Nurul Izzah offered to buy data from Justo, says NST and BH

Nurul Izzah Anwar is said to have offered to buy data on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), from former PetroSaudi International (PetroSaudi) employee Xavier Andre Justo.

The New Straits Times (NST) and Berita Harian (BH) reported this today, based on a written confession by Justo, who is currently serving a three-year jail sentence in Thailand for blackmailing and extorting PetroSaudi.

Both dailies reported that Nurul Izzah had offered to pay Justo with future contracts, but he had rejected the offer as he wanted US$2 million cash.

Justo claimed that Sarawak Report editor, Clare Rewcastle-Brown played middle man in the deal between him and the Lembah Pantai MP.

“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 (the Opposition) come into power, instead of cash. I declined the offer as I saw no purpose for it,” Justo was quoted as saying.

Astro AWANI’s attempts to contact Nurul Izzah today for her reaction to the story were unsuccessful.

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

Pua had previously stated that he had never met Justo. Malaysiakini today cited Pua in a report as saying that he only “introduced Rewcastle-Brown to The Edge bosses, but was not privy to the leaks or any transactions.”

Yesterday, the NST reported that Whatsapp messages over a three month period showed that Rewcastle-Brown intended to topple the Malaysian government, using data supplied by Justo.

The NST quoted the 51-year-old Briton as saying that she may have changed the "destiny of one country" and that she would celebrate when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak "is done".

The newspaper produced excerpts from WhatsApp conversations between her and Tong, Ho Kay Tat of The Edge, and Justo from March to June this year.

The report said the conversations also revealed Rewcastle-Brown's close ties with jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Pua and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In a response issued on the same day, The Edge Media Group stood its ground, saying it was never part of any political conspiracy to topple the government nor had it tampered with evidence related to 1MDB.