THE financial wheeling and dealing at sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) did not seem to have the “stickiness factor” to ignite a discussion among the general public as other more pressing bread-and-butter issues hogged the headlines. It didn’t help that 1MDB was seen as stonewalling when questioned by the media on the delay in the filing of its financials and other issues.
In time, 1MDB’s high debt levels, exorbitant fees paid to its financial adviser Goldman Sachs, repatriation of funds invested abroad and controversial land deals, among others, caught on with politicians who gave the issues renewed urgency and concern. The key players in this still developing story include:
Datuk Seri Najib Razak
Prime Minister
Najib is the chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers. The fund, said to be his brainchild, evolved from the original Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) for the state of Terengganu proposed by businessman Low Teik Jho, also known as Jho Low. Najib is also the most prominent and identifiable official who has spoken on behalf of the sovereign wealth fund at its public events.
As controversies mount at 1MDB, Umno party veterans Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah raised questions about the billions in borrowed money parked in the Cayman Islands and whether the fund’s high borrowings would pose problems to the country’s banking system.
The unhappiness over 1MDB from within Najib’s own party, in which he is the president, is becoming more apparent, with Batu Kawan Umno division deputy chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan lodging a police report on Dec 12 against the fund over its management of public money.
Najib does not often respond to questions about 1MDB but each time that he does, he has insisted that everything is in order.
He Says 1MDB is not a sovereign wealth fund
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Former prime minister
In true Mahathir fashion, the former prime minister and veteran Umno leader has no qualms about criticising anyone. His latest target is Najib and his administration as well as Umno over its silence on the 1MDB issue at the general assembly in late November.
Popularly known as “Che Det”, the country’s longest-serving prime minister frequently uses his blog, chedet.cc, to vent his frustration on whatever is on his mind, from economic issues to government policies and, lately, on 1MDB.
He has repeatedly warned that the money for 1MDB is not from the country’s surpluses, but from debts amounting to billions of ringgit.
At 89, Mahathir still looks the picture of good health and is as sharp and critical as before. In May this year, he returned to the corporate world as chairman of troubled national carmaker, Proton Holdings Bhd, and its wholly-owned subsidiary Lotus PLC.
When he retired as prime minister in 2003, Mahathir became Proton’s adviser.
The Media Shy CEO
Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman
1MDB managing director and CEO
Hazem, who joined 1MDB as its chief operating officer in August 2012, quickly rose through the ranks to the top spot left vacant by Datuk Shahrol Halmi in March 2013. Hazem has made it an art to avoid the media glare. He made the news in 2014 by not being in the news even as questions started to be raised about 1MDB.
According to sources, Hazem has been looking to exit 1MDB for some time now, but has stayed on as he wants to see through the proposed listing of Edra Global Energy Bhd (formerly known as 1MDB Energy Group Bhd).
Edra’s listing, however, may not be in February or March 2015, as initially planned, but nudged to a later date as the company sorts out its assets that will be included in the initial public offering and also because of the current turmoil in financial markets.
Prior to joining 1MDB, Hazem was with Sime Darby Auto ConneXion Sdn Bhd, the retailer of Land Rover, Ford and Jaguar cars. His elevation from heading a small subsidiary of Sime Darby Bhd to be CEO of 1MDB — an entity with massive debts and assets — is certainly puzzling and something perhaps the 1MDB board will one day explain.
He fumbled in parliament
Datuk Ahmad Maslan
Deputy Finance Minister
Ahmad made headlines when he was forced to apologise for misleading Parliament in his statements during his winding-up speech on the 1MDB issue in November. The Umno information chief had to make an apology for denying that the Malaysian government had issued a controversial letter of support to 1MDB to raise US$3 billion (RM9.6 billion) in bonds.
His actions not only drew mockery from opposition politicians but also led many to question his intentions. Nevertheless, even as Najib shied away from the mounting pressure on the many controversial issues at 1MDB during the debates in Parliament, Ahmad was the public face tasked with taking the heat.
1MDB’s biggest critic
Tony Pua
DAP MP for PETALING JAYA UTARA
Pua is one of the few opposition politicians who has diligently questioned the “lack of governance, transparency and accountability” at 1MDB, only to be brushed off as unpatriotic. That hasn’t stopped the Oxford-trained economist from calling on Najib to walk the talk on prudent financial management at 1MDB.
Pua has repeatedly cautioned the public that the sovereign wealth fund has the potential to overshadow the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone fiasco. He has been slapped with a defamation suit by Najib for comments made about the management of 1MDB.
The man who lodged the police report
Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan
Batu Kawan Umno division deputy chief
Khairuddin is known for publishing the controversial book 50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Ibrahim Tak Boleh Jadi PM (50 Reasons Why Anwar Ibrahim Cannot Be PM). The book was instrumental in ending Anwar’s career in government and Umno in 1998.
On Dec 12, Khairuddin lodged a police report against 1MDB and was subsequently criticised by certain party leaders, including secretary-general Datuk Tengku Adnan Mansor.
This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on 22 - 28 December 2014.
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