The classification of the auditor-general’s report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) under the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) has raised suspicions something is not right with its findings.

“This cloak of secrecy around the auditor-general’s report presents a new set of suspicions over the real workings and machinations of 1MDB,” Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) director Cynthia Gabriel told Malaysiakini .

“(Now) it looks like there is really something to hide.”

Cynthia was commenting on the auditor-general’s report which is still classified under the OSA despite Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chief Hasan Arifin who had, in March, said that the report would be declassified once PAC's own report on 1MDB is tabled in Parliament.

PAC’s report on 1MDB was tabled in Parliament last Thursday, which was the last day of the parliamentary session.

Cynthia, meanwhile, stressed that the auditor-general’s report should not have been classified in the first place because it had breached the “normal pattern”.

The auditor-general, she pointed out, normally presents his findings to Parliament which will then be debated by lawmakers.

“There is no understandable reason why it should be classified as an official secret. It is only through the auditor-general’s findings that the public can have an opinion on what actually transpired,” she said.

Urging for the report to be declassified immediately, Cynthia also wants to know whether the auditor-general had received instructions to classify the report or otherwise.

“This is because normally his reports are never classified under the OSA, so why make an exception with the 1MDB report?”

Although the PAC had tabled its report, Cynthia said the auditor-general’s report was different.

“Even the PAC depends on the auditor-general for his own findings in order to make their informed opinion. It’s imperative that Parliament must (also) have access to the auditor-general’s report,” she said.

Auditor-general: No comment for now

Auditor-general Ambrin Buang had confirmed that his report was still classified under the OSA.

When contacted yesterday, Ambrin said he had no comment for now with regard to the reason why the report is still classified.

Meanwhile, Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Akhbar Satar reiterated the anti-corruption watchdog’s stand for the auditor-general’s report to be declassified and tabled in Parliament.

“It should be declassified and then tabled so that everyone will know the truth. The declassification should be hastened because the public really want to know what exactly is going on,” he told Malaysiakini .

Urging the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the matter, Akhbar said an RCI is important to free the PAC from the perception that it is not transparent, as well as to confirm or refute the possibility of a ‘shadow power’ behind the chief executive officer of 1MDB.

The auditor-general’s report was tabled to the PAC on March 4 as part of its investigations on 1MDB.

In its 106-page report, the PAC had, among others, found the 1MDB model unsustainable as it was built on refinancing of debt.

It also found that the firm, in particular former CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, did not practice due diligence before taking up large loans, and repeatedly ignored advice by its board of directors.