Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng(Photo: Ministry of Finance Malaysia) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia'sstate investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is insolvent, saidMalaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on May 23.
In a statement after meeting with those who workedfor 1MDB, Lim said the fund’s Board of Directors had confirmed that 1MDB was"insolvent" and unable to pay debts owed.
One of the fund’s directors announced with Lim that the overseas investments worth 9.8 billion RM (2.46billion USD), which could help meet 1MDB's financial obligations over the nextfew years, actually exits.
Lim said president and CEO Arul Kanda was uncertain of the value of theseinvestments, and if they existed.
He asked legal advisors of the Malaysian Finance Ministry to reconsider theposition of Kanda as the president of 1MDB.
At the same time, PricewaterhouseCoopersauditing firm was selected to examine financial accounts of the fund.
1MDB is an investment fund formed by formerMalaysian PM Najib Razak in 2009 with the aim of serving the country’ssocio-economic development.
Former PM Najib was accused of being related tothe loss of billions of US dollars in transactions with other countries throughthe 1MDB. However, the fundrepresentative and Najib for many times rejected the accusation.
Malaysia has set up a specialtask force to investigate the scandal surrounding the fund.
The team is responsible for carrying out probes,identifying and seizing assets acquired using funds from the state fund.
It also works to seekcooperation from enforcement agencies in the United States, Switzerland,Singapore, Canada and other countries.
The newly-elected PM MahathirMohamad said that he will re-investigate the case and is determined to reclaimthe loss.-VNA
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