1MDB-linked land ‘secretly’ sold, says Guan Eng

The finance minister says the 94.7ha land was sold for RM2.7 billion on Aug 24, 2017, netting a profit of RM1.32 billion.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says the land was sold despite a freeze imposed by the Penang government.

KUALA LUMPUR: All 94.7ha of land linked to 1MDB in Penang had been “secretly” sold to Cayman Islands-based Silk Road Southeast Asia Real Estate Ltd, says Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

This was despite a freeze imposed by the Penang state government on transactions involving 1MDB’s land in Air Itam, Penang.

In a parliamentary reply, Lim said the land was sold for RM2.7 billion on Aug 24, 2017, netting a profit of RM1.32 billion based on the original RM1.38 billion purchase price.

“The sale was carried out through the disposal of the land’s owner, 1MDB unit My City Ventures Sdn Bhd, to Silk Road via a share sale agreement,” said Lim.

In May 2015, the Penang state government had announced its decision to freeze 1MDB’s purchase of the land in Air Itam until all questions related to the scandal-ridden firm were resolved.

“Although the full proceeds from the disposal of My City Ventures have been received by Minister of Finance Inc’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sentuhan Budiman Sdn Bhd (SBSB), the transfer of shares to Silk Road has yet to be completed.

“To date, SBSB has yet to receive any application from Silk Road to have the shares transferred,” added Lim in his reply to a question on July 19 from Wong Hon Wai (PH-Bukit Bendera) on the status of the land.

Lim, who was then Penang’s chief minister, had said the 94.7ha land would be frozen until there was “accountability and transparency”.

He also said that former prime minister Najib Razak had promised to build 9,999 homes for the 3,000 families who would be evicted from the land.

He said until all questions were answered, the state government would block any related transactions. -FMT