Arul’s denial not good enough, says The Edge
He was addressing an allegation that was not made, says the paper.
(Free Malaysia Today) – The Edge has challenged 1MDB to give unambiguous answers to questions it asked on Saturday about Jho Low’s alleged use of its cash to buy UBG Bhd in 2010.
Referring to Arul Kanda Kandasamy’s statement yesterday in reaction to the Saturday article, Edge CEO Ho Kay Tat said the 1MDB chief was addressing an allegation that the paper did not make.
“It is bad enough that 1MDB has not been very transparent in keeping the public informed of its operations, but what is worse is that when it does say something, it always does not address the questions at hand,” Ho said in an article published today.
In his statement, Arul said, “The board of directors of 1MDB categorically denies that it has ever approved any action or series of actions to transfer funds from the company to any third party other than the intended beneficiary.”
Ho pointed out that the Saturday article did not say the 1MDB board had approved transfers of cash to any unintended third party.
“What the article did say was that two 1MDB executives – Casey Tang and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil – had worked with Low Taek Jho or Jho Low and top executives of PetroSaudi International Ltd to get 1MDB to subscribe to US$500 million of Murabahah notes, and that US$260 million was subsequently channelled to Jho Low’s Javace Sdn Bhd to buy UBG Bhd.
“The article asked whether 1MDB’s board was aware of this fact, and that its two executives, especially chief investment officer Nik Faisal, was actively working with PetroSaudi and Jho Low in the UBG takeover.”
Ho urged Arul to ask 1MDB’s directors to answer questions posed in the Saturday article, which were:
Was the board aware that Casey Tang and Nik Faisal had helped raised cash from 1MDB to enable Jho Low to take over UBG? Why were they helping Jho Low and PetroSaudi since 1MDB was not involved in the takeover of UBG? Does the board approve of what they did? Will the board haul up Casey Tang and Nik Faisal to explain?
