1MDB should clear the air, says Ahmad Maslan
Putrajaya today urged the top management of embattled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to face the public and clear the air over the company's finances, theedgemarkets.com reported today.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan said 1MDB has to clearly explain the dynamics of its operations and financials to the public, as it involves taxpayers' money.
Ahmad said this when asked about the police report against 1MDB by Batu Kawan Umno division deputy chief, Datuk Paduka Khairuddin Abu Hassan, last Friday.
"The company should engage and communicate more clearly. 1MDB has good assets and I am confident there is no problem with that," Ahmad was quoted as saying.
In his police report, Khairuddin had called for a “detailed and comprehensive” investigation, urging authorities to interrogate 1MDB’s directors and representatives of any company that might be implicated in its scandals.
He said he lodged the report against the company, which had recorded debts of RM41.9 billion, and its board of directors after studying various reports in the national and international print media and online media that “clearly proved” there were weaknesses in 1MDB’s management of taxpayers’ funds.
1MDB – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's brainchild – is Malaysia's second sovereign wealth fund after Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The company had recently come under much scrutiny after several opposition leaders highlighted the fund's massive debts, dubious land deals and secrecy over its transactions.
Khairuddin had also denied a suggestion that powerful people in Umno were behind him in lodging the police report.
He also denied there was a plot to weaken Najib and insisted that he was acting alone for the sake of public interest. – December 18, 2014.
