Sarawak Report (SR) today challenged the Finance Ministry and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to prove their assertion that the sum of USD$1.103 billion, said to have been recouped from 1MDB’s failed joint venture with PetroSaudi International, continues to be held at a bank in Singapore.
It went on to suggest that their assertion may not be true given that so much money appears to have “flowed out of that deal” via Good Star Limited, a Seychelles entity said to be linked to businessman Low Taek Jho a.k.a. Jho Low.
Attempting to trace the money trail from the failed PetroSaudi joint venture deal, Sarawak Report had previously suggested that USD$700 million out of a total investment of US$1 billion by 1MDB had allegedly been “siphoned out” of the joint venture.
The payment, which took place at the time the joint venture arrangement was entered into in 2009, was said to be a ‘loan repayment’ to PetroSaudi International but was paid out to Good Star.
Good Star is also alleged to have received a further sum of US$160 million in 2010 following the entry into a Muharaba Loan Agreement between the same two entities.
“There is documented information that a total of at least USD$860 million was paid from 1MDB into Good Star Limited’s RBS Coutts Zurich account between Sept 2009 and Sept 2010,” Sarawak Report suggests.
Sarawak Report questioned why such large amounts of money would be transferred to Good Star, which appeared to be a stranger to the joint venture transaction between PetroSaudi and 1MDB.
It then claims that between June 28, 2011 and September 4, 2013 Good Star had transferred nearly USD$529 million to an account held in BSI Singapore under the name of “Abu-Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia Investment Corporation” (ADKMIC), said to be a company beneficially owned by Low.
Tracing Jho Low’s involvement in ADKMIC back to 2008, the report claims,
“ADKMIC was the name of the company fronted by him in July 2008, which had previously engaged in the buy up of a 53% shareholding in the Taib family’s UBG group under a subsidiary called Majestic Masterpiece Sdn Bhd.
“Jho Low became a director of UBG with an acknowledged personal stake in the company.”
UBG was bought up by PetroSaudi in late 2010, which purchase Sarawak Report claims was financed by funds which it had received from 1MDB.
To support its contention it cites documents which purportedly show that on September 16, 2010 PetroSaudi had made a payment of US$260 million towards the purchase, a mere 8 days after it had received the Murabaha loan of USD$500 million from 1MDB. However, both 1MDB and the Ministry of Finance have vehemently denied that 1MDB’s money was used to finance the purchase.
It goes on to ask why Malaysian authorities appear to have taken no action on the matter, claiming that “crucial evidence” uncovered during investigations by Singapore authorities had been provided to Malaysia last month.