FINANCE Minister Lim Guan Eng said his predecessor and former prime minister Najib Razak still has not furnished proof that former 1Malaysia Development Bhd president Arul Kanda Kandasamy made more than RM10 million in his previous job.
In a recent statement, Najib, who founded the disgraced wealth fund that owes billions of ringgit, had said Arul Kanda used to earn more when he worked at a United Arab Emirates bank before he took the helm at the troubled firm in 2015.
“Najib has yet to give information on Arul’s salary. He said Arul was paid more than RM10 million a year.
“Show proof to justify the RM5 million Arul made for six months’ work (at 1MDB), and to show that Arul had been willing to make sacrifices to work at 1MDB,” Lim told a press conference in Penang today.
Last week at the Dewan Rakyat, Lim had said Arul was to be paid RM5 million for his services from January to June. He also said there were no records to show that Arul used to make more than RM10 million a year.
The Bagan MP from DAP questioned if Najib had lied to defend Arul’s high pay at 1MDB.
“Until now, it has just been talk. Show the proof. Not only did 1MDB record losses, it owed a lot of debts. What did Arul lose or sacrifice? He was highly paid,” he said.
Lim said the issue was being raised not because the current government was out for revenge, stressing that questions must be answered for the sake of accountability.
He said looking into the matter was not a matter of vengeance, but informing 30 million Malaysians how the nation owed RM50 billion and made so much losses due to 1MDB.
Lim said the RM50 billion would take the country until 2039 to pay up, meaning “your grandchildren will be paying the debt”.
“Is investigating seeking revenge? It’s for accountability. I hope Najib will answer before his trial starts,” he said.
Najib, who is Pekan MP, is facing charges of criminal breach of trust and power abuse over the RM42 million money transfer scandal with SRC International Bhd. SRC was a subsidiary of 1MDB.
Meanwhile, Lim was asked for updates on the government’s plan to review the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH).
“It will be reviewed next year to ensure that the aid goes only to those who qualify for the assistance.
“It is unfair and not right if those who are not qualified also receive it. We want to prevent wastage and leakage because the aid involves a huge sum,” he said.
BSH is a continuation of BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid) that was introduced by the previous government. The new Pakatan Harapan government rebranded the aid to BSH.
Instead of scrapping it, the PH government retained the aid programme for this year.
It will be handing out RM1.6 billion to 4.1 million recipients nationwide starting August 15. With this third payout for the year, the government is spending a total of RM6.2 billion.
Lim was also asked to comment on the Penang government’s plan to seek a RM1 billion soft loan from the federal government for its Penang Transport Master Plan project.
Lim, who was formerly Penang chief minister, said any state government that wanted to make applications for funds was welcome to do so.
“I think we will have to wait for that. This will not be done so quickly. Full assessments have to be done first… for the entire financial situation, not just the application,” he said. – August 5, 2018.
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