Malaysia says it will not scrap skyscraper project
Model murder probe reopens
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, June 21, (Agencies): Malaysia said Thursday it will not cancel a skyscraper project billed as the tallest in Southeast Asia, even though 3 billion ringgit ($747 million) from the venture has been misappropriated by the 1MDB state fund linked to former premier Najib Razak.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Najib’s government had since 2012 guaranteed borrowings, extended advances and purchased land from TRX City Sendirian Berhad amounting to nearly 3.7 billion ringgit ($921.4 million), but 3.067 billion ($764 million) of that was embezzled by 1MDB, mainly to repay its loans.
The new revelation of embezzlement linked to 1MDB comes more than a month after Najib’s coalition, which had ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957, suffered a shocking defeat in May 9 polls partly due to voters’ anger over the scandal. The fund is being investigated in the U.S. and several other countries for alleged theft and money laundering.
Lim said the stolen TRX fund was a “classic example” of how government money was misappropriated by 1MDB and that he had instructed the TRX management to lodge complains with authorities investigating the defunct fund.
TRX has sought financial assistance and Lim said the government decided to inject 2.6 billion ringgit ($648 million) to complete the project and help recoup stolen funds, repay borrowings and potentially achieve a small surplus return. If the project were canceled, the government would have to pay 3.5 billion ringgit ($872 million) in compensation and lose the 3.7 billion ringgit given to TRX earlier, he said.
“We are not happy but we cannot bear to see a massive eyesore in the heart of Kuala Lumpur,” Lim said, adding that it will also reassure foreign investors involved in the project. “Completing TRX will allow the full value of the project of at least 7.6 billion ringgit ($1.9 billion) to be realized.”
Completion
The Exchange 106 skyscraper, which is near completion, is in the heart of the Tun Razak Exchange, a financial district being built by TRX City in Kuala Lumpur and named by Najib after his father Abdul Razak, who was Malaysia’s second prime minister. TRX City also owns a massive mixed property development in another part of the city.
Lim said TRX City, a former subsidiary of 1MDB, was transferred to the Ministry of Finance last year after it was unable to secure land sales or bank financing due to its association with 1MDB.
Meanwhile, Malaysia will reopen an investigation into the murder of a Mongolian model in 2006, media reported on Thursday quoting the country’s police chief, in a case that could spell more trouble for former premier Razak.
Two former police officers, who were serving as members of Najib’s personal security detail at the time of the murder, were sentenced to death for the crime.
Najib, who was defeated in an election last month after nearly a decade in power, has denied knowing the woman, but the question of who ordered the killing has never been answered.
“I can confirm we are reopening investigations,” Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said, adding that a new police report submitted by the model’s father on Wednesday was one reason for the fresh probe into the murder case.
Altantuya Shaariibuu, 28, was killed and blown up with military grade explosives in a forest near Kuala Lumpur. Her father Setev Shaariibuu on Wednesday met with Malaysia’s new attorney-general Tommy Thomas and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who defeated the scandal-tainted Najib in a stunning election upset last month.
Civil society groups have alleged Altantuya’s murder was linked to her role as an interpreter for Abdul Razak Baginda, a former associate of Najib, in Malaysia’s purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines from French shipbuilding giant DCNS in 2002.
Affair
Abdul Razak, who said he had had an affair with Altantuya, was charged with abetment in her murder. He was acquitted in 2008.
One of the officers found guilty of her murder, Sirul Azhar Uma, fled to Australia shortly before his sentence was handed down. Sirul said last month he would cooperate with any new investigation into the murder if he was given a full pardon.
Malaysia is considering revoking his death sentence to facilitate his extradition.
Asked for comment on the new developments on Thursday, a spokesman for Australia’s Attorney-General said it does not comment on extradition requests.
Asked about the Altantuya case in an interview with Reuters this week, Najib said: “I’m on record to have sworn in a mosque in the name of Allah that I had nothing to do with the case.
“I still maintain that I only knew she died 4-5 days after the death...that was the first time I heard about her. There is no evidence to show I ever knew her.”
Mahathir is seeking to lay multiple charges against Najib for his alleged role in looting billions from state-run fund 1MDB and blames him for widespread corruption in the previous government. Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Former Malaysian prime minister Razak says he shouldn’t be blamed for the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, and declares he knows nothing about money from the state fund appearing in his personal account.
He does, though, have explanations for the vast sums of cash, luxury handbags and jewellery recently seized from his homes by the Malaysian authorities.
Speaking to Reuters in his first sit-down interview since his shock May 9 election defeat, Najib said his advisors and the management and board of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), had wrongly kept the alleged embezzlement of funds a secret from him.
Newly-elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Reuters on Tuesday that the authorities have “an almost perfect case” against Najib on charges of embezzlement, misappropriation and bribery linked to 1MDB.
The 64-year-old politician lost the election after a decade in power at least partly because of the 1MDB scandal, which U.S. Attorney-General Jeff Sessions has described as “kleptocracy at its worst”.
Najib, in some of his most extensive comments yet on the 1MDB scandal, said he did not know if hundreds of millions of dollars that moved through his personal account was from 1MDB, and if money from the fund was eventually laundered to acquire assets globally, including yachts, paintings, gems and prime real estate.