Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 25): Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been urged to be more responsible in answering members of Parliament (MP)'s questions, after the Ministry of Finance (MoF) sidestepped giving up the name of the new custodian bank of assets worth US$940 million (about RM3.9 billion) owned by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) via its wholly-owned subsidiary Brazen Sky Ltd.

In a press conference at Parliament's lobby today, opposition MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua Kiam Wee said Najib's reluctance to surrender the new custodian bank's name will only induce more speculations.

Pua said the last time Najib, who is also Prime Minister, declined to reveal the fund manager that managed 1MDB's investment in Cayman Islands was because it was an unlicensed one.

Despite Najib's insistence that the fund manager is licensed, Pua said the Auditor General had subsequently found out that it is unlicensed.

Last Thursday, Pua asked for the name of the new custodian bank. But through a written reply, MoF merely said Brazen Sky's board of directors certified that "an internationally licensed bank has been given the mandate to be the custodian bank", making the said amount of US$940 million "unit" fade away from public eyes again.

"Until today, 'unit' that is being kept in BSI Bank remains a mystery. Because even when 1MDB is in [a] cash strapped position, to the extent that it has to dispose of assets that are important to the nation like power plant and Bandar Malaysia to foreign investors, [this] 'unit' was not being sold first to bear 1MDB's gigantic debt," he said today.

Therefore, Pua said Najib's reluctance to reveal the new custodian bank's name showed that he is hiding something from the public.

 

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