1MDB president and CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy is unsure of the value of the firm's 'fund units' investments, or whether these even exist, according to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

"Arul Kanda... claimed that all financial matters were handled strictly by the CFO and he is absolutely uncertain as to what the value of these 'investments' are, or whether they even exist in the first place," he said.

Lim was speaking to reporters after being briefed by Arul Kanda and other 1MDB officials at the Finance Ministry in Putrajaya this evening.

Arul's latest claim contradicted his statement in an interview with Malaysiakini before the May 9 general election where he insisted that the value of the fund units were there.

Quizzed repeatedly by Malaysiakini, Arul was adamant that the US$2.5 billion was available for 1MDB to pay off the company's debt.

In total, 1MDB previously claimed it held approximately US$2.5 billion (RM9.8 billion) in these fund units, of which US$940 million was held by its subsidiary Brazen Sky Ltd and another US$1.56 billion by a separate subsidiary 1MDB Global Investment Ltd.

However, the US Department of Justice claimed that these fund units were "relatively worthless" and was a front for money that had been stolen.

Lim said it is unbelievable that a highly paid and experienced investment banker can be so irresponsible and clueless as to not know whether RM9.8 billion worth of investments is even real.

Unable to service

Meanwhile, 1MDB’s chief financial officer Azmi Tahir, who was also present at the briefing, said the “investments” existed, according to Lim.

However, he said Azmi gave the “unbelievable excuse” that the fund managers refused to communicate with 1MDB in writing due to the ongoing investigations by the DOJ.

Lim said 1MDB directors had confirmed with him the state fund was “insolvent” and unable to repay its debts.

He added that Azmi himself had purportedly written to the Finance Ministry in March this year to say that 1MDB will be unable to service its interest payment due in April and May.

If 1MDB’s “investment units” supposedly worth RM9.8 billion could be redeemed, Lim said, this would be more than enough to pay back 1MDB’s financial obligations for the next few years.

However, it remains uncertain what has happened to these units.

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