The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will question 1MDB executives on the allegations raised by The Wall Street Journal last week when they testify before it in early August, committee chairperson Nur Jazlan Mohamed said today.

However, the committee would not be calling new witnesses, including those from the charity Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M) for now.

Nur Jazlan said this is so that the PAC can focus on those involved in 1MBD's governance first, namely the Ministry of Finance, its CEOs, auditors and directors.

He told Malaysiakini that additional witnesses, if deemed necessary, would only be called after this is done.

"Yes (we will call YR1M for questioning) if the need arises because it is alleged that Genting contributed to it.

"The only direct link to 1MDB is through related officers (namely) the prime minister and his officers and (1MDB chairperson) Lodin Wok Kamaruddin.

"We have to check whether 1MDB actually funded YR1M," he said, adding that it would take some time for PAC just to deal with 1MDB alone.

Nur Jazlan is currently heading the bipartisan committee of legislators to investigate the 1MDB scandal.

He had previously told reporters that the PAC should have an overview of the happenings in and around 1MDB by September, having questioning its main players by then.

1MDB's current president Arul Kanda and former CEOs Shahrol Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman are expected to testify before the PAC between Aug 4 and Aug 6.

From Aug 17 onwards, the PAC would be turning its attention to 1MDB’s current and former directors.

Bankrolling election campaign

Last Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that 1MDB had bought Genting Group’s power assets at an inflated price, and the group then made substantial donations to the 1MDB-linked charity Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M).

YR1M had then allegedly bankrolled BN’s 13th general election, and is now funding social programmes in Sarawak where state elections are widely anticipated.

YR1M declined to comment on the WSJ report, while the Prime Minister's Office, Genting Group, and 1MDB have yet to respond to Malaysiakini 's queries on the allegations.

On another matter, Nur Jazlan told Malaysiakini that PAC has yet to set a date to call the international audit firm Ernst and Young to testify.

"Not yet. We will call the CEOs and board first. Their (Ernst and Young) contribution is minimal as they were appointed as auditors but did not sign off any accounts of 1MDB before they were terminated by management," he explained.

Ernst and Young is the only firm that has audited 1MDB but is yet to testify before the committee. The other audit firms, KPMG had testified last week and Deloitte the week before.