1MDB : It started on a yacht

© The Edge Communications Sdn Mhd

And it led to a RM53 Billion* Liability  Malaysians have to pay

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has to set aside RM44.6308 billion from now to pay the remaining interest on four 1MDB bonds and to redeem the principal sums when they expire.

The total principal sum of the four bonds is RM31 billion, of which RM14 billion is due just four years away in 2022 and  another  RM12  billion in 2023.  The remaining RM5.0 billion is due only in 2039.

Total interest paid on the four bonds to date is RM8.5402 billion. Total interest to be paid from now till the bonds expire is RM13.6308 billion.

By the time all the bonds are retired, MOF would have had to pay around RM 53.171 billion (based on today’s exchange rate of RM4.00  for US$1.00).

The four bonds were issued for the joint venture with PetroSaudi International in 2009, the purchase of power stations from Tanjong and Genting in 2012 and for the development of the Tun Razak Exchange in 2013.

The bulk of the money raised has been misappropriated and is now the subject of a worldwide probe and the new Pakatan Harapan government has vowed to go after all those responsible and to also try and recover most if not all of the money.  Much of the stolen billions had been used by Jho Low, Riza Aziz and their Middle-Easter co-conspirators to buy assets in the United States, according to the US Department of Justice which has called the scandal the world’s biggest ever case of kleptocracy.

The two  bonds  arranged by Goldman Sachs to buy the power stations in 2012 were co-guaranteed by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

But following a dispute, Malaysia freed IPIC of its obligation under an arbitration settlement signed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2015 in which MOF  guaranteed that Malaysia will assume all future interest and principal payments on the two bonds.

© The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd