Najib says he didn’t sign transfer of US$3.5b to Aabar BVI

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has implied that he was not involved in the transfer of US$3.5 billion from 1MDB to a British Virgin Island entity it believed was a subsidiary of International Petronas Investment Company (IPIC).

This is because, he said, his signature as prime minister under the Article 117 of 1MDB's memorandum and article of association (M&A) was not needed in the transaction.

"For your information, 1MDB has made a number of payments amounting to US$3.51 billion to Aabar Investments PJS Limited.

"All the payments made were based on the agreement inked and all the management action in such context was done according to the instruction and approval of the board of directors…," he said.

"For the purpose of the transaction, there is no need to get the written approval of the prime minister under Article 117 of M&A," Najib told Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara) in a parliamentary written reply.

The M&A gave Najib, who is also the chairman of the 1MDB advisory board, sole discretion for certain matters pertaining the state-owned sovereign wealth fund.

Pua has asked if the prime minister had given written consent to 1MDB, either directly or indirectly, to pay the money to Aabar Investment PJS Limited (Aabar BVI).

It turned out that while Aabar Investment PJS is a subsidiary of IPIC, Aabar Investment PJS Limited, an off-shore entity registered in BVI, is an entirely different company which has no links to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.

Apparently the US$3.5 billion has gone to the wrong company and no one has any inkling where it is now.

[More to follow]

-Mkini