PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s replies in Parliament regarding 1MDB’s financial position in BSI Singapore were prepared by officers from the Finance Ministry from information provided by 1MDB.
The Finance Ministry in a statement said written replies in the Dewan Rakyat made under the Prime Minister’s name were done based on information provided by the agency, which was then checked by the officers before being distributed.
It said the fact that it had amended the mistake made in the initial written reply provided in Parliament in March proved that the ministry had no intention to lie.
“Therefore the allegation by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Najib, who is also Finance Minister, had lied is improper,” it said.
“The ministry has amended the answer made on March 10 to check confusion, in line with parliamentary order,” it said, adding that the ministry had taken steps to prevent a repeat of such an error.
Dr Mahathir, in his latest blog posting, had accused Najib of not being completely truthful when he told Parliament that money held by government investment arm 1MDB was being kept in Singapore.
“No money was banked into BSI Bank in Singapore. It is clear from the amendment to his first answer that it was not US$1.103bil (RM3.6bil) in cash that was being kept in BSI, but in the form of documents. It is unclear what is in the documents, but it is clear it is not cash,” he wrote.
“BSI Bank said the documents stating that savings made by ‘Brazen Sky’, a subsidiary of 1MDB, are false and not from them. Therefore, the second written reply from Najib to Parliament saying what is kept by them are documents is untrue. BSI Bank has filed a report with the Monetary Authority of Singapore that no 1MDB money is with it,” said Dr Mahathir.
In January, the Finance Ministry said 1MDB had deposited funds it had redeemed from its offshore account in the Cayman Islands into BSI Bank, with the amount held in US dollars.
On March 10, it confirmed in a written reply to DAP PJ Utara MP Tony Pua in Parliament that the funds were held in the Singapore bank in cash.
The Government said last week that the funds were not in cash but assets. Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Mohd Hanadzlah then clarified on Thursday that the saving was in the form of “units”.
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