KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has back-pedalled on its earlier answer that 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) RM1.103bil from Cayman Islands transferred to a Singapore bank is not in a form of cash, but assets.
1MDB had explained that the balance of their investment has been redeemed in a form of assets in the currency of US Dollars in BSI Bank Limited Singapore (BSI), the Finance Ministry said in a May 19 reply to Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara).
“The move was to balance the liability of US Dollars currency. The bank is acting as a custodian of the assets on behalf of 1MDB,” it said.
On March 10, in a written reply to Pua, the Finance Ministry stated that the RM1.103bil managed by the Cayman Monetary Authority has been redeemed in a form of cash and still retained in the Singapore account.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Pua said the amendment in the ministry’s statement was an admission that 1MDB had no cash in the Singapore bank.
“What they did was they shifted the paper assets in Cayman Islands into BSI Singapore.
“There is no money there. What is the value of the assets left?,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.
He said 1MDB needs to explain the value of the assets since they were not in a form of cash.
“1MDB needs to explain because we have so far been led to believe that there is cash in Singapore,” said Pua.
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