FMT Reporters From Free Malaysia Today News

Troubled investment company stays mum about the source

KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) has neither denied nor confirmed that tycoon Ananda Krishnan bailed out the troubled government investment company, and rejected a New York Times report linking Penang businessman Jho Low with 1MDB.

Ananda was reported last week to have rescued 1MDB by helping it pay off an overdue RM2 billion loan from Malaysian banks.

1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy, interviewed by Umno-owned Mingguan Malaysia, brushed off as speculation reports that the tycoon had helped the company pay off its loan last week.

“Honestly, Ananda himself never talked about this. This is speculation started by third parties,” he was quoted. Neither had the banks made any announcement on the matter.

The company announced on Friday that it had settled the loan in full, six days before Malayan Banking and RHB Capital would have triggered a default for non-payment, but did not state where the money had come from.

The Edge and Malaysian Insider had previously reported that Ananda was 1MDB’s rescuer. He had sold several power-generating companies to 1MDB and also guaranteed part of a loan.

In the Mingguan interview, Arul did not state how the loan was paid off. Conflicting statements have been made by 1MDB and Arul about its RM8 billion investment holdings in the Cayman Islands which were previously said to have been repatriated to Malaysia and later said to be still in the Cayman Islands.

Prominent critics of 1MDB had questioned where the money had gone, and whether it had been deposited in Malaysian banks.

1MDB has missed payments on the RM2 billion loan due in December.

IMAGE: Arul Kanda_Ananda_jho low_1mdb_300

For more on this story go to: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/02/15/not-anandas-money-says-1mdb-chief-arul/

See iNews Cayman related story with links to others published February 8 2015 “Rafizi: Where is 1MDB’s Caymans RM3bn now?” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/rafizi-where-is-1mdbs-caymans-rm3bn-now/