Tuesday, April 26, 2016

In the face of 1MDB's enormous debt, Malaysians need to brace themselves for government bailout of at least RM20 billion

1. The Rationalisation Plan of 1MDB announced in May last year was always like a house built on sand. 

1MDB  noted  in  its  press  statement  this  morning  that “1MDB  now  retains  a  cash surplus  of approximately RM2.3 billion  for  infrastructure  and  other  debt  service requirements. Future debt obligations  are  fully  matched  by  the sale of Bandar Malaysia  land,  the  development  and  sale of TRX lands  as well  as  the  eventual monetisation of the Pulau Indah and Air Itam lands.”

We have always maintained that the 1MDB Rationalisation plan was built on sand as we  were  never convinced  that  the  US$4.7  billion  debt-asset  swap  plan  will  be successful. This was because it was clear from 1MDB’s financial statements and the events  which  took  place  over  the  past  year showed  that  1MDB  does  not  have equivalent amount of assets to “swap” with IPIC’s assumption of 1MDB debt.

The  lack  of  conviction  was  made  more obvious  by 1MDB’s  refusal  to  provide the Auditor-General  with  the  necessary  documents  to  verify the value  or  even the existence of 1MDB’s overseas cash and assets.

Hence  the  continued  insistence  by 1MDB  that “further  debt  obligations  are  fully matched by the sale of Bandar Malaysia land...” etc., especially after the collapse of the  IPIC-1MDB agreement  is an  irresponsible  attempt  to continue  play  a  game of smoke and mirrors.

In  addition, we  also  have  doubts  on  the  ability  of  the  Iskandar  Waterfront  led consortium’s ability  to  complete  the  purported  RM7.42  billion  for  the 60%  stake in Bandar Malaysia. Based on Iskandar Waterfront’s financial statements for December 2013, it only has net assets of RM3.46 billion.

2. 1MDB’s failure to repay US$50 million of interest will cause cross default. 

1MDB in its latest statement is also attempting to play down the impact of its default on the US$1.75 billion bond issue where it has failed to pay for the US$50 million of bond interest due.

1MDB  has  confirmed  cross  defaults  have  been  triggered  on  the 1MDB  RM5 billion Sukuk due 2039 (“1MDB  Sukuk”)  and  the  RM2.4  billion  Bandar  Malaysia  Sdn  Bhd Sukuk due between 2021 and 2024 (“BMSB Sukuk”).

1MDB  said  there  is  no  cross  default  on  an  RM800  million  loan  from  the  Social Security Organisation (“SOCSO  Loan”)  although  there  is  a  possibility  that  the “material  adverse  effect” clause  may  be  triggered  due  to  the  developments highlighted above.

1MDB further added that “the 1MDB Sukuk and the SOCSO Loan both benefit from guarantees issued by the Government of Malaysia.”

This is another obvious admission that 1MDB will be relying entirely on the Malaysian Government to bail out 1MDB in its burgeoning debt crisis. The event of default has been triggered which means that all bond holders will now have the absolute option to call upon the Malaysian Government to pay up for its debts.

The Minister of Finance cannot continue to remain silent on this matter as this is the single largest default by any Government subsidiary ever in the history of Malaysia. Dato’ Seri Najib Razak  must provide  a  full  and  satisfactory explanation  on  the financial  disaster  taking  place  before our eyes and  outline  the  steps  which  will  be taken to remedy the situation.

This is especially since 1MDB and Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has repeatedly denied any need for Government bailouts despite repeated warnings by opposition critics.

3. Malaysian  Government  will  ultimately  bear  the  burden  of  all  advances, interests and bonds guaranteed by IPIC. 

Under the debt-asset swap arrangement with IPIC, the agreement clearly states that the Ministry of Finance will indemnify IPIC of all its obligations including its advances and payments of interest on behalf of 1MDB.

What  is  further  highlighted  in  the  Public  Accounts Committee  report  (page  62),  as pointed out by  the  Auditor-General  was  that  1MDB  had  provided  a  back-to-back guarantee on IPIC’s guarantee.

“Dalam Interguarantor  Agreement  yang  ditandatangani  antara  1MDB  dan  IPIC bertarikh 21 Mei 2012, 1MDB  dikehendaki  mendapatkan  Ministry  of Finance  Inc., untuk  melunaskan  semua principal  dan  kos  berkaitan  yang  telah  didahulukan  oleh IPIC  sekiranya  1MDB  gagal melaksanakan   obligasinya  sebagai penjamin... Di samping  itu,  syarat  dalam Interguarantor Agreement  tersebut  adalah  bertentangan dengan  surat  kelulusan  daripada  Menteri  Kewangan bertarikh  26  Mac  2012  dan  3 Ogos  2012  yang  menyatakan  bahawa  terbitan  kedua-dua  Nota USD  itu  diluluskan tanpa jaminan kerajaaan.”

Hence ultimately, it is clear that 1MDB is continuing to play a poker game even after its cards have been fully revealed to be duds. The refusal to pay the US$50 million interest may force IPIC to repay the US$1.75 billion of bonds it guaranteed on behalf of 1MDB.

However, ultimately, IPIC  will  make  the  claim  on  the  Malaysian  Ministry  of  Finance based  on the  inter-guarantor  agreement. Will  Dato’ Seri Najib Razak  refuse to honour 1MDB’s  agreement with  IPIC,  the  sovereign  wealth  fund  of  the  Abu  Dhabi Government?

4. Arul  Kanda  has  finally  admitted  not  only  possible  fraud,  but  also  possible collaborators from 1MDB. 

"What we cannot discount is there could actually be fraud... a massive fraud... and maybe  there  was  collaboration  from  our  side,"  Arul  Kanda told The  Edge  Financial Weekly in a cover story interview.

Arul Kanda has finally admitted to a point we have been alleging for nearly 2 years, that  there may be  systematic  fraud,  deception  and  misappropriation  in  1MDB resulting in billions of dollar of losses.

His admission  now  requires him  to  make  a  police  report  to  disclose  what he  knows and demand the authorities to investigate the possible fraud claims. He must do so now in order to ensure that he will not be found to be complicit in the covering up the entire fraud in any subsequent investigations.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

"Nothing to hide", but PAC Chairman deletes BNM findings on Good Star Limited's ultimate beneficiary being an individual unrelated to Petrosaudi

The opposition members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) disclosed yesterday that PAC Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin had deleted a key sentence/paragraph from the PAC Report on 1MDB after the report has been concluded by the committee.

This  key  section  states  that  Bank  Negara  Malaysia  has  been informed  by  the  relevant overseas authorities on a voluntary basis that the ultimate beneficiary of Good Star Limited is an individual unrelated  to  the  Petrosaudi  group. 1MDB has  made  payments of  US$700 million  and  US$330 million  in  2009  and  2011  respectively  even  though the funds  were meant for its investments with Petrosaudi.

Datuk  Hasan Arifin responded  yesterday  evening  that “the  deletion  of  two sentences in no way affects the final report by the Public Account Committee's (PAC) on 1MDB”. He said the sentences were deleted because of their unclear status or being investigated and were not for public consumption.

Firstly, if the “two sentences” were indeed inconsequential to the PAC Report, why did the Chairman find it necessary to delete them in the first place?

Secondly,  the  PAC did  not  at  any  point  empower  the Chairman  to delete  these  sentences. The fact of the matter is that the final meeting of the PAC which included members of the backbenchers and  the  opposition,  approved  the  final  draft  which  included  the  above information.

Datuk Hasan Arifin tried to defend his unilateral decision by claiming that the statement “is unclear or being investigated”, hence “is something prejudicial”.

The  PAC  Chairman  should  inform  the  Parliament  and  all  concerned,  what  exactly  is  so unclear about Bank Negara’s findings that “the ultimate beneficiary of Good Star Limited is an individual unrelated to the Petrosaudi International Ltd”?

This  finding  is  crucial  to  the  entire  investigations of 1MDB  because  the  company  and  its executives  have  testified  to  the  PAC  that  Good  Star  Limited  is  a  subsidiary  of  Petrosaudi. However,  the  company  was  unable  to  provide  any  concrete  evidence, such  as  a  company search or certificate  of  incorporation  from  the  relevant  authorities,  despite repeated requests, to back up its claims to both the Auditor-General and the PAC.

All  1MDB  could  provide  was  a  letter  dated  2015  from  Petrosaudi  to  1MDB  making  a  claim that Good Star Limited was part of the Petrosaudi group. This letter would certainly hold no water in any court of law and the PAC would make itself a laughing stock of the world if we were to accept the letter at face value.

Hence, is  the  PAC Chairman  questioning  and  challenging  the  authority  and  investigative findings of Bank Negara Malaysia?

If he is questioning the findings of Bank Negara, then why did he persistently, as recorded in the Hansard on at least 5 occasions, refused our request to call Bank Negara to testify to the PAC? Is there something that Datuk Hasan Ali is aware of, which he doesn’t want PAC members to find out?

In the light of the above, as well as the latest developments involving the complete collapse of 1MDB’s debt-asset swap agreement with IPIC, we once again call upon the PAC Chairman to call for an  immediate  PAC  meeting  and  officially  re-open  our  investigations  on  the troubled 1MDB. The  failure  to  do  so  under  the  current  circumstances  would  mean  the failure of the PAC to fulfill our duties and obligations to the Parliament and the rakyat.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Kenyataan Media Ahli-Ahli Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara yang Mewakili Pihak Pembangkang Parlimen Mengenai Laporan PAC Terhadap 1MDB

1. Laporan Ketua Audit Negara Mengenai 1MDB 

Kami  ingin  menegaskan  sekali  lagi  supaya  Pengerusi  PAC  memberikan  jaminan  bahawa Laporan Ketua Audit Negara mengenai 1MDB akan dibentangkan kepada Parlimen.

