Another US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) in payment from Malaysia’s state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to Abu Dhabi’s worldwide Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) is allegedly missing, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said.
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The missing US$1.4 billion payment reported last week was collateral for a 2012 deal where IPIC had guaranteed US$3.5 billion in bonds by 1MDB in exchange for a 49 percent stake in the latter’s power assets and the collateral payment.
“It isn’t clear how IPIC arrived at the US$481.3 million figure and how it relates to the almost US$1 billion transfer 1MDB says it made to IPIC”, the report added.
Calling WSJ’s report “poorly sourced and sensationalist”, 1MDB said given the severity of the “unproven allegations, the malicious insinuations made and the impact on” 1MDB, the newspaper should have the decency and courage to name its source and/or provide proof.
The Malaysian leader has denied any wrongdoing.
The questions deepen the mystery around 1MDB, which was set up by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to invest in Malaysia’s economy.
Malaysians took to the streets on August 29 and 30 in the Bersih 4 rally to demand Najib’s resignation over the 1MDB scandal and claims that RM2.6 billion from a Middle-Eastern donor was deposited into his personal accounts ahead of the 2013 general election.
The article had referred to the Abu Dhabi-owned investment company IPIC and its subsidiary Aabar which have dealings with 1MDB.
Responding to WSJ’s report last week, 1MDB said in a statement that it has made the payment, according to its records. They say only in a footnote that as of the end of 2014, 1MDB owed IPIC $481.3 million in outstanding payments for the options.
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“This inability to substantiate clearly shows the shallow nature of its assertions and casts serious doubt on whether or not the Wall Street Journal editors themselves believe in the weak story, cobbled together by its reporters”. WSJ cited a draft report by the Auditor-General on 1MDB as well as a transcript of proceedings by the Malaysian Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigating nearly RM42 billion (S$13.9 billion) of debt incurred by the firm. Last week, the Journal reported that payment also was missing and that Abu Dhabi officials were looking into it, according to people familiar with the matter. Deloitte declined to comment. It also has frozen tens of millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts.
