(June 22): An Umno minister has seen the bright side of things amid an uproar over a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that claimed the troubled company indirectly bankrolled the prime minister's 2013 election campaign.

Tourism and Culture minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was quoted by Malaysiakini as saying that if the report was true, then it was proof that the money was actually being used for the people.

"If the report carried by WSJ is proven true, then it is good, as it shows the money was not lost. Then why do you (critics) say the money is lost?

"What's wrong with (Finance Ministry wholly-owned 1MDB's) money being spent on the people?" the news portal reported him saying.

Nazri said that it proved critics wrong about the state investment vehicle, which has been blamed for money disappearing. 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is known to be sitting on a RM42 billion debt and has been accused of questionable deals.

"This wasn't misappropriation of funds. This shows we did not squander the money," Nazri was quoted as saying of the WSJ report, which alleged that 1MDB had indirectly supported Najib's general election campaign in 2013 through a purchase of power assets.

The newspaper said 1MDB bought assets from Genting Group in 2012 for five times more than its worth and Genting subsequently made a donation to a foundation controlled by Najib.

According to WSJ, the foundation, Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M), then announced several charity projects that Najib later brought up during his campaign.

"Though set up to help underprivileged Malaysians through education and sport, this charity soon got involved in spending that appeared designed to help Najib retain power in the May 2013 general election," WSJ said in the report.

In a response to WSJ, the Prime Minister's Office said the claims were baseless.

Finance Ministry-owned 1MDB's debts racked up in six years since its inception has attracted its fair share of critics, including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir had previously claimed the RM42 billion debt was missing, causing Najib to accuse the retired statesman of creating a crisis with his statement.

Such claims, Najib had said, were false and created unnecessary panic, and because Dr Mahathir is a former premier, his allegations had negatively influenced the market and public sentiments. – The Malaysian Insider