Keengganan  Pengerusi  PAC,  Datuk  Hasan  Arifin  untuk  mengulas  sebab  Laporan  tersebut tidak dibentangkan  bersama  Laporan  PAC  terhadap  1MDB  telah  menjejaskan integriti Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara sebagai sebuah institusi yang dipertanggungjawabkan oleh Parlimen untuk menjaga penggunaan hasil kerajaan.

Apatah  lagi,  Pengerusi  PAC  telah  memberikan  gambaran  kepada  media  bahawa  Laporan PAC   tidak  mempersalahkan  Perdana  Menteri,  maka  tiadalah  keperluan  lagi  untuk merahsiakan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara.

2. Hansard Prosiding PAC Laporan

PAC  telah  mengandungi  Hansard  prosiding  PAC  yang  merakamkan segala  soalan, jawapan dan pembentangan oleh saksi-saksi yang dipanggil oleh jawatankuasa.

Akan tetapi, Hansard yang merekodkan

  • pembentangan  dan  perbincangan  Laporan  Ketua  Audit  Negara  antara  Jabatan Audit Negara dengan PAC
  • perbincangan  antara  ahli-ahli  PAC dan  juga  pegawai-pegawai  kerajaan  bertugas semasa menyediakan Laporan PAC 
tidak diterbitkan dan dibentangkan kepada Parlimen.

Hansard-Hansard  ini  merupakan  rekod  yang  penting  untuk  mendapatkan gambaran  yang lebih menyeluruh mengenai siasatan PAC ke atas 1MDB.

Tambahan  pula,  segala  mesyuarat  PAC  merupakan  mesyuarat  rasmi  di  bawah  Peraturan Mesyuarat  Dewan  Rakyat  di  mana  Hansard  atau  buku  penyata  rasmi  mesyuarat  perlu diterbitkan.

Peraturan  Mesyarat  10(1)  menyebut  bahawa sebuah  buku  penyata  rasmi  mesyuarat mengandungi  semua  ucapan-ucapan  yang  dikeluarkan  dalam  Majlis  Mesyuarat  dan  dalam Jawatankuasa sebuah-buah Majlis Mesyuarat, hendaklah disediakan...͟

Oleh  itu,  kami  menggesa  supaya  Pengerusi  PAC  akan  menerbitkan  kesemua  Hansard  yang tertunggak sekurang-kurangnya di dalam laman web Parlimen.

3. Perbezaan antara Laporan PAC yang diluluskan dengan Laporan PAC yang diterbitkan 

Kami  telah  mendapati  bahawa  Pengerusi  PAC  telah  membuat  penyuntingan  yang sirius  ke atas Laporan yang telah diluluskan oleh mesyuarat PAC pada 4hb April 2016.

Laporan  PAC  pada   mukasurat  25,   menyebut   bahawa berdasarkan   dokumen   yang dikemukakan  oleh  Datuk  Shahrol  Azral  pada  5  Jun  2015  dan  kenyataan  beliau  semasa mesyuarat  Jawatankuasa  Kira-Kira  Wang  Negara  (PAC)  pada  25  November  2015,  akaun tersebut  adalah  milik  Good  Star  Limited  yang  merupakan  subsidiari  Kumpulan  PetroSaudi sejak 1 September 2009.

Akan  tetapi,  Pengerusi  PAC  telah  memotong  sepatah  ayat  lagi  yang  telah disetujui  dalam mesyuarat.  Ayat  tersebut  berbunyi Bank  Negara  Malaysia  (BNM)  telah  dimaklum  secara sukarela  oleh  pihak  berkuasa  negara  berkenan  bahawa  Good  Star  Limited merupakan sebuah syarikat  yang dimiliki  oleh  seorang  individu  yang tiada berkaitan dengan Kumpulan PetroSaudi.

Tindakan Pengerusi PAC untuk memotong ayat yang telah dipersetujui  oleh mesyuarat PAC merupakan  satu  tindakan  yang  jelas  melanggar  peraturan  mesyuarat  dan  menimbulkan kecurigaan  terhadap  niat  Pengerusi  untuk  menutup  kes.Datuk  Hasan  Arifin  tidak  pernah membincang perkara tersebut dengan kami, sama ada secara rasmi atau tidak rasmi.

Pada  masa  yang  sama,  atas  permintaan  PAC,  Datuk  Hasan  Arifin  juga  memaklum  bahawa beliau  telah  menulis  surat  kepada  Bank  Negara  untuk  mendapat  maklumat  tambahan mengenai  pemilik  individu  tersebut. Kami  belum  tahu  sama  ada  balasan  daripada  BNM telah diterima oleh Pengerusi.

Kami  menyeru  supaya  Datuk  Hasan  Arifin  memperbetulkan  Laporan  PAC  dengan  serta-merta melalui satu kertas pembetulan kepada Parlimen.

4. Pembatalan Perjanjian Debt-Asset Swap dengan IPIC 

Dengan   berita   terbaru   semalam   bahawa   pihak  International  Petroleum  Investment Corporation (IPIC)  telah  membatalkan  perjanjian  debt-asset  swap  dengan  1MDB,  kami meminta supaya Datuk Hasan Arifin akan memanggil mesyuarat PAC secepat mungkin untuk membincang perkara ini.

Ia  adalah  kerana  1MDB  telah  memberikan  gambaran  palsu  bahawa  pelan  rasionalisasi syarikat telah berjalan dengan lancar dan 1MDB  tidak akan memerlukan sebarang  bantuan daripada kerajaan untuk menyelesaikan pinjaman-pinjamannya yang melebihi RM50 bilion.

Akan  tetapi  semalam,  Kementerian  Kewangan  telah  mengeluarkan  kenyataan  bahawa kerajaan Malaysia akan menanggung kesemua obligasi 1MDB yang tidak dapat diselesaikan oleh syarikat.

Ahli-ahli  PAC  Pembangkang  bersedia  untuk  bekerjasama  dengan  ahli-ahli PAC  penyokong kerajaan untuk mendapatkan maklumat sebenar daripada siasatan tambah terhadap 1MDB.

Dikeluarkan oleh:
Tan Seng Giaw, Timbalan Pengerusi PAC
Datuk Kamarul Baharin
William Leong
Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan
Tony Pua

Epic collapse of 1MDB-IPIC debt-asset swap deal means the entire rationalisation exercise has failed and a multi-billion dollar bailout by the Ministry of Finance is in the works

Over the past few months, the Prime Minister and his cheerleading cabinet as well as 1MDB President Arul Kanda were bragging about how successful the 1MDB rationalisation exercise was.

Arul  Kanda  when  responding  to  media  enquiry  if  he  was  leaving  1MDB,  said “What  I  said was that my work was done with the successful rationalisation” on 31 March 2016.

Yesterday’s  announcement  by  International  Petroleum  Investment  Corporation  (IPIC)  which accused  1MDB  of  failing  to  honour  the  terms  of  the  US$4.7  billion  debt-asset  swap  deal proved  their  boasts  to  be  ludicrously  premature.This  follows  confirmation  that  US$3.51 billion  of  1MDB’s  funds  have  be  siphoned  to  a  fraudulent “Aabar  Investment  PJS  Limited”which was established in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

All Arul Kanda has achieved to date is to sell Edra Global at RM9.93 billion which represents a  loss  of  RM2.27  billion  as  the  assets  were  acquired  for  RM12.1  billion.    The  loss  widens further if one were to take into account the  dividends received versus the interest paid on loans taken for the purposes of the acquisition.

Even for the sale of 60% of Bandar Malaysia, only a refundable deposit of RM741 million is paid.    The  deal  is  only  expected  to  be  completed  by  June  2016.    However,  there  is  no assurance that all the terms of the deal can be met, including the purchasers ability to raise the necessary funding to pay RM7.41 billion for the 60% stake.

However,  the  most  critical  anchor  to  the  entire  rationalisation  exercise –  the  debt-asset swap agreement with IPIC involving up to US$4.7 billion is by far the biggest component in the  rationalisation  plan.The  US$4.7  billion  included  US$3.5  billion  of  2012  bonds,  US$1 billion  of  IPIC  advance  provided  in  June  2015  and  up  to  approximately  US$200  million  of interest payments during the course of the year.

Its failure not only now places 1MDB itself at risk, but now involves a bailout by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

As IPIC has clearly announced to the London Stock Exchange, “1MDB and MOF continue to be  bound  by  their  respective  obligations  under  the  terms  of  the  Binding  Term  Sheet, including their continued indemnification of IPIC and Aabar for any non-performance under the  Binding  Term  Sheet  and  in  relation  to  any  claims  which  may  be  made  against  IPIC pursuant  to  the  guarantees  entered  into  by  IPIC  in  respect  of  certain  1MDB  group  bond issuances.”

This  clearly  means  that  should  1MDB  fail  to  repay  up  to  US$4.7  billion  to  IPIC  and/or  the bondholders, then the MOF has to fork out the difference based on the indemnity provided by the MOF in the debt asset swap agreement.

When I had pointed out this sleight of hand by 1MDB and MOF in June last year, 1MDB had angrily refuted my warnings and concerns.

“...it  is  irresponsible  of  Tony  Pua  to  suggest  that  the  recent  binding  term  sheet  between 1MDB and IPIC, a commercial transaction, has resulted in further guarantee obligations by the government of Malaysia,” 1MDB protested.

It appears that 1MDB could only lie about the hidden guarantee by MOF for 10 months.  We now  know  clearly  that  with  the  spectacular  failure  of  the  debt-asset  swap  deal,  the Malaysian tax-payers will be called upon to foot 1MDB’s bills.

The  Parliamentary  Public  Accounts  Committee  has  already  established  the  fact  that  the Government  is  obligated  via  explicit  and  implicit  guarantees  provided  for  US$3.15bn  and RM5.8 billion of 1MDB borrowings or approximately RM18 billion in total.

