This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 22, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) said the Auditor-General (AG) has confirmed that the final report on the strategic investment fund will be ready by end-2015, in response to DAP lawmaker and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Tony Pua’s demand to publish the minutes of its board of directors’ meetings.

“1MDB has submitted authentic company documents, including its board of directors’ minutes, to lawful authorities investigating the company, such as PDRM (the Royal Malaysian Police) and the AG. This is per due process and the laws of our country,” said the fund in a statement yesterday. It said the documents will be submitted to the PAC, which will then present the findings to Parliament, upon which the relevant information will be made available to the general public.

1MDB also criticised Pua for what it described as continuing to “raise premature questions, without evidence, in his attempt to score political points”.

“1MDB, however, remains focused on cooperating with the investigations by the lawful authorities. In fact, we look forward to answering YB Tony Pua — per due process and with all supporting evidence — at the upcoming PAC hearings,” it said.

On Tuesday, Pua challenged 1MDB to deny the authenticity of the leaked minutes of its board meeting, which were published by online news portal Sarawak Report. News reports quoted Pua as saying that the minutes showed the unhappiness of 1MDB’s board over a US$700 milllion payment made to PetroSaudi International Ltd.

1MDB, which has racked up about RM42 billion in debt since it started operations in 2009, is currently under investigations by the PAC for alleged financial irregularities. The firm’s operations have also been questioned by both opposition and Barisan Nasional (BN) members, and its staunchest critics include former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Newly appointed PAC chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin, who is also Rompin member of parliament, said on Monday the committee would expedite the probe into 1MDB, along with other national financial issues, once other members are appointed. 

The PAC’s investigation into 1MDB was previously halted, following the appointment of previous PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed as deputy home minister in a cabinet reshuffle in July. Apart from Nur Jazlan, three other PAC members were appointed to the cabinet: Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau was appointed science, technology and innovation minister, while Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican and Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin were appointed deputy ministers.

Following Hasan’s appointment, both BN and the opposition must now nominate their candidates to the PAC’s select committee before the bipartisan committee can reconvene. Upon nomination, they will be appointed by the select committee chaired by Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

Besides the PAC, 1MDB was also investigated by a special task force comprising the AG’s Chambers (AGC), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police.However, the special task force was disbanded to work independently on their investigations, following the sudden termination of Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail as the AG on July 27, with Tan Sri Apandi Ali appointed in his place.

Earlier this month, BNM said it had revoked three permissions granted to the troubled fund for its investments abroad totalling US$1.83 billion (RM7.85 billion). It also issued a direction under the Financial Services Act 2013 to 1MDB to repatriate the US$1.83 billion to Malaysia and submit a plan to the bank to do so.

However, Apandi later said the AGC would not be taking further action against 1MDB for the inaccurate disclosures, despite BNM’s appeal for a review, because there had been no offence committed, adding that the central bank had not sought for the needed information from the fund.