Further to the announcement issued yesterday by 1MDB on this matter, we regret to note that today, third parties such as Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, who have no direct knowledge of the facts, are issuing speculative opinions on certain statements made on 7 September 2015 by Tan Sri Samad Alias, a former member of the 1MDB Board of Advisors.
1MDB can confirm that our President & Group Executive Director, Arul Kanda, personally met Tan Sri Samad in January and March 2015 to discuss the company’s affairs. Amongst other information, Arul Kanda shared with Tan Sri Samad details of the 1MDB strategic review and rationalisation plan. This included a slide presentation which showed the extent of future debt and interest obligations of the company, and a discussion on proposals to address the key issues facing the company.
As for access to the 1MDB audited financials, these are publicly available documents. 1MDB would most definitely have been able to share these with Tan Sri Samad had such a request been made, or indeed repeatedly made, as claimed by Tan Sri Samad. Tan Sri Samad has the contact details of various 1MDB Board members, including the mobile phone number of Mr. Arul Kanda. However, 1MDB did not receive any “repeated requests” for information as claimed by Tan Sri Samad.
It is, however, important to 1MDB that we properly address the concerns raised by Tan Sri Samad. In addition to regularly issuing public updates on the progress of the 1MDB rationalisation plan, the 1MDB Board of Directors has today sent a letter to Tan Sri Samad to seek a meeting with him to discuss and clarify any outstanding concerns. We further reiterate our appreciation to Tan Sri Samad for his earlier input and support of the company.
