KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has discredited Wall Street Journal’s “biased and sensationalist” report over the whereabouts of the US$1.4 billion payments to Abu Dhabi investment fund, International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC).
1MDB said its audited financial statements had clearly described the amount and purpose of the payments.
“We note that the Wall Street Journal does not name its source or provide any proof of the unproven allegations it is making, thereby seriously discrediting its sensationalist story.
“1MDB cannot speak on behalf of (IPIC subsidiary) Aabar or IPIC nor can we comment on the accounting arrangements of third parties.
What we can confirm is that the 1MDB audited financial statements clearly describe the amount and purpose of the payments, which for the avoidance of doubt, is structured as a deposit (i.e. a financial asset belonging to 1MDB and not an expense to 1MDB),” the strategic development fund said in a statement today.
WSJ today alleged that IPIC’s financials had shown no record of the payments from 1MDB and that IPIC’s new managers were looking into what happened to the money.
1MDB pointed that based on the payments, it can confirm that IPIC did provide and continued to provide guarantees for the principal and interest of 2 x US$1.75 billion bonds issued by it, with a total principal and interest amount of about US$5.5 billion.
1MDB also confirmed that auditor Deilotte, had made specific and detailed enquiries on the payments prior to signing off its audited accounts.
The fund also strongly defended its methodology and audit process at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearings, a bipartisan select committee of the Parliament.
“Accordingly, the Wall Street Journal is wrong to state ‘it is clear what happened to the funds’, at least not from a 1MDB perspective,” it said.
1MDB was shocked that a hitherto reputable publisher such as WSJ would make use of clearly confidential information in its reporting.
It said the WSJ actions were potentially a breach of the Malaysian laws and urged the authorities to investigate.
“We refer specially to the WSJ confirming it has reviewed a ‘transcript of the proccedings’, from a parliamentary committee probing 1MDB, of which the only possible source is the PAC hearings on 1MDB.
“The Standing Orders of the Malaysian Parliament very clearly states that ‘the evidence taken before any Select Committee and any documents presented to such Committee shall not be published by any member of such Committee, or by any other person, before the Committee has presented its Report to the House’.
“We are further concerned as to who involved in the PAC hearings may have leaked the transcript, which is clearly an attempt to prejudice the PAC investigations and deny 1MDB its right to due process as provided for by the laws of Malaysia,” it added.
– http://www.nst.com.my/
