The BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) website today claims former premier Mahathir Mohamad has been implicated in the conspiracy which used tampered 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) documents to attack Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
This was alleged in a report titled, ‘Is Dr Mahathir the lead character in Malaysian House of Cards?’, carried by portal Malaysia Daily Opinion and reproduced on the BNBBC website today.
The article claimed that Sarawak Report editor Claire Rewcastle-Brown had assured Xavier Andre Justo, a former director of PetroSaudi International, that he would be well-protected by a few influential personalities if he were to reveal the joint venture between 1MDB and PetroSaudi.
The report, which title refers to a popular American political drama series on TV, said the powerful individuals include Mahathir and Gordon Brown, the ex-premier of United Kingdom, and other influential people in Malaysia.
Xavier was jailed by a Thai court on Monday for three years for blackmailing his former employers.
The portal said Rewcastle-Brown approached PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar in order to sell the stolen data to her father and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
It further reported Justo and Nurul met in September 2014 in Bangkok, where she expressed her interest to purchase the data but claimed she was short of money.
Justo declined the deal as he wanted the money, the article claimed.
Claim Justo protected by ex-PM
It also said Justo was told by Rewcastle-Brown that DAP Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentarian Tony Pua would help in the selling of the data and getting money.
The report also claimed Justo said Tong Kooi Ong, the owner of The Edge Media Group, was interested in the data.
According to the article, Justo then agreed to sell the data for US$2 million, but failed to get his payment despite providing a copy of the data to the buyer.
It reported that Rewcastle-Brown and Tong conspired to use the stolen data to attack the Malaysian government and Najib.
The article said it was at this juncture that Rewcastle-Brown assured Justo that he would not be prosecuted, as Mahathir will protect him.
"The question is why Mahathir supported Rewcastle-Brown, who has been singlehandedly trying to take on the government and bring down the Malaysian economy?" asked the portal.