Now with the unravelling of the IPIC deal, the MOF is now exposed to another US$4.7 billion of  1MDB  liabilities  or  approximately  RM18.5  billion.    Hence  the  rakyat’s  exposure  to  the shenanigans in 1MDB amounts to an epic RM36.6 billion.

Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  can  no  longer  escape  the  need  to  explain  the  spectacular  disaster that is 1MDB which has happened under his watch.  He must explain how is 1MDB going to fund the immediate repayment of US$1.1 billion demanded by IPIC.

He  must  also  explain  why  the  Auditor-General  has  been  unable  to  confirm  US$7  billion  of 1MDB’s transactions, cash and assets overseas due to the complete lack of cooperation from 1MDB. Or else, what is the Prime Minister really hiding?

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Arul Kanda is the boy who cried wolf way too many times. Who would believe him now?

Yesterday,  I  asked  for  1MDB  President  Arul  Kanda  to  be  investigated  for  his  attempts  to cover  up  the  entire  1MDB  scandal,  particular  over  the  payment  of  US$3.51  billion  to  the British Virgin Islands incorporated “Aabar Investment PJS Limited” (Aabar (BVI)).

I  had  cited  the  Public  Accounts  Committee  proceedings  as  evidence  that  Arul  Kanda  was extremely  coy  and  economical  with  his  answers,  when  answering  the  straightforward questions  of  whether  1MDB  paid  billions  to  Aabar  (BVI)  and  whether  Aabar  (BVI)  was related to the Aabar Investment PJS of Abu Dhabi.  His shocking reply then was, “as far as he was aware, it is”.

Suddenly,  Arul  Kanda  is  now  trying  to  play  the  victim,  protesting  his  innocence, “categorically  and  unequivocally  deny  any  prior  knowledge  that  Aabar  BVI  has  been liquidated,  apart  from  what  I  have  read  in  recent  press  reports.  I  challenge  YB  Tony  to provide proof of this malicious accusation.”

Well,  Mr  1MDB  President,  you  were  publicly  notified  way  back  in  September  2015  by  The Wall  Street  Journal  and  other  critics  like  myself,  that  International  Petroleum  Investment Corporation  (IPIC)  did  not  have  record  of  any  of  the  US$3.51  billion  purportedly  paid  by 1MDB  in  its  financial  statements for  2014  and  2015  which  were  audited  by  Ernst  &  Young and published on the London Stock Exchange.

As  a  result,  I  had  warned  Arul  Kanda  and  1MDB  in  my  many  statements  since  September 2015  about  the  need  for  1MDB  to  confirm  the  whereabouts  of  these  payments  to  Aabar (Abu  Dhabi)  or  its  parent,  IPIC.    I  had  repeatedly  asked  1MDB  to  issue  a  joint  statement with  IPIC  to  provide  a  consistent  and  clear  clarification  on  where  the  US$1.4  billion “refundable  deposit”  collateral  parked  with  IPIC  as  well  as  the  US$993  million  payment  to buy back the above options from IPIC have gone to.

Instead, Arul Kanda chose to repeatedly insist that “1MDB cannot speak on behalf of Aabar or  IPIC  nor  can  we  comment  on  the  accounting  arrangements  of  third  parties”.And  of course,  he  waxed  lyrical  about  how  there  was  a  malicious  globally  coordinated  campaign against  1MDB  and  Malaysia.    Arul  Kanda  repeated  challenged  The  Wall  Street  Journal  and myself to “provide proof of this malicious accusation”.

He obviously didn’t care at all if the US$1.4 billion or the US$993 million is possibly missing then.

Worse,  Arul  Kanda  was  in  constant  and  direct  communications  with  IPIC  since  his appointment  as  the  President  of  the  company,  including the  on-going  debt-asset  swap arrangement which was signed with IPIC in May 2015 which is due to be completed in June 2016.

Now  that  it  has  indeed  been  proven  that  the  money  has  gone missing,  Arul  Kanda  turns around and says “Ooops! Honest to God, I wasn’t aware that Aabar Investment PJS Limited wasn’t related to IPIC and didn’t know that it has already been dissolved nearly a year ago
in June 2015.” (my paraphrase).  True to form, he challenged me “to provide proof of this malicious accusation”.

Further to that, he is now hinting that 1MDB might be a victim of a scam.

Sorry Arul, your cry wolf days are over.  Nobody believes you any more.  Not even BN MP Bung Mokhtar who has called for the police to conduct a criminal investigation against 1MDB to trace the missing funds.

And  if  indeed,  you  are  really  innocent,  that  you  didn’t  know  that  1MDB  parked  billions  of dollars  to  a  company  which has  ceased  to  exist, that  Aabar  (BVI)  was  not related  to  IPIC, that  a  massive  fraud  might  have  taken  place  throughout  your entire  14  months  in  1MDB, then you should be sacked anyway for being utterly stupid, negligent and incompetent.

Perhaps 1MDB should even consider charging you for misrepresentation on your resume as a “top investment banker” and “debt-restructuring expert”.

Let PAC Hansard be the judge of whether 1MDB broke-even or suffered a massive loss from the US$9.83 billion sale of Edra Global

Two days ago, 1MDB said its President, “Mr Arul Kanda has delivered major asset sales and repaid all short term debt/bank debt, with 1MDB now having RM2.3 billion cash in the bank. The  company  has  also  recently  repaid  the  RM950  million  standby  credit  facility  from  the Government of Malaysia. Even YB Tony has no choice but to admit this success, against all odds.”

I responded  that  perhaps,  Mr  Arul  Kanda  has  forgotten  that  he  has  been  forced  to  admit that the  power  plant  assets  which  were  acquired  for  RM12.1 billion  was  sold  for  a  loss  at RM9.83 billion.  The proceeds was used to pay off RM950 million of the Federal Government’s  emergency  loan  granted  last  year.    However,  US$3.5  billion  (RM13.6  billion)  worth  of bonds which were raised to purchase these power plants remains outstanding!

I added that I am flabbergasted by Arul Kanda’s definition of “success, against all odds”.

Mr Arul Kanda is upset at being told the truth.  He now says I have “conveniently forget(ten) to mention that whilst 1MDB purchased the power assets at approximately RM12 billion and sold  it  at  RM9.83  billion,  the  company  also  received  approximately  RM2  billion  in  cash dividends during the period of ownership, which totals RM11.83 billion i.e. a cash-on-cash, near  "break-even"  position.  YB  Tony  knew  this  fact,  as  recorded  in  the  Hansard  of  my explanation during the PAC proceedings, yet he chose to hide it and mislead the Malaysian public.”

Hence I have attached 2 pages of the relevant proceeding from the Hansard with regards to the above.

As can be read, I had reminded Arul Kanda, and the BN MPs present, that if you chose to take  into  consideration  the  purported  RM2  billion  dividends,  then  you  must  similarly  take into consideration the cost of the loans taken to acquire these power plants.

In turn, Arul Kanda responded that


“I think apa yang Yang Berhormat Petaling Jaya Utara katakan adalah betul daripada segi  accounting  disebabkan  the  rules  of  accounting,  you  have  to  treat  certain expenses in a certain way and dividend in certain way.  
Akan  tetapi  kalau  kita  lihat  dari  segi  cash  on  cash,  maknanya  kita  masukkan RM12 bilion  cash  equity.  Kita  dapat  balik  RM9.83  bilion  cash equity  dan  juga  kami  telah terima lebih kurang RM2 bilion cash dividend. Maknanya cash on cash breakeven.  
Akan  tetapi  accounting  treatment  Yang  Berhormat  Petaling  Jaya  Utara  betul.  The accounting treatment is your dividend goes out because you are paying interest. So, the cost of interest is a loss to the company.”

Any businessman or accountant, upon hearing the above arguments from Arul Kanda will be laughing  their  pants  off.    He  conceded  that  I  was  correct  in  my “proper  accounting”
calculations because interest costs amounting to a whopping RM3.5 billion or more must be taken into account if 1MDB were to take into account the dividends.

However, no one would understand what the heck is Arul Kanda’s “cash on cash breakeven”argument.  Did he mean that cash used to service interest cost isn't "cash"?

Worse,  I  decided  to re-check  the  audited  accounts  of  1MDB  and  it’s  Edra  subsidiaries  for 2013  and  2014  -  the  Edra  power  plants  never  paid  a  single  sen  of  dividend  to  1MDB,  the parent holding company!

I almost feel really bad heaping so much embarrassment upon the besieged 1MDB President who  is  spinning  out  of  control.Let  me  repeat  myself,  I  am  truly  flabbergasted  by  Arul Kanda’s definition of “success, against all odds”.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Although not involved in 1MDB-IPIC-Aabar multi-billion dollar scam, Arul Kanda can't deny role in cover-up of this heinous scandal

It appears now that Arul Kanda is already taking steps to clear himself of any wrongdoing in the light of  the disclosure by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) that it does not own “Aabar Investment PJS Limited”, which was set up in the British Virgin Islands ‘Aabar (BVI)’ .

1MDB in the same statement yesterday, said it is “wrong and unprofessional of YB Tony to personalise this issue by linking it to Mr. Arul Kanda. It is clear that each of these transfers happened before Mr. Arul Kanda assumed his role at 1MDB, therefore he can only rely on what the company records show, in formulating his answers.”

Indeed, no one is claiming that Arul Kanda signed the agreements and paid US$3.51 billion to the ficticious Aabar (BVI). But Arul Kanda was fully aware of the fake BVI, and hence had refused since the allegation arose last year to answer any questions on the status of Aabar (BVI).

Now that the Hansard of the Public Accounts Committee’s 1MDB proceedings has been made public, Malaysians can read for themselves how Arul Kanda twisted and turned to avoid directly answering the question as to who are the owners of Aabar (BVI).

