Reverting to 1MDB’s RM42 billion ‘disappearing into thin air’
The RM42 billion ‘taxpayers’ money’ that Mahathir said has lesap or ‘disappeared into thin air’ is not government funds but bank loans. And it is no longer RM42 billion but RM33 billion because some of those loans have already been repaid. And that RM33 billion in bank loans is backed by more than RM60 billion in assets. And some of those assets are now in various stages of development and would be worth more than its original value.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
This fake news was started by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad three years ago in February 2015 when he alleged that RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money had lesap or ‘disappeared into thin air’. Either Mahathir does not understand the fundamentals of business or he was downright lying and thought he could get away with it.
What actually happened is that 1MDB has a paid-up capital of only RM1 million when it was first set up as the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) by then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2008. Hence the opposition spin that it was Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak who set up 1MDB in 2009 so that he could syphon out government funds is not true.
That is the first lie.
It was Mahathir who started the ‘RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money has disappeared into thin air’ lie
Secondly, the RM42 billion ‘taxpayers’ money’ that Mahathir said has lesap or ‘disappeared into thin air’ is not government funds but bank loans. And it is no longer RM42 billion but RM33 billion because some of those loans have already been repaid. And that RM33 billion in bank loans is backed by more than RM60 billion in assets. And some of those assets are now in various stages of development and would be worth more than its original value.
In short, for every RM1 in loans, 1MDB has RM2 in assets. So how can 1MDB be considered bankrupt? It would be considered bankrupt if it has RM1 in assets for every RM2 in loans. Now it is the other way around. It has RM2 in assets for every RM1 in loans.
One criticism they raise is that those RM60 billion or more worth of assets had been procured at below market price and not at prevailing market price. That, of course, is a debatable subject. Since the 1960s, government trust agencies or government-linked companies (GLCs) — even in opposition states such as Kelantan, Penang and Selangor — have been procuring assets at what can be considered below market price.
Mahathir’s main beef is that 1MDB’s TRX, worth more than RM40 billion, will outdo the KLCC Twin Towers
Bank Negara, PNB, LTAT, Tabung Haji, Pernas, Felda, the various SEDCs all over Malaysia — in fact, hundreds of such trust agencies and GLCs have been given land, licences, permits, and public company shares at par value and not at listed price. Ask ex-Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim how it was done when he was heading PNB since way back in the 1980s.
So, this is not special to 1MDB. It is normal for all trust agencies and GLCs all over Malaysia, even for the Pakatan states. Even Penang and Selangor companies get land at ‘cheap sale price’ after which they sell it back to others or enter into joint ventures with private sector companies and make a huge profit.
It is how the government does business since the 1960s when Tunku Abdul Rahman was Prime Minister. In fact, in the 1970s, even individual Malays could get ‘pink forms’ until the government changed its policy and gave them only to trust agencies and GLCs because the non-Malays were using Malays to buy these pink forms and were making millions.
Pakatan Harapan Selangor is facing an internal squabble so they are hoping the 1MDB issue can overshadow that
Anyway, today, Wong Chen of PKR and Tony Pua of DAP are again raising the issue of RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money lesap or ‘disappeared into thin air’ (SEE THE SINAR HARIAN NEWS BELOW). After a silence of more than a year they are resurrecting this matter. What is Pakatan Harapan’s game-plan and why are they now reverting to the 1MDB issue and the ‘disappeared into thin air’ RM42 billion after a hiatus of more than a year?
This week they had a meeting and they came to the conclusion that Pakatan Harapan is in trouble. The Penang undersea tunnel is hurting DAP very badly and many Penang voters are quite angry about the matter. The MACC have detained and interrogated a few people linked to this project and their statements have hurt both DAP and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is already facing a corruption charge involving his house.
Secondly and equally damaging is the appointment of Mahathir as Pakatan Harapan’s Prime Minister-in-waiting. This is the last straw that broke the camel’s back for most people. Those who were originally involved in the Reformasi movement in 1998 still remember that the movement was actually an anti-Mahathir movement. Hence, they cannot see the logic of appointing Mahathir as Pakatan’s ‘Top Dog’.
Not many believe Mahathir will appoint Wan Azizah as his deputy if he becomes Prime Minister
The Chinese also realise that the problems regarding racism, Islam, Sharia laws, the Sharia courts, etc., were all due to Mahathir. Whatever complaints one may have today were all Mahathir’s doing. He is the problem so how can the problem become the solution? It just does not make sense.
No doubt Mahathir is Machiavellian and he practices the doctrine of the end justifying the means. But even this has a limit. It is like justifying the extermination of six million Jews just so that Hitler could unite the Germans. Even Machiavellian politics and the practice of the doctrine of the end justifying the means cannot justify the killing of six million Jews just so that the German people will continue to support the Nazi party.
Thirdly, Pakatan Harapan Selangor is going through a serious crisis. While they are confident of retaining Penang, mainly against the backdrop of 80-90% Chinese support, the same confidence does not extend to Selangor. Hence Pakatan Harapan may lose Selangor if the internal squabbling continues and the voters get disgusted with Pakatan Harapan.
Mat Sabu has asked Pakatan Harapan Selangor to stop fighting in public and fight behind closed doors instead
Mat Sabu of PAN is so worried that, today, he said Pakatan Harapan should stop quarrelling in public and should sort out their differences behind closed doors. Mat Sabu actually admitted that Pakatan Harapan is facing problems and he is worried that the Selangor quarrel will extend to other states as well.
Finally, even if Pakatan Harapan does win enough seats in Parliament to form the federal government (meaning 112 seats or more), Mahathir may not be merely the interim Prime Minister while waiting for Anwar Ibrahim to be pardoned and released from jail.
