Sovereign investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) missed a September 30 deadline to submit its audited accounts to the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
1MDB president and executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy told The Edge Financial Daily that the company has been granted a six-month extension on its submission deadline, and two 1MDB subsidiaries, Edra Global Energy Berhad and 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd, are similarly seeking a one-month extension for the submission of their audited accounts.
Arul said 1MDB’s delay in submitting its accounts was due to key company documents being seized in raids by the Royal Malaysian Police and the Federal Government’s special task force on 1MDB in July.
“It (the delay) can’t be helped,” said Arul Kanda, as quoted by The Malaysian Insider.
1MDB’s auditor, Deloitte, required original sets of the documents from the company’s financial accounts, but were unable to obtain them due to the seizures.
In the case of Edra and 1MDB Real Estate, Arul said their accounts were ready for submission, but due to the intense scrutiny on 1MDB’s alleged malfeasance, Deloitte wished to look through the subsidiaries’ accounts again.
1MDB has been under intense pressure as allegations of wrongdoing within and surrounding the Finance Ministry-owned company spread into public knowledge and onto international headlines.
The company is reported to be RM42 billion in debt, although it has announced a six-month rationalisation plan aimed at reducing that debt through asset sales.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, who also serves as Finance Minister, has also been hit hard by the 1MDB scandal, and has further been dogged by questions of the RM2.6 billion transferred into his personal bank accounts in 2013, two months before the 13th General Elections.
A statement by the MACC had cleared 1MDB with any involvement in the money transfer, stating instead that the RM2.6 billion was a political donation by a donor in the Middle East.
1MDB has had several joint ventures in the Middle East, most notably with former partner PetroSaudi.
