Guan Eng: Where did the RM33b go?

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has been challenged to account for some US$8.3 billion (RM33 billion) raised for the development of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), purchase of power plants in Malaysia and investment in PetroSaudi International Ltd.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng asked Najib to account for the money for the transactions involving:
 US$1.83 billion (RM7.2 billion) invested with Petrosaudi between 2009 and 2011;
 US$3.5 billion (RM13.9 billion) raised in 2012 for the purposes of acquiring power plants in Malaysia; and
 US$3 billion (RM11.9 billion) raised in 2013 for the purposes of investing in TRX.
Lim made the call in a statement after Najib denied that RM6.9 billion in payments made by the Finance Ministry on behalf of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) were bailouts, claiming the payments were "compensation" in lieu of the transfer of all of 1MDB's real-estate assets to the ministry.
Lim pointed out that the transfer of the assets to the ministry was not a sale-and-purchase transaction but followed the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee upon confirmation that 1MDB had neither the financial means, nor the ability to develop, or even to sell the parcels of land.
"Why should the ministry compensate 1MDB to the tune of tens of billions of ringgit as asserted by Najib, when 1MDB has hardly carried out any development on the land?" said Lim, adding that the assets that were originally government-owned had been sold to 1MDB at a bargain.
The 70-acre TRX plot was sold to 1MDB for RM230 million, or about RM74 per square feet (psf), while the 486-acre Bandar Malaysia parcel was sold to 1MDB for RM1.6 billion, or about RM72 psf.
He added that the assets were not "free" but came with an RM800 million loan from Socso for TRX City, which is due in 2020, and a RM2.4 billion sukuk for Bandar Malaysia, to be repaid from 2021 to 2024.
"It should also be noted that the auditor-general, in his report on 1MDB, had confirmed the above borrowings were not used for the intended purposes."
Lim also revealed that the RM6.9 billion payments by the ministry were also not for borrowings connected to the real-estate assets, but largely for those of the failed PetroSaudi venture, the purchase of power plants, that have since been sold, and repayment in full of the US$1.2 billion advance from Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Corporation.
A portion was used to service coupon interest for US$3 billion of a 10-year bond issued in March 2013 intended to fund the development of TRX. However, the funds raised were never utilised to develop TRX, as reported by the auditor-general.
"Hence, given all of the above facts and figures, there could be no other description for the RM6.98 billion of payments by the ministry on behalf of 1MDB, other than to describe it as the single largest bailout in history carried out by the government."
Lim said the ministry will work together with the 1MDB Special Committee set up by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir to uncover the complete truth behind 1MDB to recover as much as possible of the lost funds to remedy the debts and deficits created by the Najib administration, and to bring to book those responsible for the scandal.