Nurul Izzah denies offering govt contracts to Justo in exchange for 1MDB data

PKR vice-president, Nurul Izzah Anwar today denied allegations that she had offered government contracts to former PetroSaudi International (PetroSaudi) employee Xavier Andre Justo, in exchange for information on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The allegations were published in the New Straits Times (NST) and Berita Harian (BH) today, based on a written confession by Justo, made on his free will.

Nurul Izzah described the report as a desperate attempt to divert attention from 1MBD issues and she will take legal action on both newspapers.

“I deny that I have ever offered US$2 million to Justo in future government contracts when the opposition came into power. I have never met him before.

“Today NST and Berita Harian have made the lie as front page in a sensational manner, ignoring how true those allegations were. I have instructed my lawyer to take legal action against NST and Berita Harian,” she said in a media statement on Tuesday.

The Lembah Pantai MP said the main question is not about the stolen documents by Justo but it's about what those documents say, including the reports by the Wall Street Journal, Sarawak Report and The Edge.

NST and BH today reported that Nurul Izzah had offered to pay Justo with contracts but the latter had rejected the offer as he wanted US$2 million (RM8.62 million) in cash instead.

Justo also claimed that Sarawak report editor, Clare Recastle-Brown played as a middle person in the deal between him and Nurul Izzah.

“Around September 2014, Clare contacted me and invited me in (sic) Bangkok. She said the daughter of (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim was interested in buying the data.

“I declined as Nurul wanted to pay US$2 million in future government contracts when they come into power, instead of cash. I declined the offer as I saw no purpose in it,” Justo was quoted as saying.

Also named in the report was Petaling Jaya Utara MP, Tony Pua, who was alleged to have arranged the sale of the data to The Edge media group owner, Datuk Tong Kooi Ong, with Rewcastle-Brown.

Pua today reiterated that he did not know anyone by the name of "Xavier Andre Justo", until he was caught in Thailand and made headlines.

Justo is currently serving a three-year jail sentence in Thailand for blackmailing and extorting PetroSaudi.

Pua had said that he had shared many contacts with Recastle-Brown, including Tong's and discussed various subjects relating to Malaysian politics.

"However, if the sharing of contact information with journalists and media groups meant taking part in a 'conspiracy', I must have conspired with every media organisation in Malaysia that requested contacts from me,” he said.