| Note from the publisher: We stand by what we have published. We would like to repeat what we have said before and that is we stand by all articles we have published on Jho Low and 1MDB. We have also said that we are prepared to go to court to defend what we have published, but till today no one has taken us to court. |
KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has categorised The Edge Financial Daily’s (The Edge FD) centre-spread article titled “How Jho Low & PetroSaudi schemed to steal money from the people of Malaysia via 1MDB” as “irresponsible reporting”.
In a statement, 1MDB, which is currently under probe by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said it had noted the “allegations” and “unsubstantiated statements” as published in the business daily yesterday.
“We are surprised that these old and unproven allegations are being recycled yet again, when in fact there are multiple ongoing investigations being conducted by the lawful authorities on the issues raised previously,” said the investment fund, which is wholly owned by the ministry of finance.
In the article’s footnote, the newspaper’s publisher had stated that the content was based on evidence corroborated by documents that included bank transfers and statements, which would be handed over to the relevant authorities.
“We have a public duty to find and report the truth. After this report, which could be our last [on 1MDB], we will hand over everything we have to the authorities investigating 1MDB and assist in any way we can,” the newspaper had also said.
In response, IMDB said any party which can assist investigators should do so under the purview of the law, without resorting to “such irresponsible and unnecessary sensationalism”.
“1MDB reiterates our trust in due process as evidenced by the professional and thorough ongoing investigations being conducted by the lawful authorities,” it said.
1MDB has come under the public scrutiny mainly because of the whopping RM42 billion debts that it has racked up in the past five years. Also, the strategic fund has sacked two auditors, namely KPMG and Ernst & Young during the period.
1MDB has not been able to generate enough earnings to service its debts. This raises public concerns over some of its debt papers issued with the government’s letter of support — meaning the government is responsible for the fund’s debt repayment should it default.
Consequently, the investment fund is currently stepping up efforts to hive off its assets, namely power generation plants and land, to ease its extremely tight cash flow.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 21, 2015.