Ng Yee Hong sought leave at the High Court here today to initiate a judicial review against the accounting body, its investigation committee and disciplinary committee, in an attempt to quash the investigation committee’s recommendation to refer him before the disciplinary committee to answer charges of irregularities in the 1MDB audit.
The investigation committee had claimed Ng “failed to comply with paragraphs 14 and 17 of the MIA’s International Standard on Auditing 560 Subsequent Events”, adding that he did not check if the 2013 and 2014 accounts needed further amendments, after he allegedly knew certain facts about 1MDB after the accounts were signed off.
Among the events that took place after the financial statements were signed off were 1MDB’s failure to make successive loan repayments, 1MDB’s failure to redeem investments in the remaining unit at a segregated portfolio company fund in Cayman Island, as well as 1MDB’s aborted plan to list its energy subsidiary Edra on the stock market.
Ng said he had explained to the investigation committee on June 18 last year that the complaint which had been lodged by one MIA officer and the committee’s own conduct were “highly questionable”.
“The MIA, through the surveillance and investigation division, had acted in abuse of process and bad faith in utilising the complaint process to contrive a basis for disciplinary proceedings against me, firm partner Mark Thomson, as well as former auditors Tan Theng Hooi and Cheong Thoong Farn,” he said.
Thomson, Tan and Cheong were former 1MDB auditors. The three men also filed similar proceedings against the accounting body on the same issue as Ng.
Ng said three months after the proceeding last year, the investigation committee said he needed to answer charges before the disciplinary committee but did not explain how they came about the decision.
“There is no basis and no authority granted to the said MIA officer to lodge a complaint on me,” he added.
Ng also said issues related to the complaint before the investigation committee were ventilated previously, in another complaint lodged by one Andrew Anand Solomon Devesahayam.