FOLLOW SENIOR DAP MAN’S LEAD AND SEEK PROOF TO BACK CLAIMS, 1MDB TELLS PUA

(Malay Mail Online) – DAP lawmaker Tony Pua should adopt party senior Dr Tan Seng Giaw’s position to demand firm evidence before making “sensationalist” allegations, state-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) said today.

The firm took exception to Pua’s purported penchant for hurling unproven allegations against it, claiming that the Petaling Jaya-Utara MP has deliberately ignored whatever facts that have been provided to counter his accusations.

“YB Tony Pua’s claim to fame is recycling unproven allegations on 1MDB.  He waits for an unproven and sensationalist allegation to be made, then piggyback on these allegations by repeating the same questions,” the company said in a statement.

“When answers are given and facts shared, YB Tony Pua is proven wrong. However, he then ignores the facts, changes the topic and waits quietly for the next sensationalist and unproven allegation,” it added.

1MDB lauded Tan’s position that any allegation must be backed by evidence, as the latter rebutted claims that PAC members were potentially involved in leaking confidential information related to its probe on the firm to foreign media.

“We trust YB Dr Tan will prescribe the same advice to his junior YB Tony Pua, who true to form, has issued another unproven allegation on 1MDB this morning.

“We further trust that YB Dr Tan will do the right thing, which YB Tony Pua refuses to do, that is demand a full and transparent enquiry on how confidential PAC documents landed in the laps of a foreign publication,” the firm said.

Earlier today, Pua claimed that 1MDB failed to disclose a US$975 million (RM4.2 million) loan it took purportedly to pay an Abu Dhabi fund to guarantee its US$3.5 billion bond issue.

Continuing his dissection of the state-owned investment firm, the Petaling Jaya Utara MP also said the loan was taken to pay International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) despite 1MDB stating that it had used funds from its US$2.3 billion “redeemed” from the Cayman Islands to do so.

Yesterday, Tan was quoted by news portal The Malaysian Insider as saying that allegations cannot be made based merely on hearsay, stressing that “if you can’t produce the evidence, you shouldn’t say such things”.