PetroSaudi: Thai official confirms classified documents fabricated

Police officials from Thailand confirmed that a London based news organization had fabricated documents implicating Malaysian investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Thailand police spokesperson Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri told New Straits Times (NST) that the news organization which meddled with the PetroSaudi International classified documents belongs to a Malaysian woman living in Britain.

Thavornsiri said that that the woman was part of a group of potential dealers wanting to buy the classified documents from former PetroSaudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo.

“Some members of the group, including the woman, had met with Justo three times in Thailand to determine whether the information contained in the documents was any use to them.

“The information contained in the documents that were published online appeared to be different from the original digital copies retrieved from Justo’s personal computer," Thavonsiri said.

The group of dealers met Justo a few times and was believed to have had a meeting in Singapore at least once.

“We have strong evidence to support alleged meetings and we can confirm that they did take place in both countries,” he said adding the group included key personnel from Malaysian opposition, government and media.

On June 24, Thai police arrested the Swiss national, Justo for attempting to blackmail PetroSaudi International based in Saudi Arabia which had drawn attention in Malaysia as it had established ties with 1MDB.

Following the attempted blackmail, several e-mails and documents were published by the Sarawak Report, a politically-motivated blog, to the extent of creating various allegations against 1MDB.