Who owns and controls YR1M? DAP MP asks
(Malay Mail Online) – DAP MP Tony Pua has urged Datuk Seri Najib Razak to disclose the financial records of Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YR1M), the charity foundation under the prime minister that the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claimed last week was used to channel funds for Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Election 2013 campaign.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said Najib needs to release YR1M’s expense and funding structure in order to prove the report by the international business daily wrong.
“We call upon Najib…. to immediately make available the financial records of YR1M — its funding receipts and itemised expenditure, to prove that everything in the ‘foundation’ is above board,” Pua said in a statement sent late last night.
In the WSJ report last Friday, it was alleged that the acquisition payments made by debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) on several of its deals have been channelled back to special charities for BN’s election campaigns.
The international business newspaper had cited the example of YR1M, which it said received RM35 million in donations from Genting Plantation soon after 1MDB’s acquisition of Genting Sanyen.
The Genting deal had already been questionable in the first place, Pua said, noting that 1MDB had paid a whopping RM2.3 billion for the acquisition, which later led to the former earning a handsome RM1.9 billion profit for the power asset sale.
The power plant asset, the lawmaker said, was only worth RM400 million because there was only four years left to its power purchasing agreement.
Pua also noted that a Kinibiz report in 2013 had revealed that various companies in Genting group had donated a total of RM190 million as part of its “corporate social responsibility contributions”.
The May 2013 report quoted analysts and industry sources as claiming that the unexpectedly large contribution could be related to the May 5 federal polls.
“The next question that needs to be asked is, who owns this particular ‘charity’, YR1M? Is this a private charity or an entity owned by the Government of Malaysia?” Pua asked.
The YR1M website, the DAP lawmaker noted, states that the foundation is chaired by Najib.
A search on the Companies Commission of Malaysia, he added, shows that YR1M is a company limited by guarantee, and its four directors of the company are — Najib, Datuk Azlin Alias, Najib’s late chief of staff, Datuk Wan Ahmad Shihab Wan Ismail, Najib’s Special Officer, and Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, who is 1MDB board chairman.
“It is therefore clear from the above information and documents that YR1M is a charity fully controlled directly and indirectly by the prime minister,” Pua said.
1MDB, launched by Najib, is currently under investigation for alleged impropriety.
