(July 7): Penang is looking at stopping all land deals related to the controversial 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in the state, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.

This, he said, was because of the state-owned fund's dubious dealings, which led to it amassing RM42 billion in debts within six years of its inception.

"As Penang chief minister, I will find out whether it is within our powers to freeze all 1MDB activities in the state to prevent any malpractices,” he told a gathering of opposition politicians and non-governmental organisations at the Parliament compound today.

The Bagan MP, in his speech, also said that it was up to other Pakatan Rakyat-led states to follow suit in this matter.

1MDB owns land in Air Itam and Pulau Indah in Penang. Lim said parties interested in buying the land would have to get approval from the state government.

This follows a statement by 1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy who had said the Finance Ministry-owned investment firm had "received significant expressions of interest in its Air Itam and Pulau Indah land parcels".

Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said on top of that, all businesses and deals involving 1MDB had to be frozen immediately pending investigations into the firm.

"We have to demand that all 1MDB businesses be frozen immediately," he said.

Criticism has been mounting over the state investment vehicle, established in 2009, which has chalked up debts of up to RM42 billion.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and whistleblower site Sarawak Report reported that investigations into 1MDB allegedly uncovered billions of ringgit channelled to the personal accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In their reports, the WSJ and the Sarawak Report had quoted from documents from the 1MDB probe by the Malaysian government.

The documents allegedly showed US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) was moved among government agencies, banks and entities linked to 1MDB, which finally ended in the prime minister's personal accounts at the AmBank Private Bank in Kuala Lumpur, in five separate deposits. – The Malaysian Insider