Mr Prime Minister, QUIT Lying to Us

It impresses me how Dato’ Seri Najib Razak can tell the biggest of lies with the straightest of faces by claiming that 1MDB’s RM42 billion isn’t lost because it has 500 acres of Bandar Malaysia and 70 acres of Tun Razak Exchange

I cannot help by be amazed by how the Malaysian Prime Minister could tell such a big lie with such a straight face, and fully expecting the audience to believe him hook, line and sinker.

Yesterday, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak to hundreds of UMNO Selangor members in Klang that "the [1MDB] RM42 billion is not lost. There, the 70 acres TRX and 500 acres Bandar Malaysia lands."

Firstly, are the 70 acres of Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and 500 acres of Bandar Malaysia worth even anything remotely close to RM42 billion?

Based on the latest available financial statements of 1MDB as at 31 March 2014, the 2 parcels of land are worth only RM5.83 billion. How could RM5.83 billion be boasted and inflated to justify 1MDB’s RM42 billion debt?

Secondly, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak failed to inform the audience that the respective piece of land was purchased for only RM194 million and RM1.67 billion from the Government. The cost to 1MDB was a meagre total of RM1.86 billion! And yet, the Prime Minister, who is also the Chairman of 1MDB’s Board of Advisors has the nerve to boast that the RM42 billion in 1MDB isn’t lost because of these two sweetheart deals purchased for less than RM2 billion.

To be fair to 1MDB, the company did purchase another piece of expensive land for RM1.27 billion in Penang. It also acquired 3 independent power producers valued at RM10.9 billion in 1MDB’s books.

However, even if you add up all of the above “investments” – RM1.86 billion, RM1.27 billion and RM10.9 billion, it only totals up to RM14.0 billion. That leaves a whopping RM28 billion out of the RM42 billion debt completely unaccounted for. A primary school student would have been able to do the maths can call out Dato’ Seri Najib’s big bluff.

Unfortunately, perhaps the UMNO President thought his UMNO brethren in Selangor are easy targets to delude and deceive. The Prime Minister even put up the false bravado that “If I am a rich man, I would buy a land at the prime area because I know the value (of the land) in 20 years.”

Well, Mr Prime Minister, if I were a rich man and you offered me the Bandar Malaysia and TRX land for the rock bottom price of RM74 and RM64 per square feet respectively, which are the prices 1MDB paid, I would bite your hands off too. I won’t need you to give me such ‘perceptive’ advice.

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed is absolutely right when he told fellow UMNO members in Ipoh yesterday that Najib “never speaks the truth, always lies”. He even asked “how to be a leader?”

We call upon the Prime Minister to stop lying to Malaysians. He must explain with solid evidence where did the rest of 1MDB’s RM42 billion went, after deducting the RM14 billion of real estate and energy companies.

At this point of time, the only perceivable reason why 1MDB is unable to service or repay its debt, is because the rest of the RM28 billion are either locked into worthless paper assets, or have vanished altogether.


Tony Pua

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1MDB Board Tells Malaysians to be Patient!

The Board of Directors of 1MDB has no moral right to tell Malaysians “to be patient” as they have failed in their fiduciary duties to protect the interest of the Malaysian tax-payers.

Finally after the Chairman of the 2nd largest bank in Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Nazir Razak told the Board of Directors and Management of 1MDB to resign if they could not get their act together, we got a response from the Board. Two days ago, Dato’ Seri Nazir Razak said:

It is your basic responsibility. There is a complete mistrust in your financial situation. You have to responsibly deal with that. But instead you sit there and wait for the AG. To me that is irresponsible. If you do that then it is better for you to step down and let someone else come in and take over.

The Board of Directors responded yesterday that they “would like to stress that 1MDB accounts are audited by an international audit firm, Deloitte”. It said that Deloitte signed off 1MDB’s 2013 and 2014 accounts without qualification and similarly KPMG signed off the 2010, 2011 and 2012 accounts with no qualification.

All the management, Board of Directors and the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has done to date is to hide behind the fact that “1MDB accounts are audited by an international audit firm, Deloitte”. They have stubbornly refused to entertain specific criticisms arising from the damaging exposés by opposition leaders, whistleblowers and the media.

