The High Court was told on Thursday that the Auditor-General’s interim report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was strictly limited to auditing the company and was not allowed to investigate or inquire into former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts.
Former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Tony Pua, 54, made the statement while testifying on the fourth day of the US$5.64 billion civil lawsuit filed by 1MDB against Najib and six former company officials.
Pua told the court that he was familiar with the contents of the interim report because he had reviewed it during his time as a PAC member.
According to Pua, the Auditor-General’s Office was forced to rely mainly on 1MDB’s audited financial statements and supporting documents provided by its auditors due to a lack of cooperation from the company.
He claimed that 1MDB failed to provide numerous key documents, including investment agreements and overseas subsidiary bank statements, which significantly limited the scope of the audit.
Pua further testified that the Auditor-General was prohibited from extending the audit to Najib’s personal bank accounts, restricting investigators to examining only matters directly related to 1MDB.
He also said that following the release of the interim report, then-Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah urged critics to stop making allegations against 1MDB, claiming the internal audit had found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Earlier in the proceedings, the court allowed Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, to remove several paragraphs from Pua’s witness statement after ruling that they contained personal opinions and hearsay evidence.
Most of the excluded sections referred to media reports about the 1MDB scandal during Najib’s administration, including articles published by Sarawak Report.
The civil suit was filed in May 2021 by 1MDB and several of its subsidiaries against Najib and six former senior executives, alleging breach of trust, abuse of power, conspiracy and misappropriation of 1MDB funds.
Separately, on December 26, 2025, Najib was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and fined RM11.4 billion after being convicted on four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds.
