PUTRAJAYA: It is absurd to ask some Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders to return funds from 1MDB when the money wasn’t transferred to their accounts, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.
Lim was responding to Gerakan’s demand for him to ask Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir and Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, among others, to return funds from 1MDB.
Lim said it is irrelevant as both men did not have 1MDB funds in their personal bank accounts when they were in Umno.
“Did 1MDB money enter their personal accounts? Where is this coming from? How do I answer these questions? It’s not that I don’t want to answer but Gerakan’s suggestion doesn’t make sense,” he told reporters after the 2020 Budget Consultation Session here.
On another matter, Lim said the list of 41 individuals and entities involved in the 1MDB cash flow is only the initial list and there are other unpublished names which include another media practitioner’s association.
“Just because your name is not in the initial list, you are free?” Lim asked.
Citing the Penang Press Club as an example, he said it was not in the list but it stepped up and voluntarily offered to return the monies.
“If they are only recipients and were not aware that the money they received was from 1MDB, and if they had nothing to do with Jho Low or other accused, they can just pay back. They must be able to answer to MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) about it” he said.