On 18th of December 2015, I had asked Arul Kanda the pointed question – “Is it true the allegations that the payment was made to an Aabar Investments PJS Limited which was set up in perhaps BVI or Seychelles, which is unrelated to Aabar itself?” (see the relevant page of the Hansard attached)
Arul Kanda, in a magnificent series of somersaults in his attempt to squirm his way out of giving a straightforward answer to the question. First  he  went  around  the world  blaming the  Wall  Street Journal,  the  Financial  Times,  the  Sarawak Report  and  even  leaks  from  the Auditor-General Report for a “clear campaign against 1MDB and the government, started on the  2nd  of  July... with the revelation of confidential banking transactions of  the Prime Minister”.

When  he  was  finally  forced  to  concede  that  1MDB  had  indeed  made agreements  and payments to Aabar (BVI), I asked whether “Aabar Investments PJS Limited was related to Aabar Investments PJS of Abu Dhabi?”

The best answer he could give was “As far as we are aware, yes”. I then pointed out to him that “we made an agreement with them we should know whether they are or they are not, cannot be ‘as far as we are aware’.”

Again, he twisted and turned without addressing the underlying major concern that 1MDB has paid billions  of  dollars  to  a  company, which  1MDB's  President  and  CEO  was  unable  to confirm with any certainty that the companies are related.

This only goes to prove that Arul Kanda knew at all times of the entire scam and hid those information from the Auditor-General and the PAC, hoping that we will turn a blind eye on the matter. 

1MDB has lost at least US$3.5 billion (RM14 billion) since Aabar Investment PJS Limited was wound up in June 2015

The most damning evidence however of Arul Kanda knowing that 1MDB has paid billions of dollars to a fictitious Aabar (BVI) is the fact that Aabar (BVI) as disclosed by IPIC, based on public information, has already been wound up 10 months ago in June 2015!

How  can  Arul  Kanda  not  know  that  the  US$1.367  billion  of  “refundable  security  deposit”, US$993 million of “refundable options termination payment” and  an  additional  US$1.15 billion of “top-up security deposit” have been paid to a company which have already ceased to exist!

In  fact,  all  the 1MDB  agreements  signed  with  Aabar  (BVI)  as  disclosed  by  the  Auditor-General and the PAC, are now completely void.

The announcement made by IPIC on  the London Stock Exchange has confirmed  without  a doubt that not only is the US$3.51 billion above unaccounted for, the money is definitely “missing”, as we have suspected all these while.

The question now is why did Arul Kanda hide these information from Malaysians and failed to institute  actions  against  the  relevant  parties  in  the  obscene  scam,  including  1MDB officials, the fake Aabar (BVI) and its officers, since Arul’s appointment was in January 2015, 6  months before Aabar  (BVI)  was  liquidated. If  he  hid  these  crucial  information, then  he must be investigated for being an accessory to the entire scam.

How is the disposal of overpriced assets at a loss a "success, against all odds"?

I had to shake my head in sheer disbelief with 1MDB boasted of its recent achievement in repaying RM950 million of its debt to the Government with proceeds from assets which were sold at a substantial loss.

Yesterday, 1MDB said its President, “Mr Arul Kanda has delivered major asset sales and repaid all short term debt/bank debt, with 1MDB now having RM2.3 billion cash in the bank. The company has also recently repaid the RM950 million standby credit facility from the Government of Malaysia. Even YB Tony has no choice but to admit this success, against all odds.”

I am left speechless that Mr Arul Kanda, a so-called top investment banker and debt-restructuring expert can shower himself with such hugely undeserved praise.

Perhaps, Mr Arul Kanda has forgotten that he has been forced to admit that the power plant assets which were acquired for RM12.1 billion were sold for a loss at RM9.83 billion. The proceeds was used to pay off RM950 million of the Federal Government’s emergency loan granted last year. However, US$3.5 billion (RM13.6 billion) worth of bonds which were raised to purchase these power plants remains outstanding!

So Mr  Arul Kanda’s achievement was to dispose of overpriced power plants at a loss, and leave 1MDB with a gaping hole of US$3.5 billion of related-debts in 1MDB’s books, with no assets left to pay back.

I  have “no  choice”  but  to  admit  that  I  am  flabbergasted  by  Arul  Kanda’s  definition  of “success, against all odds”.

The House of Cards have started to collapse - 1MDB paid at least US$3.51 billion to Aabar BVI which is unrelated to IPIC

Abu  Dhabi’s  state-owned  International  Petroleum  Investment  Company (IPIC) today said neither itself  nor its  unit  Aabar Investments  PJS have any links to a British Virgin Islands-incorporated firm named “Aabar Investment PJS Limited” (Aabar BVI).

“Both  IPIC  and  Aabar  confirm  that  Aabar  BVI  was  not  an  entity  within  either  corporate group... Further, both IPIC and Aabar confirm that neither has received any payments from Aabar BVI nor has IPIC or Aabar assumed any liabilities on behalf of Aabar BVI.” IPIC said in a statement on the London Stock Exchange.

This is a shocking announcement because it has finally confirmed what critics of 1MDB has suspected all along, that 1MDB has been making billions of dollar of payments to a fictitious Aabar BVI, pretending that it was payments to the real Aabar of Abu Dhabi.

The recently tabled PAC Report also confirmed that the Auditor-General was unable to verify these payments to Aabar BVI, which included US$1.367  billion in “refundable security deposits” paid in 2012 which was to act as a collateral for the US$3.5 billion bond guarantee provided  by  IPIC. Subsequently, 1MDB  paid  US$993  million  to  terminate  the  options granted to Aabar BVI, as well as a further US$855 million and US$295 million as unexplained “top up security deposits”.

The Auditor-General also lamented that 1MDB not only did not provide any bank statements of its foreign bank accounts, it failed to provide any documentary evidence of who are the owners of Aabar BVI.

It is clear now that 1MDB was never able to  provide the proof of ownership of Aabar BVI, because Aabar BVI is clearly a fake entity created to siphon the US$3.51 billion or more from 1MDB.

The Wall Street Journal had earlier also alleged that the Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has received US$681 million from Aabar BVI via intermediaries, which the Prime Minister claims was a donation.

In addition, the Wall Street Journal also alleged that Red Granite Pictures which produced “The Wolf of  Wall  Street” received  US$155  million  of  funding,  directly  and  indirectly from Aabar BVI.

1MDB  had  issued  an immediate  response  to  IPIC’s  announcement claiming that it “finds it curious  that  IPIC  and  Aabar have waited until April 2016 to issue such a statement”. However, the timing of IPIC’s announcement isn’t surprising because Reuters have recently reported  that 2 key former  IPIC  and  Aabar  officials,  Khadem  Al  Qubaisi  and  Mohamed Badawy Al Husseiny have been arrested by the Abu Dhabi authorities.

Malaysians  are  actually  more “curious”  why  1MDB  paying  billions  of  dollars  to  the  fake Aabar. We  are  also  curious  why  it  has  taken  so  long  for  1MDB  to  finally  admit  to  the
misappropriation since the matter was exposed by the Wall Street Journal in November last year.

Despite  repeated  questions  by  the  global  media  and  critics  like  myself,  the  President  of 1MDB, Arul Kanda had stubbornly refused to address the question of who really owns Aabar BVI. Instead, he chose  to  repeatedly recycle the allegations that we are part of a global malicious conspiracy aiming to discredit 1MDB and the Malaysian Government.

Arul Kanda’s refusal to provide a straight answer to earlier questions only goes to prove that he was fully aware that 1MDB had signed agreements and paid billions of dollars to a fake Aabar BVI which was  completely  unrelated  to  IPIC. It  also  means  that  Arul  Kanda  and 1MDB have deceived the Auditor-General and the PAC by their failure to disclose and explain the truth during the investigations.

Hence it is crystal clear that there are parties in 1MDB who have acted in cahoots with IPIC’s former top officials to scam Malaysians of billions of dollar. 1MDB had borrowed US$3.5 billion with the guarantee provided by IPIC for the purpose of acquiring power companies in Malaysia. However, the entire sum and more have been clearly embezzled to an entity, Aabar Investment PJS Ltd, whose real beneficial ownership remains a mystery till today.

Malaysians have had enough of lies from Arul Kanda and 1MDB. We demand that the Royal Malaysian Police act immediately to investigate and arrest all parties involved in this massive scam, aptly termed “the Heist of the Century” by the Sarawak Report.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Kenyataan Majlis Pimpinan Tertinggi Pakatan Harapan mengenai Laporan PAC Terhadap 1MDB


  1. PH menyeru supaya Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara (PAC) membentangkan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara secara serta-merta kepada Parlimen.  PH percaya bahawa kalau pihak Menteri-Menteri Barisan Nasional tidak percaya 1MDB dan Dato’ Seri Najib Razak tidak bersalah, memang tiada keperluan supaya Laporan Ketua Audit Negara dirahsiakan dan disembunyikan daripada ahli-ahli Parlimen.

  2. PH mengetuk 1MDB kerana tidak memberikan kerjasama kepada Jabatan Audit Negara (JAN) dan gagal menyerahkan dokumen-dokumen penting seperti penyata bank, salinan perjanjian dan bukti pemilikan syarikat-syarikat berkenan kepadanya.

  3. PH memahami bahawa tanpa dokumen-dokumen tersebut, pihak Ketua Audit Negara tidak dapat mengesahkan transaksi, wang tunai dan asset 1MDB sejumlah US$7 bilion yang disimpan di luar negeri.  Jumlah ini adalah termasuk US$1.03 bilion yang dibayar kepada Good Star Limited dan US$3.51 bilion yang dibayar kepada Aabar Investment PJS Limited.  Ketua Audit Negara memaklumkan bahawa beliau tidak dapat mengesahkan pemilik saham sebenar syarikat-syarikat ini.

  4. PH kecewa pihak Menteri Kewangan gagal mengarahkan 1MDB untuk bekerjasama penuh dengan JAN dan PAC.  Kegagalan tersebut telah menjadi kekangan kepada JAN dan PAC untuk menyiapkan siasatan secara menyeluruh, termasuk siasat sama ada US$681 juta yang dideposit kedalam akaun peripadi Perdana Menteri berpunca daripada 1MDB. 

  5. PH juga mendapat bahawa Ketua Setiausaha Perbendaharaan, Tan Sri Irwan Serigar telah memberi keterangan bahawa Kementerian Kewangan langsung tidak terlibat dalam segala keputusan dalam 1MDB dan segalanya diluluskan secara langsung oleh pihak Perdana Menteri.  Perkara ini juga telah disahkan oleh Jabatan Audit Negara bahawa Artikel 117 Lembaga Penubuhan Syarikat memberikan kuasa mutlak kepada Perdana Menteri.  Oleh sebab itu, adalah jelas bahawa Dato’ Seri Najib Razak perlu bertanggungjawab kepada segala  masalah, penyalahguna kuasa dan penyelewenganyang telah berlaku dalam 1MDB.

  6. Setelah mengaji Laporan PAC dan Hansard yang dikemukakan, PH berkepastian bahawa PAC tidak pernah membincang dan membuat sebarang keputusan yangmendapati bahawa Dato’ Seri Najib Razak tidak bersalah.

  7. PH menyeru supaya pihak berkuasa, termasuk Polis Diraja Negara (PDRM) dan Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) mengambil tindakan terhadap Datuk Shahrol Halmi dan lain-lain yang berkaitan atas penemuan-penemuan PAC dan Ketua Audit Negara, termasuk jumlah US$7 bilion yang tidak dapat disahkan. 

Damning PAC Report on 1MDB arrived at via consensus and represents unanimous decision by all members based on AG's findings

In an original news report by Bernama yesterday, the PAC Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin was reported to have called me “annoying” and labelled me a “political opportunist”. However, the news story has since been edited upon the instruction from Datuk Hasan Arifin because he claimed he had never used such terms before to describe anyone.

In this particular instance, I verily believe him as he made the extra effort to inform all PAC Members of  this misreporting by Bernama. The  article  has  since  been  corrected  late yesterday evening.

However,  the  above  incident  has  only  made  it  clear  that  there  are  powerful  forces  behind the scenes  attempting  to  take  control  of  the  narrative  via  official  news  government  and UMNO-controlled  news  sources like  Bernama, the  News  Straits  Times  (NST)  and  Utusan Malaysia. It appears  that  someone  has  put  words  into  the mouth  of  the PAC Chairman specifically to conduct a character assassination exercise.

In fact, the newspaper headlines of the NST and Utusan Malaysia makes for surreal reading for  those who  have  actually  read  the  PAC  Report. Instead  of  reporting  that  the  critics  of 1MDB were vindicated  by  the  PAC  Report, the  NST  screamed  on  its  front  page  that  the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak was “vindicated”. Utusan Malaysia followed up with the call for all critics to apologise to the Prime Minister.

Then you have 1MDB  claiming  that  I’m now “backtracking”  from  the  findings  of  the  PAC Report which was arrived at with the full consensus of all members of the committee.  Are these people living in an alternate reality or are they mere doing their utmost to paint what is incontrovertibly “black” as “white”?

Let  me  put  it  on  record  that  the  PAC  Report  was  arrived  on consensus  and  I  have  stated that on  day  one. However,  it  appears  that  the 1MDB, NST, Utusan  Malaysia,  the Prime Minister and his band of BN leaders have a different copy of the PAC Report from the one which was tabled in Parliament.

The consensus version of the PAC Report which was published in Parliament last Thursday

  • Confirmed  that  the  Auditor-General  (AG)  could  not  verify at  least  US$7  billion  of 1MDB’s cash and assets overseas comprising of: 
  1. US$1.03  billion  meant  for  1MDB  Petrosaudi  Limited  but  was  instead transferred to Good Star Limited
  2. US$3.51  billion  transferred  to  Aabar  Investment  PJS  Limited  for “refundable deposit”, “option termination” and “top-up security”.
  3. US$940 million in purported “units” held in BSI Bank, Singapore
  4. US$1.56  billion  of  1MDB  Global  Investment  Limited  investments  in  various funds overseas
  • Confirmed  that  the  Auditor-General  could  not  verify  the ownership  of  Good Star Limited and Aabar Investment PJS Limited 
  • Confirmed  that  1MDB  has  obstructed  investigations  by  refusing  to  cooperate  by handing over its  overseas  bank  statements  and  that  of its  overseas subsidiaries, as well as other relevant documents, despite multiple deadlines by the AG and the PAC. 
  • Confirmed  that  Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s written  approval  was  necessary  for  all  key appointments  in  and  major  transactions  by 1MDB,  including the  US$1.83  billion Petrosaudi  investments  and  its  disposal,  the  US$6.5  billion  bond  issuances,  the RM12.1 billion  power  plant  acquisitions  as  well  as  the  sacking  of  1MDB’s  external auditors, KPMG and Ernst & Young. 
Hence the based on the suspicious circumstances above, the PAC has by consensus, agreed to recommend that former CEO of 1MDB, Datuk Shahrol Halmi and other related parties be investigated by the authorities.

Dato’ Seri Najib’s involvement was also the reason why the PAC has agreed by consensus, that Article 117 of 1MDB’s M&A which grants the Prime Minister such powers, be abolished, together with the Board of Adviors, which he chairs.

Anyone who had read the 106-page PAC Report as well as the accompanying transcripts of PAC proceedings would not be able to find any other deliberation on the role and culpability of  the Prime Minister. Without  the  necessary  bank  statements  and  authentication documents  from  1MDB,  the PAC  could  not  possibly “clear”  the  Prime  Minister,  even  if  we had wanted to.

Therefore,  at  no  point  in  time  have  I “backtracked”  from  the PAC  Report  as 1MDB desperately accused. I have stated that I’m 80% satisfied with the report because the PAC could  have done  more  to  uncover  the  discrepancies  cited  in  the  Report  which  remains a mystery, including the summoning of additional key witnesses.

However,  despite  the  lack  of  completeness  in  the  report,  based  on  information  made available, the PAC Report was already able to arrive at the sufficiently damning findings and conclusions. That is the bipartisan consensus in the PAC.

Kenyataan Media Ahli-Ahli Jawatankuasa Kira-Kira Wang Negara yang Mewakili Pihak Pembangkang Parlimen Mengenai Laporan PAC Terhadap 1MDB


1. Laporan Ketua Audit Negara Mengenai 1MDB 

Kami  terkejut  dan  merasa  kecewa  apabila  Laporan  Ketua  Audit  Negara  tidak  dibentangkan kepada  Parlimen  bersama  dengan  Laporan  Jawatankuasa  Kira-Kira  Wang  Negara  (PAC) berkenan  syarikat  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd. Kesimpulan  PAC adalah  berdasarkan Laporan Ketua  Audit  Negara, maka  untuk  memahami  dan  mendapat  gambaran  yang  lebih teliti, rujukan perlu dibuat kepada Laporan tersebut.

Pengerusi PAC Datuk Hasan Arifin tidak pernah membangkitkan isu ini dalam mesyuarat PAC walaupun  secara  konvensyen,  Laporan  Ketua  Audit  Negara  dibentangkan  bersama  Laporan PAC.

Lagipun,  Pengerusi  PAC  telah  memberi  pengumuman  awam  di  mana  beliau  menegaskan bahawa  Laporan  Ketua  Audit  Negara  dirahsiakan  sehingga  Laporan  PAC  dibentangkan kepada Parlimen.

Ketua  Audit  Negara,  Tan  Sri  Ambrin  Buang  juga  telah  menerangkan  kepada  ahli-ahli  PAC bahawa  tindakan  merahsiakan  Laporan  beliau  adalah  hanya  untuk  mengelakkan pendedahan   maklumat   kepada  umum  sebelum  Laporan  PAC  disiapkan. Beliau  juga menyebut  bahawa sama ada  Laporannya  dibentangkan  adalah  terserah  kepada  keputusan PAC.

Kami   langsung  tidak  melihat  sebarang  keperluan  untuk  menyembunyikan sebarang maklumat yang terkandung dalam Laporan Ketua Audit Negara. Apatah lagi, kredibiliti PAC sebagai sebuah badan yang bebas akan terjejas akibat tindakan tidak menerbitkan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara.

Oleh  sebab  itu,  kami  menyeru  supaya  Laporan  Ketua  Audit  Negara  dibentangkan dalam Parlimen  untuk  menunjukkan  bahawa  pihak  PAC  telah  menjalankan  tugas  kita  secara  telus dan berintegriti.

2. PAC tidak pernah membuat keputusan bahawa Dato’ Seri Najib Razak tidak bersalah 

Datuk  Hasan  Arifin,  dalam  sesi  temu  ramah  dengan  Bernama,  telah  menyebut  perkara-perkara berikut:


  • Tiada bukti untuk mencadangkan berlaku salah laku jenayah berkaitan penyalahgunaan dana atau berlaku transaksi pelaburan mahupun pelaburan atau mana-mana aktiviti 1MDB yang menjurus kepada aktiviti menyalahi undang-undang.
  • PAC juga mendapati bahawa RM42 bilion hutang 1MDB tidak hilang sebagaimana tuduhan pelbagai pihak, kerana ia sudah dihitung dan tiada pembayaran dilakukan daripada 1MDB ke akaun peribadi Perdana Menteri.
  • PAC tidak menemui sebarang bukti untuk menunjukkan salah laku atau salah guna kuasa Perdana Menteri, dan keputusan ini dibuat sebulat suara dan konsensus oleh kesemua anggota PAC. 

Kenyataan  Datuk  Hasan  Arifin  tidak  tepat  dan  tidak  benar.  Kami  ingin  memperbetulkan kenyataan  beliau  yang  jelas  tidak  mencerminkan  persidangan  dan  pendirian  PAC  dalam siasatan terhadap 1MDB.



Penjelasan kami: 
  • Laporan PAC langsung tidak menyebut bahawa tiada bukti untuk mencadangkan berlaku salahlaku jenayah berkaitan penyalahgunaan dana. Sebaliknya, Ketua Audit Negara dan PAC telah mendapati bahawa banyak perkara yang amat diragui dan mencurigakan telah berlaku termasuk bayaran berbilion-bilion ringgit kepada syarikat-syarikat asing yang tidak dapat dipastikan pemilikannya seperti Good Star Limited dan Aabar Investment PJS Limited. Oleh   sebab pegawai 1MDB dan Kementerian Kewangan tidak memberikan kerjasama untuk menyampaikan maklumat-maklumat penting ini, termasuk penyata bank (bank statements) 1MDB luar negeri dan dokumen pemilik saham syarikat-syarikat di atas, PAC telah menyeru supaya pihak berkuasa, yang termasuklah pihak polis untuk menyiasat.
  • PAC  juga  tidak  pernah  membincang  sama  ada  RM42  bilion hilang  kerana perkara   tersebut   tidak   terbangkit. Sebaliknya,  Ketua  Audit  Negara  telah melaporkan bahawa beliau tidak dapat mengesahkan kesahihan nilai wang tunai dan aset yang dikemukakan oleh pihak 1MDB, termasuk: 
  1. US$1.03 bilion yang dibayar kepada Good Star Limited yang telah ditegur oleh Bank Negara Malaysia. 
  2. US$3.51 bilion yang dibayar kepada Aabar Investment PJS Limited atas alasan pembayaran deposit sekuriti, penamatan opsyen dan top-up sekuriti.
  3. US$940 juta yang berbentuk unit di BSI Bank, Singapura.
  4. US$1.56 bilion pelaburan oleh 1MDB Global Investment Limited 
          Ini  adalah  kerana  1MDB  langsung  tidak  menyampaikan  kesemua  dokumen  yang diperlukan, termasuk  penyata  bank  luar  negara. Oleh  sebab  itu,  ia  telah membangkitkan kerisauan antara kami  bahawa  wang  dan pelaburan 1MDB sebanyak US$7 bilion (RM28 bilion) telah hilang kerana tidak dapat dikesan.

          Pada masa yang sama, pihak PAC malangnya tidak dapat mengesahkan sama ada pembayaran dilakukan  daripada 1MDB  ke  akaun  peribadi  Perdana  Menteri kerana dokumen-dokumen yang   diperlukan seperti penyata bank tidak diserahkan kepada Ketua Audit Negara. 
  • PAC tidak pernah membuat sebarang keputusan bahawa Perdana Menteri tidak bersalah. Kami mencabar Datuk Hasan Arifin untuk mengemukakan bukti melalui Hansard yang dibentangkan bahawa keputusan ini dibuat dan dibuat sebulat suara dan konsensus oleh kesemua anggota PAC. Seperti yang dihuraikan diatas, tanpa kerjasama penuh daripada 1MDB dan Kementerian Kewangan, ahli-ahli PAC langsung tidak boleh membuat sebarang penetapan mengenai perkara ini. 
          Sebaliknya, dokumen-dokumen  yang  dapat  diperolehi  oleh  Ketua Audit Negara  menunjukkan bahawa  Dato  Seri  Najib  telah  meluluskan secara bertulis segala keputusan  syarikat  yang   penting,  termasuk  pelaburan  dengan  Petrosaudi International,  penerbitan  bon  sebanyak  US$6.5   bilion, pembelian syarikat-syarikat penjanakuasa bebas dan pemecatan juruaudit yang tidak setuju dengan pendirian 1MDB. 


Oleh sebab  itu, kami meminta supaya Pengerusi PAC menarik balik kenyataan  ini kerana  ia merupakan  kenyataan yang  langsung  tidak  berasas, yang  menyelewengkan  pendapat PAC dan   bersifat   bohong. Kami  berharap  supaya  Pengerusi  PAC tidak  menyalahgunakan jawatannya sebagai Pengerusi PAC, sebuah  jawatankuasa Parlimen untuk kepentingan politik BN dan Dato Seri Najib Razak. 

Dikeluarkan oleh: 
Tan Seng Giaw, Timbalan Pengerusi PAC 
Datuk Kamarul Baharin 
William Leong 
Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan 
Tony Pua 

Sunday, April 10, 2016

"Look ahead" (and away from 1MDB)? You must be joking, Mr. Prime Minister!

In a demonstration of utter contempt for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Prime Minister had the cheek to ask Malaysians to “look ahead” after a damning report was tabled in Parliament.

Despite a relatively short list of  recommendations which included the call  for the 1MDB Board of Advisors to be disbanded and the Article 117 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A) which grants the Prime Minister autocratic control over the company be abolished, there were dozens of critical findings outlined throughout the 106-page report.

On Friday, I have already stated that the PAC has established that at least US$5.5 billion of 1MDB’s cash and assets could  not  be  verified  by  the Attorney-General  after  a  year  of investigations. This included:


  • The sums of US$700 million and US$330 million which was misappropriated to Good Star Limited, a company unrelated to the purported 1MDB-Petrosaudi joint venture in 2009 and 2011. 
  • US$3.51  billion which was paid to a British Virgin Islands (BVI) incorporated  Aabar Investment PJS Limited “Aabar (BVI)” in the form of collaterals, options termination compensation  and  further  unexplained “top-up  security” payments despite obvious doubts over who owns Aabar (BVI). 
  • US$940 million worth of “units” which was parked at the Swiss Bank branch of BSI Bank in Singapore. 
In fact, I made a mistake on Friday by leaving out another US$1.56 billion of investments by 1MDB’s wholly-owned foreign subsidiary, 1MDB Global Investments Limited which also could not be verified by the Auditor-General.

That brings a total of US$7.0 billion (RM28 billion) of unverified cash or assets which have been parked overseas by 1MDB. 1MDB have refused to cooperate with the AG or the PAC by handing over the bank statements of their foreign accounts and subsidiaries. 1MDB was also unable to provide documentary proof of who the owners of Good Star Limited and Aabar Investment PJS Limited are.

So  how  is  the  Prime  Minister  expecting  Malaysians  who  have been  stunned  by  the staggering amount of abuse and gross mismanagement by 1MDB of tax-payers’ funds to “look forward”?

For a start, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has not even agreed to the minimal recommendations by the PAC to disband the Board of Advisors and abolish Article 117 in the M&A.

Worst,  Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has refused to instruct 1MDB to handover all the crucial missing bank statements and documents to the AG and the PAC. This will only suggest that the Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister is complicit in the entire scandal.

This is especially since Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s signatures are littered all over 1MDB as he was the ultimate decision maker who signed off resolutions to sack 1MDB’s auditors, Ernst & Young and KPMG, to invest US$1.83 billion in the failed Petrosaudi joint venture, to borrow US$6.5 billion of bonds via Goldman Sachs and to overpay for the RM12.1 billion of power assets.

Hence, the Prime Minister’s direct complicity in all of the above, and the fact that 1MDB refused to give us their foreign bank statements and documents makes it impossible for the PAC to “clear” the Prime Minister of wrongdoings.

Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must stop attempting to sweep the entire 1MDB scandal under the carpet by asking Malaysians to “look forward” or “move on”, when he has refused to even act decisively on the findings of the PAC Report.

Saturday, April 09, 2016

1MDB must have lost 80% of its marbles after the damning PAC report was published

In response to a remark I had made during a press conference yesterday where I said I was 80% satisfied with the Public Accounts Committee report, just as I had previously said I was reasonably happy  with  the  Auditor-General’s  Report,  1MDB  retorted  that  I  can’t  be  80% pregnant.

I  had  to  laugh  out  loud  out  of  sheer  incredulity  at  1MDB’s  preposterous  response. It appears that the  tabling of the PAC Report has touched a raw nerve, not only causing the entire Board of Directors to offer their resignation, but for 1MDB to lose 80% of its marbles as well.

I can see no problems with being 80% satisfied with the PAC Report which has been tabled. It merely  means  that  it  is  not  a  bad  report,  with  sufficient  damning  details  of  1MDB. However, the Report could have been even better if 1MDB had cooperated by providing all the necessary documents the Auditor-General and PAC had asked for.

More importantly for Malaysians however, isn’t whether I can be 80% satisfied or pregnant. It is whether 1MDB, after lying to Malaysians over the past 2 years, is continuing to do so with deceitful insinuations against its critics.

Let me refer to the key assertion 1MDB made in their press statement yesterday –“1MDB has provided to the National Audit Department (JAN) all documents in its possession. It has also explained to JAN why other documents could not be procured. YB Tony knows this yet persists with his recycled rantings.”

Because of the tabling of the PAC Report and the accompanying transcripts, Malaysians can judge for yourselves if 1MDB and its President, Arul Kanda have been telling the truth.

I  have  attached  are  3  pages  of  transcripts  of  Arul  Kanda’s  testimony  with  the  PAC  on 1st December 2015.

I had asked JAN during the meeting if they have received all the required bank statements from 1MDB. “Adakah  pihak  audit  telah  menerima  semua  penyata  kewangan  atau  bank statements of 1MDB?”

Puan Farizah Harman confirmed that they have only received the local bank statements and not the foreign bank account statements of 1MDB and its subsidiaries. “Tidak terima... local bank sahaja kita terima.”

Arul Kanda has earlier in public and in the PAC given the excuse that they couldn’t provide the crucial  outstanding  documents  to  the  PAC  because  they  have  been  confiscated  by  the authorities including the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

However, I asked “Bank statements, usually if it is taken by the police... you can get copies from the bank, right?”

However, Arul Kanda kept his straight face to respond that “Jadi Yang Berhormat, di mana kita dapat, where we have been able to, we have are(sic) source and we have pass over to JAN”.

The  following  was  the  short  exchange  when  Arul  Kanda  tried  to  pretend  he  doesn’t understand what “bank statements” were:

Tony Pua: Bank statements?

Arul Kanda: I am speaking in general terms Yang Berhormat because...

Tony  Pua:  Bank  statements  surely  it  can  be...  they  [JAN]  have  been  asking  for  it since May.

Arul Kanda: As I said earlier...

Tony Pua: Cannot be taking six months to get from the bank, right?

Arul  Kanda:  Again,  Yang  Berhormat,  I  am  not  sure  which  statement  or  which document in particular.

Tony  Pua:  Every  month.  I  think  they  have  asked  for  every  month’s  [statements], right?

Arul Kanda: Again, Yang Berhormat, I think we have to be detailed in our questions.

At  this  point,  the  Auditor-General  himself,  Tan  Sri  Ambrin  bin  Buang,  who  rarely  speaks during  witness  testimonies, found it  necessary  to  defend  his Office for  the  insinuation that they were not “detailed” in their questions.

“I think whatever kita minta ini, we put it in writing to them. So, they know exactly what we want.   Cuma  ada  yang  kita  dapat  separuh,  kita  tidak dapat  separuh. So that affect our works. And then now, people (Arul Kanda) come and say it (the audit findings) is totally wrong. We want to correct it if it is totally wrong.”

When  Arul  Kanda  then  insisted  that  he  didn’t  have the “detail” wanted,  Tan  Sri  Ambrin responded that their office have provided several deadlines, the last being 31 October 2015 for 1MDB to submit their documents.

“Tuan  Pengerusi,  I must  put  on  record. Kita sudah  beberapa  kali  beri  deadline. We have  to  finish  our  report  to  the  PAC. We  put  the  date  even  31st  October. We are now in December.  We are still waiting.”

As  the  new  Member  of  the  PAC,  Dato’ Takiyuddin  Hassan  rightly  pointed  out  then, “Tuan Pengerusi, saya  nampak  macam  ada  element  of  suppression of  evidence di  sini. You  are trying to hide something. We can assume that.”

When  I  repeated  my  question, “What  is  the  difficulty  of  getting  bank  statements  to  the Auditor-General?”

Arul  Kanda’s  response  summed  up  his  debating  credentials, “So  again, Yang  Berhormat, saya rasa soalan tersebut terlalu broad. Kita perlu... lebih jelas apa yang diperlukan...”

In fact, right up to the very last minute in March, there were still repeated requests to the Ministry of Finance and 1MDB to make available all the missing documents, including all the foreign bank statements, payments transaction confirmations, as well as certain key missing agreements. However, these requests fell on deaf ears.

So now, Malaysians can judge for themselves, whether Arul Kanda, the top banker touted to be a debt restructuring expert, but couldn’t understand what “bank statements” were, was “cooperating” with the  PAC  and  AG  as  he  claims,  or  he  was  in  reality  obstructing investigations against 1MDB. They can also decide, who are the real liars, 1MDB or me.

Hence  let  me  reassert  my  statement yesterday  that while the  findings of  the PAC and the Auditor-General are sufficiently damning  for  1MDB,  its Board of Directors and top management, the PAC failed to “clear” the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak of alleged wrongdoings because the crucial evidence of banking information overseas were not handed over to the AG or the PAC.

Friday, April 08, 2016

Dato’ Seri Najib Razak needs to take full responsibility for the RM55 billion 1MDB debacle and take concrete measures to ensure full compliance by the company

The  spin  masters  in  the  Prime  Minister’s  Department  are  operating  in  full  swing  to  deflect any  blame  on  Dato’ Seri Najib Razak over  the  damning  Public  Accounts  Committee  (PAC) Report which has been tabled yesterday on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Dato’ Seri  Azalina  Othman  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  report  also  confirmed  that  the Prime  Minister  did  not  commit  any  offences  or  contribute  to  any  criminal  offences,  hence proved that all allegations made against him were baseless.

Worst,  Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  himself  attempted  to  make  light  of  the  highly  incriminating PAC  Report  by  focusing  on  the  irrelevant –  that  Tun  Dr  Mahathir  Mohammad  made  a mistake by claiming that “RM42 billion is missing”.  It is irrelevant because the point of the PAC Report wasn’t to determine “RM42 billion was missing” but how billions of ringgit might have been improperly siphoned.

Dato’ Seri Najib Razak  must  be  the  most  irresponsible  Finance  Minister in history  who  is more interested in political rhetoric than the scores of misdeeds outlined in the PAC as well as the Auditor-General’s  Report. Just  because  one  man  cited  the wrong figure for the amounts of funds which were not accounted for, does not mean that there were no billions of dollars which went missing.

We have already established that at least US$5.5 billion of 1MDB’s cash and assets could not be verified by the Attorney-General after a year of investigations.

Hence,  at  the  very  least,  Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  who  is  also  the  Finance Minister must be held to be ministerially accountable as 1MDB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). In fact, the debt which has been accumulated by 1MDB amounting to RM55 billion as at October 2015 is even larger that the entire RM32.3 billion budget for the Ministry of Finance in 2016!

The  degree  of  ministerial  accountability  is  even  higher, given  the  specific  provisions  of 1MDB’s  Memorandum  and  Articles  of Association  (M&A)  which  required  the  explicit  written endorsement  of  the  Prime  Minister  for  every  single  substantial  transaction  carried  out  by 1MDB.  Hence the Prime Minister had personally signed all written resolutions approving its investments in the failed US$1.83 billion Petrosaudi joint venture, the borrowing of US$6.5 billion of bonds,  the  multi-billion  ringgit  acquisition  of  the  power  plants  and  real  estate  as well as the sacking of both external auditors, Ernst & Young and KPMG.

Worse,  the  M&A  of  1MDB  explicitly  forbids  the  appointment of  any  MoF  officials  in  the company,  which  could  have  acted  as  an  additional  check  and  balance  on  the  rogue management.  The lack of oversight at the level of the Finance Ministry, as testified by the Treasury-General,  Tan  Sri  Irwan  Serigar  himself  to  the  PAC,  only  further  increases  the culpability of the Prime Minister in the entire scandal.

If  the Prime  Minister  hadn’t  personally  approved  these  resolutions,  then  none  of the shenanigans  cited  by  the  AG  could  have  taken  place. Hence, Dato’ Seri  Najib  Razak was either very stupid and reckless to sign these resolutions without proper consideration or he was very much part and parcel of the 1MDB scam. Either way, the Prime Minister must take responsibility and be held accountable.

Finally, and most importantly, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has failed to direct 1MDB to cooperate with the  AG  and  the  PAC  by  providing  all  necessary  financial  statements, particularly  its banking records and statements overseas. Given that the allegations of impropriety by the Prime  Minister, especially  over  the  US$681  million “donation”  scandal  are  all  transacted overseas,  there  was no  way  for  the  AG  or  the  PAC  to  clear  the  Prime  Minister  of  these allegations.

Hence all attempts by the BN Ministers to exonerate Dato’ Seri Najib Razak of any culpability in the RM55 billion 1MDB financial scandal are well off the mark. If Dato’ Seri Najib Razak wants to remove any suspicions of links between 1MDB’s overseas funds and himself, then he must immediately reprimand 1MDB and direct 1MDB to hand over all its banking records overseas to the PAC and AG for further scrutiny.

If  not,  then  Dato’ Seri  Najib  Razak  will  be further  tainted  with  the  perception  that  he  is afraid of the truth being discovered and he has much to hide.

If billions of dollars are not "missing" as alleged, then why did 1MDB refuse to present its bank statements to the AG and PAC?

The  damning  Public  Accounts  Committee  (PAC)  Report  on  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd (1MDB) was tabled in Parliament yesterday.

Among the lengthy list of transgressions by 1MDB, the PAC established that:

The  sums of  US$700  million  and  US$330  million  have  been  misappropriated  to Good Star Limited, a company unrelated to the purported 1MDB-Petrosaudi joint venture in 2009 and 2011. (7.3.4-7.3.5)

US$3.51  billion  has  been  paid  to  a  British  Virgin  Islands  (BVI)  incorporated  Aabar Investment  PJS  Limited “Aabar  (BVI)”  in  the  form  of  collaterals,  options  termination compensation  and  further  unexplained “top-up  security”  payments despite obvious doubts over who owns Aabar (BVI).

The  Auditor-General  (AG)  was  also  unable  to  verify  the  actual  transactions  above  because 1MDB has refused to provide the bank statements of its overseas bank accounts and foreign subsidiaries. (7.3.9 – 7.3.13)

As  a  result  of  1MDB’s  refusal  to  cooperate,  the  AG  was  also  unable  to  ascertain  the purported existence and value of the so-called US$940 million worth of “units” parked at the Swiss Bank branch of BSI Bank in Singapore. (7.3.15)

Instead  of  answering  the  respective  findings  of  the  Report,  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd (1MDB)  thought  it  more  appropriate  to  train  its  guns  on  the  Wall  Street  Journal  (WSJ). 1MDB claimed that it was entirely inaccurate of WSJ to claim in its article that the PAC had found that “billions  of  dollars”  had  gone  missing  from  1MDB,  and  had  recommended  a “criminal investigation” on the fund’s senior management.

Why is 1MDB so ruffled with the claim by WSJ that “billions of dollars” were “found missing” based on the PAC Report?

Indeed, the PAC Report never made the specific claim that the above billions were “missing” officially. However, the fact of the matter is these billions are unaccounted for and cannot be verified, as confirmed by the AG himself.

Hence,  if  1MDB  is  so  offended  by  the  missing  billions  description  by  WSJ,  why  didn’t  the company  show  where  these  monies  were  with  its  bank  statements  and  their  respective transaction details to the AG since May 2015?

In  fact, 1MDB’s  recalcitrance  and  utter  contempt  for  the  Auditor-General  over  the  above, despite  countless  reminders  by  the  AG  and  the  PAC,  only  goes  to  reinforce  the  global suspicions that the billions of dollars have indeed gone missing.

