Why has CCM not acted on 1MDB subsidiaries?

Tony Pua says he has confirmed that one subsidiary has not filed its accounts since 2012

KUALA LUMPUR: Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua has expressed his frustration after wasting RM 15 at the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) to extract the accounts of a 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) subsidiary and found “the information remains unchanged. No accounts had been filed since March 2012.”

“I did the latest extract on Tuesday after reading Ahmad Maslan’s accusation on 1MDB Energy (Langat) Sdn Bhd and asking me to apologise,” said Pua in a statement.

“Perhaps if Ahmad should make the accusation in the House, we will have a second bite of the cherry to refer him to the Rights and Privileges Committee again.”

This matter is important, he added, and pledged to raise it again during the Committee Stage debate for the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs on the failure of 1MDB companies to submit accounts on a timely basis.

“This is because the directors of all these companies have run afoul of the Companies Act 1965 by failing to hold Annual General Meetings and file the Annual Returns to the Registrar of Companies together with their Audited Financial Reports,” he said.

He cited two clauses: Clause 169(1) of the Companies Act and Clause 171(1).

“It must be asked, why is it that CCM has failed to act against these companies and their directors?” said Pua.

The MP first accused 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd and 1MDB Energy (Langat) on 9 October of not filing their accounts for more than two years. Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak then announced that the accounts would be filed at the end of October.

Pua then did another press conference on 3 November criticising 1MDB and its subsidiaries for still not having submitted their accounts despite the 31 October promised deadline.

The parent company 1MDB finally filed their accounts on 5 November and the MP was able to extract the company’s account from the CCM website after paying the necessary fees.

He raised the matter again in a press conference and during the Parliamentary finance ministry committee stage debate on 11 November on the fact that the subsidiaries had still not submitted their accounts.

He attached the summary financial information extracted from the CCM website for 12 1MDB subsidiaries to his press statement.

Unlike the 1MDB extract, the record of these companies all showed accounts which had not been filed since March 2013, December 2012 and March 2012, according to Pua.

“If I was wrong with my facts, certainly the then responding Deputy Finance Minister Chua Tee Yong could have easily told me off and corrected me,” said Pua. “However, he refused to answer any of the questions on 1MDB which I raised.”