If the Board of Directors have not been negligent, or worse, complicit with the embezzlement and mismanagement of 1MDB, why haven’t they responded to the accusations which were supported by evidence that out of US$1 billion which was meant for the 1MDB Petrosaudi joint venture, US$700 million was siphoned by Good Star Limited, a company controlled by Jho Low in 2009?

Worse, after the above transaction, 1MDB continued to funnel money to Good Star Limited under the guise of providing loans to Petrosaudi International. Good Star Limited siphoned an additional US$490 million between 2010 and 2011 out of US$830 million of loans granted to Petrosaudi.

The Board have obstinately refused to answer if the alleged US$1.1 billion “parked” in BSI Bank Singapore, which was the balance redeemed from 1MDB’s mysterious Caymans investment is held in actual cash, or unvalued paper assets. This is despite evidence published that BSI Bank Singapore has denied the authenticity of a statement provided by 1MDB President, Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

Even today, the Management and Board has refused to provide clarity if 1MDB will be able to repay its US$975 million loan as demanded by its lenders led by Deutsche Bank.

None of the above crucial and urgent questions require a full “audit” by the Auditor-General (AG) to answer. The Board has the responsibility to reassure the Malaysian tax-payers and financial markets with facts and evidence that all the above are either untrue or perhaps justified.

Instead, the entire country is upset and the markets are in a panic because it is plain to us that 1MDB is already an insolvent company which is unable to service its debts. If the so reputable “international” Deloitte signed off the 1MDB accounts on 5 November 2014 without any qualifications, then why is it that 1MDB is unable to repay a RM2 billion loan due at the end of November 2014? Why did 1MDB have to resort to begging for a loan arranged by local billionaire, Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan?

If 1MDB is indeed so healthy as audited by the very reputable “international” Deloitte, why is it that it needed the Cabinet to approve an emergency RM950 million in February to help 1MDB repay interest due on its RM42 billion loans?

If all the above critical allegations and exposes are untrue, why is it that 1MDB is trying to quickly dispose of all its land which it acquired at bargain basement prices to government-linked funds like Lembaga Tabung Haji and Kumpulan Wang Amanah Persaraan (KWAP) at sky-high prices? Why is it unable to carry out its initial public offering (IPO) for its energy subsidiaries?

Therefore, the 1MDB Board of Directors have no moral right to demand Malaysians to be patient if it can’t even be responsible and transparent in its dubious transactions and activities.

It is laughable that the Board even threatened to sue its detractors. It claimed that it “takes malicious and slanderous allegations seriously and reserves the right to undertake legal action.” Why wait until today to take legal action when the most damaging allegations have been circulating in the public sphere for nearly a year already?

While the Prime Minister has already sued me over the 1MDB issue, I would welcome the 1MDB Board of Directors to throw their hat into the ring. Go ahead and take legal action against Dato’ Seri Nazir Razak and myself. Since we could not get the Board to talk in public, the least we could do is to get them to answer from the witness box and let Malaysians be the judge of their culpability.

Tony Pua

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1MDB - Why so shy Arul?

The suddenly media shy 1MDB President, Arul Kanda Kandasamy should confirm if he was involved in the US$975 million loan to 1MDB while he worked in the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), prior to joining 1MDB

After it was exposed by the Singapore Business Times 2 days ago that the Deutsche Bank-led banking consortium will be recalling their US$975 million loan to 1MDB, it was discovered that Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) was one of the consortium lenders.

As highlighted by The Edge Financial Daily yesterday, the current 1MDB President, Arul Kanda Kandasamy was working in ADCB when the banking consortium granted the loan on 1st September 2014.

In addition, The Edge have reported 2 months ago that the proceeds of the above loan substantially went towards buying back options granted to ADCB’s sister company, Aabar Investments Limited to acquire 1MDB’s power assets. The 1MDB March 2014 financial report stated that the company had “agreed to compensate [Aabar] at a consideration agreed under the terms and conditions” of a 22 May 2014 settlement agreement which was never disclosed.

These options were initially granted to Aabar as part of the terms for Aabar’s parent, International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) to provide a guarantee for 2 1MDB bond issues amounting to US$3.5 billion (RM12.6bn).

Hence, the Daily rightly reported that:

This begs the question whether Arul was involved in putting together the loan to 1MDB and whether he was involved in the dealings of of IPIC and Aabar when he was working in Abu Dhabi.

