YOURSAY ‘No one gives you US$1 billion without additional details.’

1MDB boss denies IPIC bailout, mum on details

Swipenter: "This is a business transaction; not a loan, not any kind of debt and not a bail out,” said 1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda in a statement today."

Mr Arul Kanda, then what is it? What is 1MDB selling to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) in this "business transaction"?

Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad must be jumping up and down with this latest "business transaction". He used to be hopping mad that Singaporeans and Chinese are buying large chunks of Johor and why Arabs are not buying up TRX (Tun Razak Exchange) and Bandar Malaysia right in the centre of Kuala Lumpur.

So in the south according to Mahathir, Johoreans were going to be minority or "foreigners" in Johor and KLites would suffer the same fate being a minority to Arabs in the Federal Territories. If 1MBD is not a "national crisis", I would laugh myself silly at Mahathir's logic.

Odin Tajué: Arul Kanda Kandasamy, whether this statement of yours can be trusted and accepted is best determined from just two of the significant claims you have made so far.

In an interview with Singapore's Business Times on Feb 7, you said that US$1.103 billion did exist (in Singapore), gave the reason why it was kept in Singapore, and gave your assurance that the money was really there.

You have been quoted saying: "There's a very sensible and simple reason for that. We are keeping the money in US dollars as we have US$6.5 billion [RM23.06 billion] in bonds out there, in which interest payments come up to nearly US$400 million [RM1.4 billion] a year... The cash is in our accounts and in US dollars. I can assure you [about that] ... I have seen the statements."

As we all know now, some mysterious dark force has performed magic in the vaults of the Banca della Svizzera Italiana (BSI). That dark force has turned the cash in US dollars into assets in US dollars, as claimed by PM Najib Razak, and then into ‘units', as claimed by Finance Minister II Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

Those ‘units' are a totally alien substance that Husni has been completely unable to describe nor put a value to.

Arul, the Bernama report of May 28 (three days ago) showed that you have falsely accused the Sarawak Report of continuously making unfounded allegations, whereas it is you who have falsely accused the website of publishing falsehood.

In rebutting what was said (by whoever it was but certainly not by the Sarawak Report ) to be claims that you have submitted a false bank statement to Bank Negara Malaysia to imply that 1MDB had cash in a BSI account in Singapore, you were reported to have said:

"We note with dismay that an online blog, Sarawak Report , continues to carry false information and direct unfounded allegations at 1MDB. This is a lie. I have never provided any such statement to Bank Negara. To state otherwise is blatantly false and incorrect, as are any allegations that are based on this premise."

In making this statement, you have with obviously iniquitous intention twisted information to portray the Sarawak Report as a purveyor of falsehood, while you were a living, walking, breathing saint.

Now let's see what the Sarawak Report did say. In the Sarawak Report's report entitled ‘ Investigators conclude 1MDB ‘cheated' and ‘made false document' to Bank Negara, Deutsche Bank and others ’, it was stated that the Singapore authorities had supplied Bank Negara with information alleging that you distributed fake bank statements.

The said authorities had reported that an alleged bank statement submitted by 1MDB to prove the nature of the contents of its account with BSI was, in fact, false according to the bank itself.

The BSI has denied that the statement presented to the authorities by 1MDB was an authentic document or that it represented a true picture of the Brazen Sky (1MDB's subsidiary) account. Those who can read and understand English can tell what in actuality the Sarawak Report has stated.

Finally, the Singapore authorities are not you, are they? And bank statements and letters are not the same thing, are they? Is it a fact or is it not a fact that you have distributed a fake letter purportedly written to Bank Negara to deceive certain banks, including the Deutsche Bank?

Is it a fact or is it not a fact that the fake letter in question was actually never sent to Bank Negara? That it served only to induce the actual recipients into believing that Bank Negara had also received it?

Fair Play: Odin Tajue, my hat off to you. As a right-thinking rakyat, I am more than convinced that with not only right-thinking but also bold-speaking and razor-sharp minded rakyat like yourself, there more than hope yet for our nation (I am assuming you are a Malaysian). Keep it up, bro.

Eagle: No one gives you US$1 billion without additional details. For Arul to tell us that details will be released later is the worst kind of information disclosure possible. Why can't you adopt disclosure standards required of a sovereign fund?

Dark Knight: Even if it is not a loan, a debt or a bailout as claimed, it is really a shameful affair for a sovereign nation to seek financial help from another under the guise of a business transaction.

Saphire: There is no end arguing whether the deal is a bailout or not. But one thing Arul did not deny is that 1MDB is on the verge of drowning in a sea of debts. The US$1 billion is a lifeline.

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