First of all, Mahathir will appoint his son, Mukhriz, and not Anwar’s wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as the Deputy Prime Minister. Secondly, DYMM Yang di-Pertuan Agong has indicated that His Majesty is happy with the way Barisan Nasional has run the country. And it is no secret that the Kelantan Palace has never forgotten the Lamborghini episode of the 1980s when Anwar called the then Sultan of Kelantan a smuggler and told the Customs Department to confiscate the Sultan’s Lamborghini.
The Kelantan Palace has not forgotten when in the 1980s Anwar called the Sultan a smuggler and confiscated HRH’s Lamborghini
Actually, the import of the Sultan’s Lamborghini had been approved by the Kelantan Royal Council and had not been smuggled, as Anwar had alleged. And Anwar has never apologised for this incident since the last 30 years.
These are all Clear and Present Danger to Pakatan Harapan. So, they need to raise a few Red Herrings to distract people from the problems Pakatan Harapan is facing. And that is why this week they decided to resurrect the ‘RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money has disappeared into thin air’ spin. They are hoping they can give new life to this already dead issue and bring the discussion back to this matter.
The fact that all they have in which to fight back is the ‘RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money has disappeared into thin air’ spin does not bode well for Pakatan Harapan. Barisan Nasional has a long list of things in which to hit Pakatan Harapan with and all Pakatan Harapan has is ‘RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money has disappeared into thin air’.
Macam ni mampuslah!
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Mana aset bernilai RM42 bilion?
(Sinar Harian) – PKR mempersoalkan kenyataan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak yang menjelaskan wang 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sebanyak RM42 bilion tidak hilang, sebaliknya ia hutang syarikat berkenaan.
Pengerusi Biro Perdagangan dan Pelaburan PKR, Wong Chen berkata, setiap pihak tidak mempertikaikan jumlah hutang 1MDB tersebut, namun terdapat beberapa perkara menjadi persoalan dan memerlukan penjelasan lanjut kerajaan.
“Kita memang tahu RM42 bilion itu hutang 1MDB, tapi jika ia hutang, mesti ada aset yang akan ditunjukkan kepada rakyat.
“Isunya ialah kerajaan perlu tunjuk semua aset tersebut, sama ada adakah ia bersamaan dengan hutang RM42 bilion itu,” katanya, semalam.
Wong Chen yang juga Ahli Parlimen Kelana Jaya berkata, mengikut perkiraan pihaknya, kira-kira RM10 bilion hingga RM20 bilion wang 1MDB telah dibelanjakan, namun tidak memiliki sebarang aset dan rekod perbelanjaan.
“Malah daripada jumlah RM42 bilion ini, Jabatan Kehakiman (DOJ) Amerika Syarikat sebelum ini juga turut mendakwa pelbagai aset mewah dibeli menggunakan wang dicuri daripada 1MDB berjumlah AS$540 juta (RM2.3 bilion),” katanya.
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Tony Pua dakwa PM tak jujur dalam isu 1MDB
(Sinar Harian) – Setiausaha Publisiti DAP, Tony Pua mendakwa, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tidak jujur dalam kenyataan beliau sebelum ini berhubung hutang 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) bernilai RM42 bilion.
Beliau berkata, Najib adalah individu pertama yang sepatutnya disiasat atas kesalahan menyebarkan berita palsu selepas menyatakan hutang 1MDB itu ‘tidak lesap’.
“Ironinya, penyebar berita palsu terbesar hari ini tidak lain tidak bukan adalah beliau sendiri.
“Orang pertama yang sepatutnya disiasat kerana menyebarkan ‘berita palsu’ paling dahsyat dalam negara ini ialah perdana menteri yang mendakwa RM42 bilion hutang 1MDB tidak hilang,” dakwanya dalam kenyataan, hari ini.
Sebelum ini, Najib memaklumkan hutang 1MDB itu tidak pernah hilang dan kes melibatkan syarikat milik Kementerian Kewangan itu tidak seteruk kerugian RM31 bilion yang dialami menerusi skandal urus niaga Forex Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
Tony Pua yang juga Ahli Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara berkata, dalam skandal BNM, tidak ada mana-mana pihak dituduh mengambil wang daripada kerugian dialami itu.
“Bagaimanapun, dalam kes 1MDB, di mana RM42 bilion atau selebihnya tidak diketahui.
“Malah, jika Najib bercakap benar, soalan yang perlu ditanya ialah kenapa Kabinet mengklasifikasikan Laporan Ketua Audit Negara mengenai 1MDB di bawah Akta Rahsia Rasmi?,” soalnya.
Sementara itu, beliau turut mempersoalkan sama ada perdana menteri dapat menyatakan secara terbuka mengenai status ‘unit’ bernilai AS$940 juta (RM3.65 bilion) pada masa kini selepas Bank BSI ditutup.
Menurutnya, sekiranya semua jumlah wang berkenaan dikira secara sempurna dalam akaun 1MDB, mengapa syarikat tersebut gagal untuk mengeluarkan penyata kewangan beraudit sejak Mac 2014.
“Kehilangan dana yang ditonjolkan oleh Jabatan Keadilan (DOJ) Amerika Syarikat telah membuatkan Deloitte Malaysia menarik balik sokongan mereka terhadap akaun 1MDB bagi Mac 2013 dan 2014.
“Ini bermakna, 1MDB tidak mempunyai penyata kewangan beraudit yang sempurna selama enam tahun lalu,” katanya.
Beliau berkata, terlalu banyak perkara disembunyikan dalam isu 1MDB sehinggakan semua soalan berkaitan skandal itu ditolak oleh speaker sewaktu sesi Dewan Rakyat.
