1MDB today admitted there was never any cash from the beginning when its funds was said to be in the Cayman Islands and that it had always been in “units”.
This is over the status of 1MDB’s US$2.318 billion in funds which it reclaimed from its aborted investment deal with PetroSaudi International.
1MDB said this is because it received “fund units” for the sale of its shares in PetroSaudi Oil Services Limited worth US$2.318 billion in September 2012.
“In September 2012, 1MDB sold its shares in PetroSaudi Oil Services Limited for USD2.318 billion and received fund units in a Cayman registered fund.
“The Cayman registered fund is managed by Bridge Partners, a Hong Kong-based fund manager.
“These fund units were owned by 1MDB via its 100 percent subsidiary, Brazen Sky, and held through BSI Bank Singapore as custodian,” it said in a statement today.
1MDB had in January claimed the US$2.318 billion in two tranches were fully redeemed in cash.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak later said the cash was moved to Singapore but subsequently admitted to making a mistake and that the cash was actually “units”
For years concerned critics have been chastised by so-called Finance Minister for querying his claims that he had redeemed cash from his PetroSaudi adventure.
They were forced to accept his brags that he had made a huge profit out of the nonsensical deal with the unheard of company run by a bunch of jocks who happened to have a family tie with a royal in the Middle East.
From the moment that Sarawak Report exposed the truth way back in February it has been even clearer that no one would have ever in a billion years have bought out Malaysia’s billion dollar interests in PetroSaudi – because the money had gone.
Records show that out of roughly USD$1.9 billion invested in the venture USD$700 + 330 +160 went to Jho Low’s company Good Star’s Zurich account.
A further USD$260 was transferred via PetroSaudi to a Jho Low controlled company called PetroSaudi Seychelles (don’t be fooled by the name designed to deceive) which then bought up UBG bank for Jho.
Then there were some hefty multi-million dollar bribes to the Saudis running the company, Tarek Obaid and Prince Turki and around a total of USD$300m went into paying some of PSI’s running costs in Venezuela.
So what was left for anyone to buy from 1MDB? How can those BSI units be worth the paper they are written on? And yet for months, despite the glaring evidence, this Finance Minister has attempted to conceal the truth from the Malaysian people and he as Prime Minister continues to refuse to move against the perpetrators.
Is there NO ONE ELSE better qualified to do his job?