BY LOH FOON FONG
KUALA LUMPUR: News of the possible resignation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB) entire board of directors has been welcomed by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (pic), but he says those involved must also take full responsibility for the fiasco.
He said he definitely agreed that they should resign just as the Deputy Prime Minister had earlier demanded.
"They should assume full responsibility for this fiasco," he said after giving his speech at the 7th Annual Corporate Governance Summit here Monday.
Citing unidentified sources, The Edge Financial Daily reported on Sunday that the entire board of 1MDB would be made to step down as early as July.
1MDB's six-member board of directors is led by chairman Lodin Wok Kamaruddin and CEO Arul Kanda.
The 1MDB has been embroiled in controversy for chalking up RM42bil in debts in less than five years.
Lim also said those behind 1MDB had to explain why they committed to financial transactions and became so heavily in debt.
"These are the issues they have to answer to and they cannot run away," he said, adding that 1MDB had to be cleaned up and rid of "toxic" assets.
He also questioned 1MDB's investment of US$1.103bil (RM4.14bil) in Singapore.
"What are these assets? It must be cash if you put in the bank. It cannot be gold bars or cincin. If not, what types of 'units' are you talking about?” he said.
In January, the Finance Ministry said 1MDB had deposited the funds it redeemed from its offshore account in the Cayman Islands into Singapore's BSI Bank, with the amount held in US dollars.
On March 10, it confirmed in a written reply to PJ Utara MP Tony Pua that the funds were held in the bank in the form of cash.
On May 19, however, the Government said the funds were not in the form of cash, but assets.
Two days later, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah said the funds were in the form of units.
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