Given the fact that ADCB, IPIC and Aabar are all owned by the Abu Dhabi government, it makes Arul’s role as 1MDB president even more delicate and subject to scrutiny of possible conflict of interest.

Given the above exposés, Arul Kanda would have no choice by to respond to the above claims to explain his degree of involvement in 1MDB fund-raising exercises prior to him joining the company. His silence on the matter will only strengthen the speculation that his interest may be conflicted, and 1MDB may have been compromised instead.

In addition, Arul Kanda must also disclose how much exactly did 1MDB pay to “buy back” the above options granted to Aabar Investments. The only amount cited in the March 2014 financial statements is US$250 million which was raised via a bridging loan facility in May 2014. However, the amount was not finalised and “final settlement will depend on the final valuation of the initial public offering”.

Therefore, the question is whether the US$975 million was also used to pay Aabar for the options. If it is indeed so, 1MDB would have paid an astronomical US$1.23 billion to the Abu Dhabi companies in order to secure a guarantee from IPIC for the US$3.5 billion loan. Under such circumstances, it would not be an exaggeration that 1MDB secured a guarantee from an international loan shark.

I am in a rare agreement with Kepala Batas Member of Parliament, Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican who chided the Board of Directors of 1MDB. He told Malaysiakini that

The issues have been left unanswered for too long and this has tainted the government's image… The board bears the biggest responsibility in governing a company. But what the hell are they (1MDB's board) doing?

The Najib administration and Barisan Nasional Government is indeed already tainted beyond repair by the negligent and incompetent 1MDB Board of Directors. However, if they continue to be evasive of pressing and pertinent questions raised about the wholly-owned Ministry of Finance subsidiary, the Malaysia’s economy, reputation and credibility will be severely damaged as a result.


Tony Pua

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1MDB's "Little" Debt Secret

1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy should not hide behind the skirt of “banking confidentiality” to avoid responding as to whether 1MDB will be fulfilling its US$975 million debt obligations to a consortium of 6 foreign banks

The Singapore Business Times reported yesterday that a consortium of “jittery” banks led by Deutsche Bank has asked for their US$975mil loan to be repaid by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) more than 3 months ahead of its due date.

The US$975mil loan was secured with 1MDB’s wholly owned Brazen Sky’s US$1.103bil. The report by Singapore Business Times said that money by Brazen Sky is said to have been kept at Swiss private bank BSI Singapore. However, quoting sources, the report said the “securitisation document” for the loan has now been deemed “incomplete”, as one of the covenants was allegedly not fulfilled.

This has followed the exposé by The Sarawak Report which cited leak investigation reports that the BSI Bank statements lodged by 1MDB to these banks was fraudulent. Allegedly BSI Bank only held “paper assets” and not “cash” as claimed by 1MDB.

The decision by the “panicky” Deutsche Bank-led consortium can lead to serious consequences where all of 1MDB’s RM42 billion of debt immediately default. Despite the severity of the issue, 1MDB has chosen to remain silent by ridiculously citing “banking confidentiality”.

President and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy, in an email reply to The Malaysian Insider's query said

We are aware of recent press reports and statements concerning a loan taken by 1MDB in September 2014. While we would like to respond in detail, this relates to a confidential banking matter, which prevents us from commenting at the present time. However, we intend to update the market as soon as we are in a position to do so.

The excuse provided in the reply is highly irresponsible and is the reason why the entire market is flooded with various speculations, true and wild as 1MDB has failed to address key questions in a frank and transparent manner. As a result, confidence in the financial markets has been shaken and the Malaysian ringgit has been adversely affected.

Malaysians are not asking Arul Kanda to reveal the loan agreement. Malaysians are interested to know if 1MDB will be able to fulfil its financial obligations to repay the US$975 million (RM3.6 billion) loan as demanded by the Banks in a timely manner. It will also provide great comfort to Malaysians if 1MDB can prove its ability to repay the loan because the last time, it had to beg local billionaire Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan to arrange a group of private investors to help pay-off a RM2 billion local loan.

Malaysians are also interested to know if the US$1.1 billion parked in BSI Bank is indeed held in cash or is it just some “paper assets”. The Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has responded to me in the last parliamentary sitting that the amount is held in cash, before the exposé by the Sarawak Report.

