International auditing firm Deloitte has denied that the son of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak-  Mohd Nizar Najib - was involved in 1MDB’s audit.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Nur Jazlan Mohamed ( photo, left ) said the firm had explained to the committee that Nizar had been working in Deloitte’s financial services section and not in the auditing section.

 

“He is not even in the audit section. He was not even involved in the audit,” Nur Jazlan said during a press conference today.

He said Deloitte representatives had also told the PAC that it has no issues with 1MDB’s management, nor its board.

To a question whether there had been political interference in the audit process, Nur Jazlan curtly replied: "No."

Possible conflict of interest

Earlier, he had chaired a PAC hearing lasting over three hours during which the committee questioned Deloitte representatives over the 1MDB accounts that it had audited for the financial year ending March 31, 2014.

Among those testifying include Deloitte Malaysia country managing partner Tan Theng Hooi, and audit partner Ng Yee Hong, the latter of whom had signed off the accounts.

Previously, Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli ( photo ) had raised concerns over possible conflict of interest due to Nizar’s presence in Deloitte, although he is in a different unit.

“It is a matter of time before the public figures out that Najib's first son - Nizar - is a partner at Deloitte (albeit in a different business unit).

“The issue is whether it is publicly and professionally acceptable for Deloitte to accept the appointment as auditors for 1MDB when there is a serious risk of conflict of interest (at least perceived by the public) arising from this situation,” he told Malaysiakini on May 27.

Najib serves as the chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisors.