Proof of Sarawak Report conspiracy to topple Malaysian government, says NST

The New Straits Times (NST), in an exclusive report published today, cited Whatsapp messages which purportedly reveal that Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown had conspired with several others to topple the Malaysian government.

The NST report said that according to sources close to Thai authorities, WhatsApp conversations over a three month period alluded to such a conspiracy involving Rewcastle-Brown, The Edge Media Group chairman Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and CEO, Ho Kay Tat and former PetroSaudi employee Xavier Andre Justo.

The alleged conspiracy revolved around a scheme to purchase data, supplied by Justo, which involved PetroSaudi’s dealings with state development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Justo had claimed that he was promised US$2 million in exchange for the data he stole from PetroSaudi. Rewcastle-Brown is alleged to be the middleman between Justo and The Edge’s bosses.

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

The WhatsApp conversations supposedly also showed that Rewcastle-Brown had close ties with jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP lawmaker Tony Pua and former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The NST report said these messages revealed Rewcastle-Brown’s "true colours" and her willingness to break the law.

Titled, "I will drink when Najib is done", a front page blurb on the newspaper named Kooi Ong and Kay Tat as being "implicated in this elaborate conspiracy to topple a democratically-elected prime minister".

The report also claimed Rewcastle-Brown had told Justo that she was “changing the destiny of one country” and that she would celebrate with a glass of champagne when “Najib is done”.

Meanwhile, the Edge Media Group today 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.

In a statement today issued in response to the NST exclusive, The Edge said whatever articles it had published on 1MDB since 2013 were strictly in the interest of corporate governance.

“We wish to reiterate that The Edge Media Group and ourselves were and are not involved in any political conspiracy, nor did we have any political agenda when we published articles on the problems at 1MDB.

“We have been publishing numerous articles on 1MDB since 2013 when it became apparent it was facing financial difficulties.

“As a business media, our interest in 1MDB was purely to uncover what happened at 1MDB and the various financial and business dealings it undertook since its inception in 2009.

“Anyone who have read our various exposes would know that we have never linked the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) or even the government in general to the problems at 1MDB. We had never given 1MDB a political spin in any of our articles.

“We pursued only corporate governance issues and held the management, the board of directors and the various third parties which have had dealings with 1MDB accountable for what had happened, which should be the case with any corporate entity,” Kooi Ong and Kay Tat said in the statement.

They added that they would take legal action against those who continue to make unfounded allegations against them and The Edge Media Group.

Read: 'Investigate claims Sarawak Report falsified information' - Rahman Dahlan