None of the above questions involved the “confidential” details of the lending agreement.

Unfortunately, Arul Kanda chooses to conveniently use ridiculous the banking confidentiality excuse to cover up everything. It is this massive cover up that Malaysians have lost confidence, not only in the 1MDB management and board of directors but also the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and the Barisan Nasional coalition government.


Tony Pua



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GST Prepaid - What You Pay Is NOT What You Get

Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek’s announcement that the mobile prepaid reload “reverts” to RM10 for RM10 credit with GST deducted only upon mobile usage proved that the BN Government and him are deceitful cheats

We read with complete disbelief that the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek proudly announced that consumers who purchase an RM10 mobile prepaid reload will receive an RM10 credit upon activation. However, in the same breath, he said users will subsequently be taxed 6% GST on their usage.



The announcement is highly deceitful because users no longer receive RM10 of airtime for each RM10 purchase. Instead, they are effectively receiving only RM9.43 of call services for every RM10 paid. There is hence no difference at all from the controversial hike in mobile prepaid prices by the telecommunication companies on 1st April where consumers had to pay RM10.60 for RM10 of airtime.

This disappointing announcement comes after Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery promised Malaysians on live television a week ago that “the rakyat want to purchase RM10 worth of prepaid credit, and they want to get airtime worth RM10. That’s what the people want… That’s why I have made the decision that if this is what the rakyat want, then that is my decision.”

It also means that the Minister has betrayed the rakyat’s interest in favour of even more profit for the already highly profitable telecommunication companies. Prior to 1st April 2015, users received RM10 of airtime for every RM10 spent, as every telcos absorbed the then 6% service tax. By using the switch from a 6% service tax to the 6% GST as a ruse, the Minister is supporting the collusion by the telecommunication companies for a uniform 6% price hike.

Last year, despite absorbing the 6% service tax, Maxis Communications, Digi Telecommunications and Celcom Axiata made pre-tax profits of RM2.44 billion, RM2.65 billion and RM3.1 billion respectively in 2014. In total, they collected RM12.8 billion in prepaid mobile services revenue for the year. Why is the BN Government helping these highly profitable companies make an additional estimated RM770 million in profits?

The above decision makes a complete mockery of the Anti-Profiteering Act which sought to prevent businesses from raising prices unreasonably in conjunction with the implementation of the GST.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak blamed the GST burden currently experienced by the people on “profiteering activities” and demanded that the relevant authorities “come down hard on the profiteers and unscrupulous traders who manipulated the GST for their own extra financial gains”. Yet, when dealing with multi-billion ringgit telcos, the Najib administration turns a blind eye on these unscrupulous profiteers.

The prepaid mobile services price hike doesn’t only run afoul of the Anti-Profiteering Act, it also breaches the competition clauses of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998. This is because all the telecommunication companies are raising prices by a uniform 6% at the very same time. It clearly reflects an anti-competitive and collusive practice.

Under Part IV (Economic Regulations), Chapter 2 (General Competition Practices) Clause 133, telecommunications operators are prohibited from “entering into collusive agreements”. It says that a licensee shall not enter into any understanding, agreement or arrangement, whether legally enforceable or not, which provides for rate fixing and market sharing, among other terms.

Therefore, we call upon the Minister stop being a cheat with his play of numbers and words. He must stop being deceitful to the Malaysian public by constantly twisting and turning his positions in order to support the multi-billion ringgit profits of the large telecommunication companies. The Najib administration must stop the duplicity of taking action against petty traders for alleged profiteering, while letting these big sharks get away scot free.



Tony Pua

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1MDB Whimper

Media Statement by Tony Pua, DAP National Publicity Secretary and Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 12 May 2015:

After all the fire and brimstone by top UMNO leaders about the 1MDB bailout over the last few days, the UMNO Supreme Council Meeting ended with a whimper, pledging complete support to the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak

This is the proverbial story of the wolf or in this case, wolves who huffed and puffed with great pomp and vigour, but just couldn’t blow the house of Najib down.

Top UMNO leaders lined up to speak up against the 1MDB imbroglio which touched a raw nerve when it sold a piece of land to Lembaga Tabung Haji at RM2,773 per square feet (psf) which 1MDB bought from the Government for less than RM64psf 4 years ago.


