"Someone's" Macai quarrelling with Najib - Was the ex Thai Convicted & Jailed Blackmailer ordered to or otherwise?

Najib and Justo locked horns over 1MDB scandal on FB

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and Swiss national Xavier Andre Justo locked horns on Facebook after Najib called the latter a thief and blackmailer, alleging Justo of having stolen data from PetroSaudi International for ransom.

Justo is a former PetroSaudi director who was responsible for leaking over 200,000 of the company's email communications, among others, in 2015 which sparked a multi-national investigation into 1MDB - a Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund that was founded by Najib.

For the record, PetroSaudi is a private Saudi oil extraction company which had a purported joint venture with 1MDB that started in 2009.

The venture had been one of the subjects of investigations by authorities inside Malaysia and abroad.

The online altercation started yesterday when Najib posted on Facebook alleging that Justo (above) had stolen PetroSaudi's email database as he was upset after being sacked from the company in 2011.

"Justo was not happy that he was fired. When this happened, he stole the whole email database from PetroSaudi," said Najib.

"Clare Brown accused me of being responsible for Justo being jailed in Thailand, although I have never been a prime minister for Thailand. She forgot that Xavier was jailed in Thailand because he (Justo) stole from his boss to blackmail the boss in Thailand," the politician added.

Najib was referring to Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who on Sunday published an article on her news blog about 1MDB and PetroSaudi where she touched on the issue of Justo's imprisonment in 2015.

The Pekan MP then went on to claim that a UK citizen allegedly connected to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had then approached Justo, to get him into selling the data to Brown.



Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak

In his response to Najib, Justo yesterday evening posted on Facebook where he refuted Najib's claims about him being sacked from PetroSaudi.

He also denied having been approached by the UK citizen to sell the PetroSaudi data.

Justo said that he was never fired from PetroSaudi, but instead had resigned on his own accord.

To substantiate his claim, Justo also attached a screenshot of an email, which he said was proof that he tendered his resignation.

He also called Najib a liar and alleged that the former premier was either hoping to make lies seem like the truth or that he was suffering from an issue with his memory.

"For the first one, I'm sorry to inform you that there is so much evidence in different courts (Switzerland, Malaysia, USA and others) that are proving your guilt!

"For the second one, I do think that a visit to a doctor for a thorough check of your mental health is a very important option.

"I enclose a picture of my resignation from PetroSaudi. I hope this will at least stop you from claiming that I was fired as you can see that I resigned," said Justo.

A whistleblower

On the UK citizen mentioned by Najib, Justo claimed that he had only met the man in 2018 after Mahathir won the 14th general election and not before.

To this, Najib in another Facebook post today questioned Justo that if he was indeed a whistleblower, why had he waited for four years before leaking PetroSaudi emails to The Edge and Sarawak Report.

"Is it true that you met and blackmailed your employers in Thailand in 2013? If this is not true and that offence did not happen in Thailand, why is it that the Bangkok courts had jurisdiction for you to be charged and sentenced to three years' jail?

"And why have you not slammed the Thailand legal system for illegally imprisoning you or even appealed your conviction?" said Najib.

He also pointed to a news report where Justo said he was unsure if the 1MDB scandal would have been exposed if PetroSaudi had paid him 2.5 million Swiss francs, which he claimed PetroSaudi owed him.

For the record, Justo had received RM8.2 million from The Edge Media Group chairperson Tong Kooi Ong in 2019 as a "gift" for his role in leaking the data in 2015.