1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) president, Arul Kanda Kandasamy has slammed the opposition for recycling issues related to Good Star Limited as an attempt to gain “cheap publicity”.
Arul said, 1MDB had already submitted all related documents to National Audit Department during the investigation process by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He said, as a buyer of shares sold by PetroSaudi, 1MDB had made the payment as instructed by the seller (PetroSaudi). 1MDB, he said, had also received shares in the company as a result of the payment.
Arul Kanda is obviously a perfect candidate to be the CEO of 1MDB because he is the master-spinner of lies and half-truths to protect those responsible for pillaging billions of dollars from the company.
Firstly, it has already been stated and repeated many times that 1MDB had failed to submit any bank or financial statements of its foreign subsidiaries which raised billions of dollars in borrowings to the Auditor-General (AG) and the PAC. This was despite the repeated request for the relevant documents by both the AG and the PAC over the period of nearly a year. Hence Arul Kanda’s claim that 1MDB has “submitted all related documents” to the AG and PAC is clearly “fake news”.
Secondly, Arul Kanda would like Malaysians to forget that it wasn’t just Tony Pua or the Opposition who have protest the transfer of more than US$1 billion to Good Star Limited, a company owned by Jho Low.
The then Chairman of 1MDB, Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh has quit his position in utter disgust after discovering that the US$700 million was secretly transferred to Good Star Limited without the knowledge or approval from the Board of Directors. Tan Sri Bakke had testified to the PAC on 11 February 2016 and as the published Hansard shows, he informed the PAC that:
…we [the Board of Directors] wanted the USD1 bilion punya investment to be credited in the account of the joint venture company which was 1MDB PetroSaudi punya akaun.
[…]
So, bila the Board was informed about this, we actually- we were shocked and we were angry, that is how I would like to describe our reaction. Kita memang terkejut and marah. [pg 11]
Tan Sri Bakke Salleh also testified that
I resign because I was really to quote this English words ‘flabbergasted’, very annoyed. Because I annoyed and angry that there had not complied with what the board had directed them or instructed them to do, that’s all. [pg 16]
He also confirmed to the PAC that in the draft agreement with Petrosaudi to form the joint venture in 2009, “there was no mention of [a] USD700 million” which was to be paid separately to Good Star Limited as a loan repayment to Petrosaudi.
Most damagingly, Tan Sri Bakke Salleh testified that in a meeting to discuss the Petrosaudi joint venture on 26 August 2009, two days before the signing of the joint venture agreement, Jho Low attended
[as] an invitee of management. Management yang invited him to be present at the meeting just to provide any clarification berkenaan dengan pelaburan with PetroSaudi. [pg 14]
Therefore the evidence cannot be clearer that 1MDB is in cahoots with Jho Low to scam the company of billions of ringgit which were siphoned to Good Star Limited, under the guise of a pretend “joint venture” with Petrosaudi International.
Is Arul Kanda now claiming that Tan Sri Bakke Salleh, who is currently the CEO of Sime Darby, the largest GLC in Malaysia, lying to the PAC?
More likely, Arul Kanda is only working hard to justify his paycheck by defending those guilty of making Malaysia a globally renown kleptocracy, in the hope of a bigger payout at becoming the CEO of Khazanah Nasional, or better still, a Minister after the next General Election.