Just a day ago, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sternly warned “Umno’s image cannot be smeared just because of 1MDB. It affects the trust i.e. the core belief that the people have in the party.”

UMNO Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin even demanded that the Ministry of Finance cancels the land transaction between 1MDB and Tabung Haji to “avoid negative perception”.

UMNO Vice-President, Datuk Shafie Apbal warned that if the 1MDB crisis isn’t handled well, the credibility of the Government will continue to be questioned.

Even fellow UMNO Vice-President and cousin to the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Hussein broke his silence to demand that an international auditor be appointed to audit 1MDB.

But in the UMNO Supreme Council meeting held last evening, everything ended up business as usual. The much-anticipated fireworks ended with a pathetic whimper.

UMNO President, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak disclosed that “the Supreme Council expressed renewed support for the president and the deputy president. The Supreme Council wants the president, deputy president, the council and all Umno leaders to unite as a team to face all the challenges and take positive action to strengthen Umno and Barisan Nasional’s position among the people”.

The support from the all-powerful UMNO Supreme Council comes after the Prime Minister publicly proclaimed that he will not bow to pressure to resign two days ago.

Hence it cannot be clearer that UMNO is like a leopard which can never change its spots. No matter how serious the degree of abuse of power, incompetence, gross mismanagement and corruption involved in the party, they will continue to support their supreme leader who wields near absolute powers.

Despite the massive public uproar over the bailout of 1MDB via the sale of land purchased at bargain basement prices from the Government to other government-linked financial institutions at astronomical prices, it remains business as usual for UMNO. Over the past week, both Tabung Haji and the Pension Fund (KWAP) have been exposed as having purchased land from 1MDB at very high prices, providing the latter with the necessary life-support to service its interest payments.

Tonnes of evidence have surfaced which pointed to Jho Low embezzling billions of ringgit of 1MDB’s borrow monies into his own company’s accounts. Despite that, Dato’ Seri Najib continued to insist that Jho Low wasn’t involved and the UMNO Supreme Council happily falls in line.

The above only goes to show that UMNO leaders are nothing more than a bunch of power-hungry hypocrites. At the end of the day, despite all the foaming at the mouth to express their disgust and anger against the billions lost by the taxpayers, it is more important to toe the line of the all-powerful party President.

The Rakyat should not have any expectation that UMNO is able to change its DNA. The only expectation they should have is, as long as UMNO is in power, grand corruption, abuse of power and sheer incompetence will not only be tolerated, they will only become more blatant and brazen, as they did since the days of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed.


Tony Pua

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Riza Aziz Should TRX Land From Tabung Haji

According to Bernama yesterday, the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak pointed out that Lembaga Tabung Haji’s (LTH) plan to turn over the land it bought from 1MDB to the private sector was a sound commercial decision as it would see the fund earn a few million ringgit overnight.

The Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister must be joking.  If it is so easy for LTH to “earn a few million ringgit”, then why did 1MDB, who is so desperate for funds, not sell it to those parties who are allegedly willing to purchase it for more money than what LTH was willing to pay?

Instead, LTH is forced to pay cash upfront for the land and undertake the entire risk of holding the land on behalf of 1MDB to look for a buyer.  Why couldn’t 1MDB have found the alleged willing-buyers who were not only so readily available, they are allegedly willing to pay RM5 million more than what LTH has paid?

There’s absolutely no credibility in the claims by the Chairman of LTH, Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim that the land would be sold in a week.  He even committed that the land will be sold to a buyer at a profit of at least RM5 million and will be concluded within the next few weeks.

Hence we call upon Dato’ Seri Najib Razak to lead by example and immediately advise his own stepson, Riza Aziz to dispose of his luxury properties in the United States and purchase the above land from LTH.

It was reported in January this year by the New York Times, that Riza Aziz has purchased his New York Park Laurel luxury condominium and Los Angeles Beverly Hills bungalow for US$33.5 million (RM121 mil) and US$17.5 million (RM63.2 mil) respectively.  What was more amazing was that these properties worth US$51 million (RM184 mil) were acquired in cash from none other than Jho Low!

