Xavier Justo who pocketed 8.2 million RM for selling stolen data from his employers PetroSaudi to Edge’s Tong Kooi Ong and Sarawak Report’s Claire Rewcastle-Brown is currently under investigation by Swiss Office of Attorney General (OAG). The case was opened last November.
The OAG has confirmed the investigation authorisation by then justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga to prosecute Justo – on Thursday, confirming reports in several Swiss newspapers.
The OAG declined to give further information on the case but said that it fell under article 273 of the Swiss Penal Code: suspicion of economic espionage.
Justo has been alleged to have stolen the corporate data including emails which then he intended to use to blackmail his employers, PetroSaudi.
Justo, who was arrested for leaking the documents from the oil and gas firm, was later jailed in Thailand for allegedly demanding payment in exchange for not disclosing confidential information.
He then tried to sell the to various Malaysian parties. Justo sued Tong Kooi Ong for 2 million USD for the data he provided that Kooi Ong did not pay him for. The stolen data which Justo obtained when working as an IT Manager for PetroSaudi was allegedly an agreement between Justo, Kooi Ong and Sarawak Report’s Claire Rewcastle Brown.
While Pakatan Harapan claims Justo as a whistleblower and a “1MDB expert”, Justo’s claimed expertise is also odd when he had no direct exposure to the deals of PetroSaudi, Jho Low, Najib Razak. Justo’s role was an IT Manager in a company. Many wonder how then he now plays a role of an “1MDB expert”. Justo just lacks the credibility as a witness.
The original Swiss investigation into 1MDB did not include Najib Razak nor was he a target. However it did not stop Pakatan Harapan coalition to claim that Najib was the mastermind behind 1MDB.
It appears that the Pakatan Harapan original story that the coalition went to election with has developed plot holes. The OAG investigation for Justo’s “economic espionage” will shed additional information to the extend Justo’s involvement in 1MDB and if what he says is true.
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