Pua: Will 1MDB change accountants, again?

Ram AnandPublished: Nov 4, 2014 12:41 PM | Updated: Nov 4, 2014 10:13 PM

Will the accountants for state-owned investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) be changed again, after yet another failure on 1MDB's part to meet the deadline to submit its accounts?

This is the question posed today by DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, after 1MDB missed its own deadline to submit accounts for the financial year ending March 2014.

Will the accountants for state-owned investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) be changed again, after yet another failure on 1MDB's part to meet the deadline to submit its accounts?

This is the question posed today by DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, after 1MDB missed its own deadline to submit accounts for the financial year ending March 2014.

The accounts for the previous year were submitted seven month after the deadline and following this, 1MDB, which has been racking up debts, changed its auditors from Ernst & Young to Deloitte Malaysia.

"The question then is, will it require another auditor change before the 1MDB accounts for March 2014 are submitted?" Pua asked at a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

'Monster scandal'

He said there are only two possibilities as to why 1MDB once again missed its deadline. The first is the incompetence of its accountants or the refusal of the auditors to sign the accounts.

"However Deloitte Malaysia is part of the multinational group with the ability to produce accounts for the top Fortune 500 companies around the world, worth billions of dollars.

“Hence it is highly doubtful that Deloitte would be unable to do the same for 1MDB since taking care of its accounts at the end of 2012," Pua said.

He warned that the lack of transparency with 1MDB and its hefty debts point to a "high risk" of financial collapse for the entire Malaysian finance system.

He also said 1MDB could become a "monster scandal" that would dwarf the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco.

Pua questioned the implication of this failure to 1MDB's plans to publicly list its energy subsidiary next year.

"How can the group prepare for listing to raise, supposedly RM18 billion, when it cannot even complete its accounts after two years?" he asked.