were charged under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, which specifies a jail term not exceeding 20 years, and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
