This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 27, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Any individual who has committed any offence in relation to scandal-hit state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) will not be protected by Putrajaya, pledged Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.

“I want to stress, as far as the government is concerned, any individual who [has] committed any offence outside Malaysia, the Malaysian government will not protect them. We want them to face the legal process, that’s the commitment of the government,” Johari told reporters on the sidelines of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research’s 31st national economic briefing.

Johari also stressed that the ministry of finance (MoF) will support the relevant authorities to facilitate the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) investigation after the latter filed civil lawsuits to seize over US$1 billion (RM4.08 billion) in assets that it said were the result of US$3.5 billion that was misappropriated from 1MDB.

However, he did not see the need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to be set up to investigate 1MDB, “because everything with regard to the 1MDB issue has been made public”.

He added the MoF has taken note of the suits filed, adding the DoJ has the right to take whatever actions the authority deemed fit as it was in relation to something that happened in the US.

“I am surprise because I have never seen this information before, I have gone through [the suits]. They mentioned IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company) and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS. If these institutions are not involved, their names should not be listed. I am surprised their names have been listed.

“On our part, our dealings are only with the IPIC Group, not individuals. As for the individuals mentioned by the DoJ, IPIC has to answer,” he said.

“If we want to discuss [1MDB] in parliment, we need these individuals [named in the DoJ suits] to respond, so let them respond first,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said there has not been any impact in terms of foreign direct investment due to the DoJ lawsuits.

“On foreign direct investment, I don’t have the numbers now. [But] there will be a drop when compared with last year. This is expected as the global economy is slowing,” he said.

Johari cited the completed deal of power assets and Bandar Malaysia project as examples, that foreign investors are still investing in Malaysia. “The participation of foreign partners in the Bandar Malaysia project, is a sign of [investors’] confidence,” he said.

He also pledged there would not be a repeat of 1MDB’s problems during his watch.

“1MDB is a lesson for the government and all government companies. We must learn from this. It is an expensive lesson. We need to make sure this will not happen again in any of MoF Inc’s (Minister of Finance Inc) companies,” he said.