The refusal by 1MDB and its management to cooperate over the above unaccounted billions of dollars  left  the  PAC  with  no  choice  but  to  recommend  investigations  by  the  relevant
authorities.  These “relevant authorities” would certainly include the Royal Malaysia Police to track possible criminal elements in the flow of funds by 1MDB overseas.

1MDB  should  stop  trying  to  play  the  victim  of  a  non-existent global  malicious  conspiracy against the company. 1MDB has had every opportunity to clear its name over the past year and has now been proven to have failed to do so.

The  real  victims  are  the  Malaysian  people  whose  trust  in 1MDB,  its  management  and directors, have been betrayed by half-truths, lies, deceit and cover-ups.

Thursday, April 07, 2016

All critics of debt-stricken 1MDB have been finally vindicated with tabling of the PAC Report

For  more  than  a  year,  the  critics  of  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd  (1MDB) –  the  Sarawak Report,  which  has  been  banned  by  the  Malaysian  government,  the  Wall  Street  Journal, which has been accused of orchestrating a conspiracy against the country and myself, who is being investigated for “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” over the same matter were accused of doctoring documents and publishing lies.

The  tabling  of  the  Public Accounts Committee  (PAC) Report  today,  with  the  accompanying transcripts of all its proceedings since 19th May 2015 in Parliament has now fully vindicated us. The findings  of  the Auditor-General, summarised in  the  106-page  PAC Report  and  the relatively brief conclusion by the PAC confirms gross mismanagement and wanton neglect of all principles of good governance and accountability.

Most  importantly,  1MDB  deliberately  hampered  the  investigations  by  the  Auditor-General and the  PAC  by  giving  half-truths,  withholding  of  crucial  information  as  well  as defiantly refusing to  supply  simple  bank  statements  of  its  overseas  accounts  to  allow  the  audit  of multi-billion ringgit money trails.

Despite certain shortcomings of the report – the failure to obtain the crucial information of 1MDB’s foreign banking transactions, and the failure to secure additional key witnesses like former CEO, Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, Bank Negara officials, auditors Ernst & Young and even controversial figures like Low Taek Jho – the evidence put forward based on available documents were overwhelmingly damning for 1MDB.

This crucially include the first joint venture agreement with Petrosaudi International Limited where 1MDB  was  meant  to  invest  US$1  billion  for  a  40%  stake  but  US$700  million  was misappropriated  to  Good  Star  Limited. The  Auditor-General  has  found  evidence  that  the transaction  took  place without  the  knowledge  and  approval  of  the  Board  (7.3.4, 7.3.5). Interviews  with  the  then 1MDB  Chairman,  Tan  Sri  Mohd  Bakke Salleh showed that he quit the Board in disgust a few weeks after discovering the dodgy, in his refusal to condone the actions of the insubordinate action of the Management.

While  the  Management  insisted  that  Good  Star  Limited  was  a  subsidiary of  Petrosaudi International, no evidence  was presented by 1MDB from the relevant authorities to the AG or the PAC to prove such claims. The AG’s Report also confirmed that besides the original US$700 million  transferred in 2009, 1MDB  further  transferred  an  additional  US$330 million to Good Star in 2011.

The  AG  and  PAC  have  also  been  able  to  establish  multiple  questionable  transactions between 1MDB and Aabar Investment PJS Limited, which is established in the British Virgin Islands “Aabar (BVI)”. It has been previously reported that Aabar (BVI) was granted 49% options to acquire 2 power companies, Tanjong Power and Genting Sanyen, in exchange for International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) providing a US$3.5 billion guarantee for 1MDB bonds issued in 2012. These options were terminated in 2014.

Based on the Option Termination agreement sighted by  the AG, 1MDB was to compensate Aabar with a “refundable deposit” of US$300 million.  However, 1MDB reported that it has paid US$993 million to Aabar (BVI). (7.3.10)

Worse,  the  AG  and  the  PAC  has  also  been  informed  that besides  the  above,  1MDB  paid Aabar  (BVI)  further  sums of  US$855  million  and  US$295  million  as  unexplained “top-up security deposits”. (7.3.13)

Under the original “Credit Enhancement Agreement” signed in 2012, 1MDB has already paid Aabar (BVI) US$1.367 billion. (7.3.9)

Hence, in total, 1MDB has paid US$3.51 billion to Aabar (BVI) for “security deposits” and “option termination” apparently for the US$3.5 billion bond guarantee provided by IPIC!

What  is  damning  is  the  fact  that  1MDB  could  not  provide  any  concrete  documentary evidence that Aabar (BVI) is in anyway related to Aabar Investment PJS of Abu Dhabi, which is the susbsidiary of IPIC.  The Auditor-General noted that Aabar (BVI) is not listed as IPIC’s subsidiary based on the audited accounts of IPIC. (7.3.11, 7.3.12).

In  addition,  the  AG  Office  clearly  stated  that  they  could  not  verify  that  the  above transactions disclosed  by  1MDB  actually  took  place because 1MDB  failed to submit  its overseas bank statements  and  other  relevant  documents  for  verification, despite repeated requests and reminders. (7.3.13)

There are many other shocking misdeeds and transgressions which have been disclosed in the PAC report, which won’t be listed here in my statement. However, what is clear is that there  is  more than sufficient  damning  evidence  to  indict  not  only  the  entire  top management, but also the entire Board of Directors.

The  PAC  Report  has  requested  that  former  CEO,  Datuk  Shahrol  Halmi  Azral  and  other related parties be investigated for all of the shenanigans cited, and reprimanded the Board of Directors for their failure. The  Inspector-General  of  Police  must  take  immediate  action  to investigate  Datuk  Shahrol and his associates. I will go further to call not only for Datuk Shahrol Halmi be sacked with immediate effect, but the entire Board of Directors who have failed to protect the interest of the Government and the tax-payers to be removed as well.

Monday, April 04, 2016

1MDB once again disingenuous with its denial that it funded "The Wolf of Wall Street" producer, Red Granite Pictures

Global  news  agencies  picked  up  on  the  exposé  by  Wall  Street  Journal  which  claimed  that Red Granite Pictures, the company formed by Riza Aziz to produce “The Wolf of Wall Street”was funded with US$155 million originating from 1MDB.

The  Wall  Street  Journal  said  that  1MDB  had  paid  US$1.4  billion  to  Aabar  Investment  PJS Limited, a company established in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2012.

The  payment  was  meant  as  a  collateral  for  the  guarantee  provided  by  Abu  Dhabi’s International  Petroleum  Investment  Corporation (IPIC)  for  1MDB’s  US$3.5  billion  of  bonds. However,  IPIC’s  subsidiary  with  a  similar  name,  Aabar  Investment  PJS  is  set  up  in  Abu Dhabi. IPIC’s  financial  statements  published  on the  London  Stock  Exchange  has  disclosed neither Aabar (BVI) as a subsidiary or the receipt of the US$1.4 billion “collateral” cited by 1MDB.

Red  Granite  Capital  then  received  US$105  million  directly  and  another  US$50  million indirectly via intermediaries from Aabar (BVI).  Red Granite Capital then funded Red Granite Pictures.

1MDB was relatively quick to issue a very short denial. 1MDB said it “has never invested in nor transferred funds to Red Granite Pictures, whether directly or via intermediaries.”

However,  1MDB  has  failed  to  explain  why  it  has  made  the  above  collateral  payments  to Aabar  (BVI)  which  appears  to  be  a  completely unrelated entity  to  IPIC? Can  1MDB  clarify who is the ultimate beneficiary or owner of Aabar (BVI)?

If 1MDB is unable to ascertain the ownership of Aabar (BVI), then why did it transfer such an enormous sum of US$1.4 billion to the company?

Hence it appears that on paper, the transfer of US$1.4 billion is a legitimately made for the purpose of providing  a  collateral. But  upon  closer  scrutiny,  it  may  amount  to  a  fraudulent attempt to mask the embezzlement of funds via the mystery Aabar (BVI) vehicle.

If  1MDB  fails  to  provide  clarity on  the  nature  and  ownership  of  Aabar  (BVI)  with  the necessary  and  appropriate  documents, then  any  denials  it  makes  about  Aabar  (BVI)  not being an “intermediary” would have zero credibility.

In fact, the best thing for 1MDB to do now is to request IPIC to issue an official statement confirming its  alleged  relationship  with  Aabar  (BVI).  It  would  put  to  rest  all  of  the  global allegations against  1MDB  today. Given  1MDB’s  intimate  relationship  with  IPIC  and  Abu Dhabi, why haven’t IPIC come to 1MDB’s rescue?

Sunday, April 03, 2016

Impian Sabah & Sarawak: A Malaysian Dream - The Book!



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Impian Sabah & Sarawak: A Malaysian Dream is a commemorative book that celebrates the milestones achieved since 2013. We have completed scores of projects, involved hundreds of volunteers, assisted thousands of marginalized rural villagers and have been generously supported by tens of thousands of ordinary Malaysians.


Despite not being part of the state or federal governments, we have shown the East Malaysians that much can be achieved even with very limited budgets.   

Impian Sabah and Sarawak have become the game-changer for these rural folks.  There is now real competition to win the hearts and minds of these voters who were previously taken for granted.  


We firmly believe that continued Impian Sabah and Sarawak programmes are crucial in bringing about the twin change of upgraded quality of life and longer term political change. Sarawak needs to elect a government that not only cares for the man on the street, but also one that will fight tooth and nail against corruption.

 The book records not only the projects but the story behind each one of them; accounts of lives touched and perspectives of volunteers who participated in the many projects, all captured in the many photographs featured in this book.


All profits from the sale of this beautiful hardcover, full-colour 180-page book will go towards future Impian Sabah & Sarawak projects, benefitting the rural marginalised poor in East Malaysia. Get your copy today!


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And for those who prefers to pay via Maybank2U or other internet banking channels, cash deposit, special requests, bulk quantities etc., feel free to email me at tonypua@yahoo.com. Please include your shipping address and contact number.