1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy has sought to clarify ties between the state investment fund and controversial business tycoon Jho Low.
In an interview with Indonesia’s news magazine Tempo, Arul Kanda reiterated that Low was a former adviser to 1MDB’s predecessor, the Terengganu Investment Authority, and had left the company in May 2009 after holding the position for only one month.
Contrary to claims that Low had continued ties with 1MDB, Arul Kanda said the Penang-born businessperson had acted on behalf of PetroSaudi International during a September 2009 meeting, when the two companies were about to negotiate a joint venture deal.
“Jho Low is close to businesses in Arab Saudi, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kuwait. That is his expertise.
“So he acted on their behalf and not us. This is important because the opposition always linked Jho Low to 1MDB,” Arul Kanda was quoted as saying.
To a question on whether he viewed Jho Low as a “broker” for the 1MDB-PetroSaudi deal, he said: “Yes, he is the broker.
“He knows Prince Turki bin Abdullah (photo), the founder and boss of PetroSaudi. Prince Turki is the son of the late Saudi King, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.”
At the time Jho Low brokered the deal, Arul Kanda said the tycoon already knew former 1MDB CEO Shahrul Azral Ibrahim Halmi, as the latter was a part of TIA’s management.
“So that is the link (between Jho Low and 1MDB),” he added.
As a part of the joint-venture deal, Arul Kanda told Tempo that 1MDB had invested US$1.83 billion into PetroSaudi from 2009 to 2011.
He also maintained that 1MDB had profited from the deal.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in its first filing last June outlined three phases in which 1MDB’s funds were allegedly siphoned – one of which was the deal cited by Arul Kanda.
The DOJ identified the deal as the “Good Star phase”, where 1MDB had invested US$1.83 billion, and US$1.03 billion of this money was allegedly siphoned to Jho Low’s Good Star Ltd.
1MDB later declared it had sold the investment and received US$2.318 billion in shares, which included a US$488 million profit on its original investment.
‘Jho Low has no ties with Najib’
In the interview, Arul Kanda also maintained that Low has no ties with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
“But he is close to 1MDB,” Arul Kanda said, and added that he was also not aware of any ties between Low and Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz.
“I don’t know. Jho Low never told me. Najib also never told me,” he said.
The 1MDB scandal made headlines in Indonesia last month after the Equanimity superyacht linked to Low was seized in Telok Benoa, Bali, as part of the DOJ’s asset forfeiture suit.
Asked about DOJ’s claims that the superyacht was bought using funds siphoned from 1MDB, Arul Kanda reiterated the company’s stand that it had entered into a settlementwith Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) for US$3.5 billion payments it had made to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (Aabar BVI).
“We have no idea what Aabar BVI did with the money. And we do not want to know.
“Whether it is the yacht, paintings, the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ movie, nothing to do with us. This is our legal position under the law,” he was quoted as saying.
IPIC has claimed that its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, had no relations with Aabar BVI.
Inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun had earlier last month said ongoing investigations into 1MDB have not revealed any ties between the company and Low.
The top cop also said that the police investigations into 1MDB were carried out following findings by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which were presented to Parliament on April 7, 2016.
Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has cleared Najib of all wrongdoings linked to 1MDB.
Najib has also stressed that he is not implicated in any of 1MDB’s shortcomings identified in the PAC report.
– M’kini
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