This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 8, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government will study and act on the recommendations from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) regarding the finance ministry owned 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

In a statement thanking the National Audit Department and the PAC for a comprehensive, conclusive and definitive report, Najib said the report had identified weaknesses in 1MDB’s capital structure and management, and that action will be taken where breaches of the law are evident.

“We will study and act on the report’s recommendations. We must ensure that lessons are learned, and action will be taken if any evidence of wrongdoing is found,” said Najib, who is also the finance minister and chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisors.

Najib also hit out at former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying the PAC’s findings have refuted Mahathir’s claim that RM42 billion — the amount of debts 1MDB had racked up in its six years of existence — had disappeared.

“Having reviewed it, I note that the PAC’s report shows that [RM]42 billion is not missing from 1MDB, as had been alleged by Tun [Dr] Mahathir,” the statement read.

“Equally, it is now clear that Tun [Dr] Mahathir’s allegations against 1MDB have been false. He was motivated by personal interest, not the national interest, and a desire to unseat the government,” he said.

Najib added that the government will continue to focus on its economic plan to strengthen the economy.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said former 1MDB chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi must be investigated by the authorities.

“The PAC report must be accepted as an official report by all parties from both sides of the political divide. Special attention has to be placed on the recommendations of the PAC, which include a call for the authorities to investigate the former CEO of 1MDB,” he told reporters in Parliament yesterday.

“With the tabling of the report, I hope that the 1MDB issue will no longer be politicised,” he added.

The PAC yesterday, in its report on 1MDB, said Shahrol and other top executives should be investigated over the affairs of the troubled strategic investment fund.

The report also singled out 1MDB’s board of directors for failing to carry out its responsibility to protect the interests of the firm and its shareholder.

In response, 1MDB’s board of directors has offered to quit en masse to facilitate any follow-up investigations.