DAP’s Pua links 1MDB scandal to China

The Damansara MP, who is a special officer to the finance minister, says there were ‘clearly elements of money laundering taking place’.

(FMT) – Damansara MP Tony Pua has hinted at further links between strategic investment firm 1MDB and two pipeline projects in Kedah and Sabah awarded to a company connected to businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.

Pua, who is a special officer to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, and who had often spoken out on 1MDB, was referring to the Multi-Product Pipeline (MPP) and Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP).

The projects were given to Suria Strategic Energy Sdn Bhd (SSER), a wholly-owned finance ministry subsidiary set up in 2016. They were awarded to China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPPB) in November that year and signed by Irwan Serigar, who was chairman of SSER.

SSER’s president is Mohammed Azhar Osman Khairuddin, who is also a director of Putrajaya Perdana Sdn Bhd, a company that Lim said was linked “directly with Low Taek Jho”, the businessman named by US authorities as responsible for the theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB.

The pipeline projects made headlines last month when Lim announced that 88% of the contract cost, or RM8.3 billion, had been paid out by SSER despite only 13% of the work being completed.

In an interview with the BBC, Pua said the ministry believed the money was being used to cover debts linked to 1MDB.

“The entire project smelled like a scam. [There were] clearly elements of money laundering taking place,” he said, adding that the building work itself had not even started. Only the consultancy studies had been completed, he said.

“We were giving money out – to a Chinese company – and we suspect this money is being funnelled to parties related to the previous administration.”

The MPP and TSGP projects were suspended early this month, along with the multi-billion ringgit East Coast Rail Link.

Lim said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had given the instruction after seeking advice from the attorney-general.

According to the BBC report, CPPB did not respond to emails on Pua’s allegations.

However, the Chinese embassy in London noted the report and told the BBC that China had always “conducted economic, trade and investment cooperation with Malaysia, as well as other countries, with the principle of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes”.