Just tell us where 1MDB’s RM42 billion went, says Sabah speaker

With the Public Accounts Committee conducting a fresh probe into 1MDB, Sabah Speaker Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak wants the parliamentary body to come clean on the whereabouts of the RM42 billion. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 16, 2015.In order to put the controversy over state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB) RM42 billion debt to rest, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) must uncover if the money was lost, else explain where it went, Sabah speaker Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said.

Salleh, who is also Sabah Umno deputy liaison chief, said this was the only way to pacify Malaysians, including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the 1MDB issue.

He added that while the likes of Dr Mahathir were demanding answers on the fund, critics tended to brush off the responses, labelling them as lies.

 "They say they can no longer believe what the government says.

"That is their prerogative, of course, but if they do not believe what the government says then why demand answers when if the answers are given you will say you do not believe them anyway?" he said in his latest blog posting.

Salleh said that the best was to let PAC complete its investigations into 1MDB, adding that given that the committee was also made up of opposition leaders, no one could accuse the government of trying to cover up.

He added that the main issue was the allegation that 1MDB has lost RM42 billion.

"The PAC should focus on this allegation and confirm whether RM42 billion has, in fact, been lost.

"And if the answer is no, then the PAC needs to tell us where that money is, which is what most people want to know," he added.

Salleh quoted Dr Mahathir as saying that the issue was not that the money had been lost, as the same had happened when he was prime minister, but the knowledge of where it had gone.

"As Dr Mahathir said, it is not the issue that money has been lost.

"Dr Mahathir admitted that even when he was prime minister the country lost a lot of money, probably more than the amount involving 1MDB.

"It is the knowledge of where it has been lost that is important," Salleh wrote.

- TMI