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Edge boss: Najib kicked me out when told about Jho Low's scam
Published:  Nov 24, 2018 4:40 PM
Updated: 9:06 AM
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Edge Media Group chairperson Tong Kooi Ong has rubbished former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's claims of ignorance over the 1MDB scandal.

Tong claimed that in 2015, he had personally informed Najib of evidence that fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho was running a scam with 1MDB, only to be kicked out of the then-premier's home.

In his editorial in The Edge today, Tong said the meeting with Najib on the night of March 6, 2015, was arranged by an Umno MP.

"I met Najib in the living room. It was just us.

"He started by telling me The Edge was wrong, and that the problems of 1MDB were its business model of carrying too much debt. There was no theft of money.

"I told him otherwise. I shared with him information that I believed was proof that it was all a scam, with Low at the centre of it. I explained how the accounts were made up to report a profit, and why I believed the cash was all gone," he said in the tell-all piece.

"After about half an hour, he relented and told me he would shut down 1MDB. He didn’t say what he was going to do about the debts.

"I then proceeded to tell Najib that Jho Low must be held accountable and be prosecuted. This upset him. He immediately stood up, walked to the door and asked me to leave.

"I was taken aback that he was so sensitive about Low." 

On Thursday, Najib said that Low may have cheated 1MDB, but maintained that he was ignorant of any wrongdoings that may have transpired at the time.

In August, Low was charged in absentia with eight counts of money laundering at the Putrajaya Sessions Court.

The fugitive businessperson was also charged in absentia by prosecutors in the United States, together with two Goldman Sachs bankers, in relation to 1MDB.

In his piece, Tong also noted he worked closely with Najib's younger brother, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chairperson Nazir Abdul Razak, to uncover the 1MDB scandal.

"Nazir was also under a lot of pressure to back off," he said.

Tong added that the duo agreed they would need the help of then-former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom they met in London to brief on the scandal.

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