A former 1MDB executive sought by Bank Negara in its investigation had allegedly lied to the state-owned fund's board by claiming that PetroSaudi International was owned by the then King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2009.

Casey Tang had allegedly told this to the 1MDB board before the company entered into a deal with PetroSaudi, according to a statement from Sarawak Report .

The whistleblower website also released what it said is the minutes of the 1MDB board meeting.

The minutes, which recorded the meeting that took place at 5pm Sept 18, 2009, states: "In the course of the briefing, En. Casey clarified that PetroSaudi is ultimately owned by King Abdullah and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

The report said this was a "bare-faced lie" as PetroSaudi was in fact a private company owned by a number of individuals.

"All the evidence available about PetroSaudi confirms that this was an entirely private company with a very limited capital base, which was one of a set of shell ventures set up by a youthful Prince Turki and his pal Tarek Obaid in the hope of cashing in on their royal connections."

1MDB's deal with PetroSaudi had been under the spotlight as it was reportedly used as a front to siphon more than US$1 billion from the former into Good Star Ltd, which is owned by Penang-born billionaire Jho Low, who is close to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's family.

Concurrently, RM2.6 billion had been discovered in Najib's personal bank accounts.

Najib has denied taking public funds for personal gain and his supporters claim the deposits were "political donation" from the Middle East.

In July, Bank Negara issued a notice seeking help in locating Tang and another former 1MDB executive, Jasmine Looi Ai Swan.

The notice reads: "Bank Negara Malaysia is looking for the following individuals to assist investigation under the Exchange Control Act 1953.”

Since then, Bank Negara has submitted its investigation papers to the Attorney-General's Chambers, which has refused to prosecute the case.

Bank Negara insisted that 1MDB provided inaccurate or incomplete information in three transactions amounting to US$1.83 billion.

The central bank did not detail the transactions but the sum matched transactions made in 1MDB's deal with PetroSaudi.

Malaysiakini has emailed 1MDB on this matter and is awaiting the firm’s response.