Minutes of 1MDB's board meetings dated Oct 3, 2009 that showed the board of directors demanding that RM700 million from the PetroSaudi International (PSI) joint venture be returned , appear authentic, said 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

He said this today on the sidelines of an MCA forum in Kuala Lumpur.

"We confirm again, as through a press statement before, that the minutes appear to be authentic.

"We are of course concerned about the leakages of private and confidential documents, so on Oct 12 we made a public announcement," he added.

He said 1MDB has lodged a police report over the leakage of such documents and hoped the authorities will investigate and take action.

When pressed further on whether what was disclosed in the minutes was true, Arul merely said, "In terms of the board minutes, "We confirm that it appears to be authentic," he said.

The leaked minutes appear to corroborate a report by The Star in July that two 1MDB directors had resigned in protest, after the US$700 million intended for its JV with PSI was allegedly diverted.

However the 1MDB chief did not comment further on the matter, and repeated that they intend to pursue the leakage of documents.

Whistleblower website Sarawak Report has published several minutes of meetings with damaging revelations.

One meeting on Jan 12, 2015, revealed Arul giving detailed assurances to board members that there was indeed cash in the Brazen Sky company account at BSI Bank Singapore.

Another, on Sept 18, 2009. revealed revealed that the board of directors had been lied to that PetroSaudi International was owned by the then King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2009.

On Oct 10, Arul confirmed the minutes dated Jan 12, 2015 were authentic.

‘We’re selling assets to cut debts’

He also reiterated that the RM1.49 billion of the RM1.83 billion Bank Negara Malaysia wants it to repatriate have been redeemed in cash.

The balance is redeemed in fund units allocated for a debt asset swap with the Abu Dhabi government’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

He said this was approved by the cabinet in June and the explanation given to the central bank.

“We await their feedback,” he said.

The central bank issued the order after revoking clearance for 1MDB to transfer the funds overseas.

It did so after the Attorney-General's Chambers twice dismissed BNM investigation papers recommending action under the Exchange Control Act 1953 against 1MDB officials for knowingly recklessly making false statements.

However, Attorney-General Apandi Ali explained that there will be no prosecution because 1MDB had complied to all BNM's requests at the time.

Arul said 1MDB will not budge from its plan to sell off assets to reduce debts.

“So my hope is that the clarity we had given to all party publicly will help people understand what we are trying to do, which is really to sell assets in order to reduce the debt of company,” he said.

He added he is looking forward to attend the Public Accounts Committee hearing on the issue “to provide answers to the lawful authority of the country”.

1MDB, which is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s brainchild, was meant to be a state strategic investment firm but found itself in a bind when it did not have sufficient cash flow to service its mammoth RM42 billion liabilities.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is also investigating claims that RM42 million flowed from a former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International into the bank account of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Najib denied abusing public funds while SRC International said all RM4 billion it loaned from Retirement Fund Incorporated (Kwap) is accounted for.

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