PUTRAJAYA: More than RM3bil of government funds were misappropriated from the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project to pay off 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) debts, says Lim Guan Eng.
The Finance Minister said that since 2012, the Federal Government had guaranteed borrowings, extended advances and provided transfers to as well as purchased land from TRX City Sdn Bhd (TXRC) amounting to RM3.688bil.
“Of this sum of transfers, a total of RM 3,067mil were misappropriated by 1MDB, mainly for 1MDB loan repayments,” said Lim here on Thursday (June 20).
He said that due to this misappropriation of funds, TRXC does not have enough money to fulfil its obligations as the Master Developer for TRX.
Lim said the Cabinet has decided to support the TRX project with Government funding of up to RM2.8bil, to allay any concerns of local and foreign investors.
The additional RM2.8bil injection, on top of the RM3.7bil transferred earlier to TRXC, would make up total funding by the government to be RM6.5bil.
Lim also instructed the TRXC management – including chief executive officer Datuk Haji Azmar Talib and executive director Tan Hwa Min who were present at the press conference – to lodge a report with the investigative panel of 1MDB and the police on the RM3bil misappropriated by 1MDB.
“The Finance Ministry will ensure that the injection of funds is spent prudently to protect the interest of Malaysian tax-payers, the existing foreign and local investors of TRXC,” he added.
TRX City Sdn Bhd (TRXC) is currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Finance Ministry.
The company was formerly known as 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd, formerly a subsidiary of 1MDB.
TRXC was transferred to the Finance Ministry on Mar 31, 2017 as advised by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee.
According to Lim, this was because TRXC was unable to secure land sales or bank financing, due to its association with 1MDB.
Guan Eng: Govt to inject RM2.8bil to complete Tun Razak Exchange to prevent further losses
PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet has decided to complete the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project to prevent further financial losses to the Government.
At a press conference here Thursday (June 21), Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that Cabinet had decided that a maximum of RM2.8bil would be injected into the project to ensure its completion.
Lim said this was to better than having a “massive abandoned mega project” in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
He also said that this would prevent the payment of RM3.51bil in compensation if the project is stopped.
The Minister also said that the TRX project could turn a small profit upon completion and recoup the RM3.7bil that was paid out earlier for the project.
He highlighted that of this sum, RM3bil was misappropriated to pay off 1MDB debts.
Lim said the Cabinet has decided to continue the project to recoup all misappropriated funds, repay all borrowings as well as recover all funding investments and opportunity costs.
TRXC, the company developing TRX and Bandar Malaysia, is a fully-owned government company.
– ANN
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