O rd e ers offer to step down

KUALA LUMPUR: The board of directors of 1Malaysia Development Bhd has offered to quit following the Public Accounts Committee’s findings.

“Given the findings of the PAC report, the board has collectively offered its resignation to MoF Inc (Ministry of Finance Inc), which is the 100% shareholder,” said a statement from 1MDB.

The 1MDB board said it was a “difficult decision” to take but “we believe it is the right thing to do in order to facilitate any followup investigations as recommended by the PAC”.

However, 1MDB said “the funds of 1MDB have been fully accounted for and there is no case of ‘RM42bil missing’ as alleged by some people”.

“It has also been confirmed that 1MDB did not transfer RM2.6bil to the personal accounts of the Prime Minister,” added the statement.

Defending itself, 1MDB board said it had carried out its role and responsibility, and had given full cooperation to the authorities investigating the embattled company.

The company had undertaken large strategic projects, established collaborations with foreign government entities and attracted foreign direct investment to Malaysia, 1MDB stated.

As 1MDB only had RM1mil cash equity at the beginning, it had to rely heavily on borrowings to fund investments, said the statement.

“Notwithstanding this challenge, the board has done its best to manage the company in a way that would not be a financial burden to the Government.”

The 1MDB board added that when a cashflow mismatch was identified in November 2014, it acted immediately to appoint a professional restructuring specialist to lead 1MDB, which “resulted in the success of the ongoing rationalisation plan that has resolved 1MDB’s debt burden”.

The statement said 1MDB had paid, and would continue to pay off all its shortterms debt and bank debts, with proceeds from the successful sale of power assets in Edra.