PUTRAJAYA must confirm or deny a report that it has stopped court proceedings in London against International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) to recover losses suffered by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), DAP lawmaker Tony Pua said.

Pua said Foreign Minister Hishamuddin Hussein should answer claims, published by whistleblower website Sarawak Report, that 1MDB and the Ministry of Finance Inc were seeking a settlement instead.

“Apparently, Hishamuddin has been tasked to negotiate directly with the Abu Dhabi government for another settlement.

“Hishamuddin must immediately address these concerns on the veracity of the exposé by the Sarawak Report, failing which the suit against IPIC must be allowed to complete its course to ensure the best possible outcome for the rakyat,” Pua said in a statement today.

The Pakatan Harapan government in 2018 filed the suit against IPIC in London to undo a settlement reached between the Abu Dhabi firm and 1MDB a year before, when Najib Razak’s Barisan Nasional administration was in power.

Under the terms of the settlement, 1MDB was to repay IPIC US$1.2 billion (RM5 billion) by the end of 2017 over a RM5.8 billion debt dispute.

The PH government had wanted to unwind the settlement because it “placed the entire burden of repayment for the fraudulent bonds on 1MDB and the Malaysian government, and completely absolved IPIC of any obligations”, Pua said.

The PH government succeeding in its case against IPIC in the UK Court of Appeal, the case was to have gone on to be tried in an open court instead of closed-door arbitration.

It comes as a shock that the Perikatan Nasional government has moved to stop the court proceedings as reported by Sarawak Report, Pua said.

The Damansara MP said this was the latest of a string of legal cases which Muhyiddin’s government has “let off the hook” after Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz granted a discharge for money laundering and Putrajaya reached settlement with Goldman Sachs for US$2.5 billion, instead of the US$7.5 billion the PH government had demanded, over the 1MDB scandal.

“Given the dubious track record of the Muhyiddin administration in reaching settlements, Malaysians are understandably concerned that the interests of ordinary Malaysians will once again be betrayed,” Pua said. – August 3, 2020.

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