: The High Court here today was told that the former chief executive officer of 1Malaysia Development Berhad Arul Kanda Kandasamy was absolutely uncertain as to what the value of the 1MDB’s ‘investments’ were or whether they even exist in the first place.
Tony Pua, 52, who was appointed as the Political Secretary to the Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng in 2018, said he can say this for a fact because he attended the meeting with 1MDB representatives to determine the financial status of the sovereign wealth fund. “When asked about 1MDB’s investments, Arul Kanda claimed that all financial matters were handled strictly by the chief financial officer of 1MDB Azmi Tahir and he was absolutely uncertain as to what the value of these ‘investments’ were or whether they even exist in the first place,” said Tony Pua.The witness further said that, in June 2018, 1MDB terminated the employment of Arul Kanda with immediate effect on the grounds of breach of contract and fiduciary duty as CEO of 1MDB.
In May 2021, 1MDB filed a lawsuit against Mohd Irwan and Arul Kanda over an alleged breach of trust and conspiracy that resulted in US$1.83 billion in losses related to the company’s investment in 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd, which was later converted into the Brazen Sky Limited investment, said to be recoverable from the Bridge Global Fund.