We now know of course, one of the reasons why 1MDB is in such dire straits with RM42 billion of debt was because Jho Low’s companies siphoned billions of ringgit from 1MDB.  And now, 1MDB is forced to dispose of all its assets which it acquired on the cheap from the Government to raise funds to service its debts.  In this case, 1MDB sold the 1.56 acre of land to LTH for RM2,773 per square feet (psf) despite acquiring the land for less than RM64 psf.

Under such circumstances, since the Prime Minister believes that paying more than RM2,773 psf for the piece of land is still such a good deal, he should immediately advise Riza Aziz to dispose of his RM184 million of properties in the United States and bring back the cash to buy this piece of land from LTH.

If Dato’ Seri Najib insists that Malaysians have to bailout 1MDB for its monstrous financial problems, then it is only right that he set the example by asking his family members of unexplained immense wealth to repatriate their money to bailout 1MDB first.

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Malaysians will pay more for electricity to help bailout 1MDB

During my speech at the DAP Petaling Jaya Fund-Raising Dinner in November 2014, I had told the audience that Malaysians will have to pay higher electricity prices in order to bailout 1MDB.  It was the same speech which the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has subsequently sued me for defamation.

I had then asserted that Malaysians have pay higher electricity prices because 1MDB was awarded several lucrative independent power producer (IPP) concessions without any open tender. Such direct awards went directly against the publicly stated principles of the Energy Commission to adopt open tender practices in order to promote competition in the industry.

The contracts awarded included a 2,400MW combined-cycle gas-turbine power plant in August 2014 and a 50MW solar farm in March 2014.  In addition, 1MDB was also awarded a 2,000MW coal-fired power plant in February, after the lowest tariff bid by YTL Power was controversially disqualified on a technicality.

I had argued that the tariff wil be higher for Malaysians in the future because the Government will award 1MDB will more lucrative tariffs in order to create more profits for the distressed firm to pay of its RM42 billion of monstrous debt.  Otherwise, why would the Government eschew the open tender process if 1MDB would offer the lowest possible tariff in the first place?

However, the situation is even worse than I have anticipated, because the Government has agreed to raise the tariff rates for 1MDB power plants even before their construction have even commence.

It was reported on Monday in The Edge Financial Daily that the Energy Commission has already approved an increase in tariff for the solar power plant from 41 sen per kWh to 50 sen per kWh.  That represents a whopping 22% hike in electricity tariffs within a year after the project has been awarded via direct negotiations.  The power supply will be sold to Tenaga Nasional, which will in turn transfer the cost burden to consumers.

As highlighted by my colleague, the Member of Parliament for Serdang, Dr Ong Kian Ming on Monday itself, the 50 sen tariff rate is higher the 49 sen recently awarded to smaller solar plants sized between 10MW to 30MW via competitive bidding.  As he rightly pointed out, the substantially larger 50MW solar farm will naturally enjoy higher economies of scale to offer cheaper prices.  In addition, with the rapidly plummeting global solar photovoltaic panel prices, tariffs should be declining over time, and not be increased by a whopping 22%.

Worse, The Financial Daily also reported that 1MDB is in the process of “disposing” its winning bid for the 2,000MW coal-fired power plant which it won via the controversial open tender.  This is because the debt-laden and cash-stricken 1MDB has no money to fund the project.  Furthermore no bank is willing to lend any more money to the company.

However, instead of cancelling the award due to breach of concession terms, the Energy Commission is allowing 1MDB to profit from the license award by on-selling its rights to Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB). To sweeten the deal for TNB to acquire the concession from 1MDB, it is understood that TNB will be allowed to renegotiate the tariff which was set earlier during the bid.  Once again, it means higher profits for 1MDB for doing absolutely nothing other than to on-sell the concession, while the rakyat will have to pay for higher electricity rates to TNB.

If the Government is truly concerned with the interest of the ordinary man, then surely the right thing to do will be to cancel all of the above recently awarded power plant concessions to 1MDB, simply because the latter has failed to produce the necessary funds to commence on their construction.  The power plants should instead be tendered out in an open and transparent fashion so that the most financial strong and experienced companies which bid at the lowest tariff rates should be awarded the contracts.

However, the Government chose to artificially improve the profitability of 1MDB in order to cover up the billions of ringgit of losses suffered by the company.  The losers are Malaysians who are forced to bear higher electricity prices on top of the recently implemented Goods and Services Tax. The above proves that I am right many times over that the men-on-the-street are being robbed with higher electricity prices in order to bailout 1MDB.

