An opposition lawmaker today delivered a scathing rebuke of the responses by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to criticism from various parties, including former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Arul Kanda is a “liar extraordinaire”, said Pua.
DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua in a statement said, 1MDB chief Arul Kanda Kandasamy’s rebuttal of Mahathir’s criticism of the debt-ridden state investment fund do not address many key questions asked previously.
“1MBD yesterday issued a lengthy statement to deny many assertions made by Mahathir against the company. I agree that strictly speaking, some of the figures which were cited in the former Prime Minister’s critiques were inaccurate. However, the gist of the arguments was definitely sound,” Pua said.
He added that one particular response from Arul proved that he is a “liar extraordinaire”.
“The statement said: “despite Tun Mahathir’s vigorous claims, it is a fact that Arul Kanda never said he “saw the cash”. He is on the record as saying he had “seen the statements”, referring to the fund unit ownership and redemptions.”,” Pua said.
The statement was referring to the balance of US$1.103 billion of investments located in the Cayman Islands, which were redeemed in January and parked in BSI Bank Singapore. The controversy was whether this amount was “cash” or in “assets”.
“This is an outright lie, to cover up another lie,” said Pua.
“In an interview with the Singapore Business Times published on 7 February 2015, Arul Kanda clearly stated that while the funds amounting to US$1.103 billion would not be repatriated back to Malaysia, it would be kept in US dollars “as we have US$6.5 billion (RM23.06 billion) in bonds out there, in which interest payments come up to nearly US$400 million (RM1.4 billion) a year.”,” he added.
“The 1MDB President also specifically said, “the cash is in our accounts and in US dollars. I can assure you (about that)… I have seen the statements.”
“It is therefore disingenuous for 1MDB to just quote Arul Kanda having “seen the statements” without also quoting the sentence, “the cash is in our accounts and in US dollars.”,” Pua said.
However, that is not all, added Pua.
A ‘misunderstanding’ on the information provided by 1MDB to the Finance Ministry on whether the money was in cash or ‘units’ — something which led to a Parliamentary answer to be amended.
“As the President of the company, Arul Kanda takes full responsibility for this misunderstanding and will ensure better communication with all stakeholders, but this conceded “misunderstanding” is however, completely unbelievable.
“Firstly, is Arul so incompetent as make a mistake between US$1.1 billion of cash as opposed to assets or “units” of indeterminate value?
“Secondly, if there was indeed “misunderstanding” in the response provided to the MoF, why did Arul not immediately correct the massive mistake on the 10 March when the “cash” answer was provided and widely published?
“Instead, Arul waited until more than two months later on the 19 May after I had posted the question again in Parliament, before issuing the correction. If I didn’t ask the question, the truth would never have surfaced. Such a massive delay in clarifying the mistake is the height of irresponsibility by the 1MDB President,” Pua said.
Pua added that Arul Kanda had tried to mislead Malaysians that 1MDB has regained all its money, and even “made up” a profit of US$488 million.
“He even cooked up the excuse that the money needs to be kept in US dollars because it is needed to service the interest of 1MDB’s US dollar bonds. The above proved that Arul Kanda is an unscrupulous liar and a man without any honesty and integrity,” he said.
– The Rocket
