INTERNATIONAL media reports on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal are based on the US Department of Justice’s civil suits, which, till today, remain inconclusive, said Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

The 1MDB president and chief executive officer said this is why Putrajaya has not sued the international media over their damning reports.

“The allegations (involving 1MDB) are still unproven. We cannot say if they are true or not. Let us not speculate when the suits have not even been heard in court. As the media was only reporting based on the suits, we cannot sue them until there is a conclusion,” he told a dialogue at the Balik Pulau Polytechnic auditorium in Penang today.

To explain his point, he cited caretaker Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng’s pending graft case at the high court.

Lim is facing corruption charges for buying his bungalow at below market price.

“It’s like in the case of the (caretaker) CM’s bungalow. Nobody from Barisan Nasional has declared that he is guilty. But in our case, why are they already saying we are guilty?” said Arul Kanda.

The DoJ has filed three civil suits linked to 1MDB since 2016 to seize assets bought using money allegedly misappropriated by top 1MDB associates and leaders. The amount allegedly misappropriated exceeds RM19.3 billion.

In the latest DoJ suit last year, businessman Low Taek Jho, popularly known as Jho Low, was accused of using 1MDB-linked funds to buy assets that included real estate, jewellery and paintings.

However, before DoJ filed the suits, The Wall Street Journal had, in 2015, reported that 1MDB funds had been allegedly used to bankroll caretaker prime minister Najib Razak’s 13th general election campaign.

Asked about the billions deposited into Najib’s personal bank account before the 2013 polls, Arul Kanda said he can confirm that 1MDB has never paid a single sen into Najib’s account.

Najib, who also held the post of finance minister, has always been linked to the 1MDB controversy as the company was his brainchild and he served as its advisory board chairman.

Asked why 1MDB has not sued members of the opposition, whom Arul Kanda accused of spinning the 1MDB issue, he said DAP’s Tony Pua and PKR’s Rafizi Ramli are already facing suits related to their statements against the state investor and other parties involved.

“The (caretaker) prime minister has sued Tony Pua for defamation over his remarks on 1MDB. Rafizi faces suits by Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and Tabung Haji.”

In 2013, 1MDB awarded a RM2.1 billion contract to LTAT to develop eight sites for the relocation of the former Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Sg Besi, to facilitate the building of Bandar Malaysia.

In 2015, 1MDB sold land at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) to Tabung Haji for RM188.5 million.

The following year, Rafizi linked LTAT to 1MDB in a statement alleging that late gratuity payments to retired army personnel were linked to financial risks on the part of 1MDB.

Arul Kanda said it is important for the company to prove its critics wrong, but added that there is no need to file suits.

“We have been paying our debts in time. The TRX and Bandar Malaysia projects are in progress. There is no need to sue when we just need to show them what we have done.” – May 3, 2018.