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Treasury-General: 1MDB RM42 Billion Scandal Only A "Small Issue Involving One Firm"

Malaysians can only react in horror when the Treasury-General can claim that the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal is only a “small issue involving one firm”.

 

Bernama reported yesterday that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is a “small issue involving one company, which is current undergoing a restructuring process,” according Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.

 

Malaysians are stunned by the blasé reaction from Malaysia’s top finance civil servant.

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Dato' Seri Najib And Jho Low's Identical Responses To Questions: Mere Coincidence?

Why are Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and Jho Low giving the same standard reply which doesn’t answer the question of the latter’s role in 1Malaysia Development Bhd?

When Member of Parliament for Wangsa Maju, Dr Tan Kee Kwong asked the question on 12 March 2015 on whether there was any business transactions or dealings between 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Jho Low, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak provided a short and curt answer.He said “Mr Low Taek Jho never worked in 1MDB and all 1MDB decisions and transactions are made by the management and the Board of Director of 1MDB”.Why are the responses from the Finance Minister and Jho Low so strikingly similar in not directly answering the questions posed?

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Where Is 1MDB Global Investment Limited's US$3 Billion?

Where is our Government-guaranteed 1MDB Global Investment Limited’s US$3 billion?

Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Ahmad Maslan had repeatedly denied that the Government had issued a “letter of support” for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) via its subsidiary 1MDB Global Investment Limited to raise a US$3 billion bond on the 6 November 2014. He was subsequently forced to apologise embarrassingly to the August House on 18 November 2014 by conceding that there was such a letter.

However, he had insisted in his apology and revision of his Hansard speech that the letter does not tantamount to a guarantee.

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Second Finance Minister Must Be Joking That 1MDB's Cashflow Problems Can Be Solved This Year

Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah must be joking to claim that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is facing only cashflow problems which will be resolved by the end of this year.

During the last parliamentary sitting, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan assured Malaysians that 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s losses were temporary and “it will return to profitability” for the financial year ending March 2015.

The Deputy Finance Minister spoke to reporters during a press conference on 21 November 2015 after 1MDB reported its first annual losses of RM665 million for its March 2014 accounts.

As we approached the end of March 2015 financial year, the Datuk Ahmad Maslan prophecy of 1MDB making profits looks as remote as any attempt to grow money on trees.  It showed clearly that we had a Deputy Finance Minister who had no grasp of the subject matter.

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Sarawak Report Chief Investigate Journalist To Join "1MDB: The Ultimate Low Down" Forum

Sarawak Report’s Clare Rewcastle will join the “1MDB: The Ultimate Low Down” Forum via video conference.

This press release is to announce that Sarawak Report’s chief investigative journalist, Clare Rewcastle will be joining the forum “1MDB: The Ultimate Low Down” via video conference.

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Minister Of Finance II Completely Deluded To Think IPO Can Solve 1MDB's Cashflow Problems

Minister of Finance II must be completely deluded to believe that an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 1MDB’s energy subsidiary will solve 1MDB’s cashflow problems.

The Second Minister of Finance, Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah told the Dewan Rakyat that the government is hoping that the initial public offering (IPO) from 1MDB's energy arm would be able to pay for the company's growing debts.

"1MDB's stumbling block is it's cash flow. But once the IPO is up, this would be settled," he said.

Dato’ Seri Husni must be completely deluding himself, or has been deluded by 1MDB to actually believe that the IPO of 1MDB’s energy arm will rescue the RM42 billion indebted Ministry of Finance subsidiary.

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SRC International Investment In Gobi Coal: Yet Another 1MDB-like Scandal?

Is SRC International’s 50:50 joint venture with Mongolian company, Gobi Coal & Energy Ltd another multi-billion ringgit PetroSaudi-like scam waiting to be exposed?

SRC International Sdn Bhd is an anonymous-sounding company owned by the Ministry of Finance.  However, a peek into the company’s short history and balance sheet raises plenty of suspicion-arousing question marks.

I have asked for my oral question yesterday on whether SRC International Sdn Bhd had invested in a Mongolian energy company and what are the details of the investment and its current status.  I received the shortest of written response from the Minsitry of Finance late yesterday afternoon.

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