What You Should Know About The Resignation Of Abdul Samad Alias From 1MDB's Advisory Board
Samad was appointed to the 1MDB Advisory Board on 21 January 2015.
By Sadho Ram — 08 Sep 2015, 06:41 PM
Dr. Abdul Samad Alias, the former 1MDB Advisory Board member, said he resigned from his post in the state-fund after his repeated requests for a briefing on the debt-ridden firm's state of affairs over a period of 6 months were ignored. The Chairman of Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation (PIDM) said this on 7 September at a National Conference on Governance, Risk and Control, held in KL.
"I requested for a briefing on the company's profit and losses. I waited for six months, but there were no briefings. I quit after that."
Speaking at the Conference, Dr. Abdul Samad said he made the decision to quit from 1MDB's Advisory Board about 6 weeks ago. "On July 29, I submitted my letter of resignation."
It should be noted that Dr. Abdul Samad had been appointed to the 1MDB Advisory Board, which is chaired by PM Najib Razak, on 21 January this year. And the date of his resignation, 29 July, makes the whole duration of his stay, just over one week in addition to the time period, 6 months, he claims he requested and waited for a briefing on 1MDB's state of affairs. Which means that since the date he came onboard, he was never actually briefed on the company's profits and losses even once.
In a statement released at the time of his appointment, 1MDB Chairman Lodin Wok Kamaruddin had said the firm was proud of Dr Abdul Samad's entry as he was a much-respected individual in the Malaysian financial community, reported TMI.
In response to Dr. Abdul Samad's claims, 1MDB has expressed regret but said that the board respects Dr. Abdul Samad's decision to resign and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours
"1MDB notes media reports today on the resignation of Tan Sri Abdul Samad Alias from the 1MDB Board of Advisors. Whilst we very much regret his departure, we fully respect his decision and wish Tan Sri Samad all the best in his future endeavours," 1MDB said.
The statement did not include any reason for his resignation.
A day later, on 8 September, 1MDB said that contrary to what Dr. Abdul Samad claimed, the board did not ignore his 'repeated requests' as the former 1MDB Advisory Board member was indeed briefed about the state fund's affairs on at least two occasions
"1MDB can confirm that our president and group executive director Arul Kanda personally met Samad in January and March 2015 to discuss the company's affairs. Among other information, Arul Kanda shared with Samad details of the 1MDB strategic review and rationalisation plan.
This included a slide presentation which showed the extent of future debt and interest obligations of the company, and a discussion on proposals to address the key issues facing the company," it said in a statement today.
malaysiakini.com
The board also said that it did not receive any requests from him
The firm said Samad would have had full access to its audited financials, apart from various 1MDB Board members including its president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy, if he had made such a request during his time on the advisory board.
"Abdul Samad has the contact details of various 1MDB board members, including the mobile phone number of Arul Kanda. However, 1MDB did not receive any 'repeated requests' for information as claimed by Tan Sri Samad,” the company said in a statement.
themalaymailonline.com
The state fund said the audited financials of 1MDB are public documents and could have most definitely shared them with Abdul Samad had any requests been made.
malaysiakini.com
In an attempt to clear the air, 1MDB said it will seek a meeting with Dr. Abdul Samad even though he was no longer an adviser
"The 1MDB board of directors has today sent a letter to Tan Sri Samad to seek a meeting with him to discuss and clarify any outstanding concerns," it said in a statement.
therakyatpost.com
Amidst all this, reputable corporate figure Nazir Razak, who is the brother of PM Najib Razak, has questioned what signal was being sent to government-linked companies (GLC) and agencies when state-owned 1MDB could deny information to its own adviser
“Respected, honest, professional appointed by the Govt and welcomed by the Chairman with fanfare. But denied access to information by management. If this is true and tolerated, what message does it send to other GLC’s/agencies?” asked the CIMB Group chairman in his Instagram account, Tuesday.
To which, the finance ministry-owned company said they "regret to note" Nazir's statement on the issue, saying that third parties "who have no direct knowledge of the facts" are issuing "speculative opinions" based on Dr. Abdul Samad's statements on 7 September
"We regret to note that today, third parties such as Nazir Razak, who have no direct knowledge of the facts, are issuing speculative opinions on certain statements made on Sept 7 by Abdul Samad Alias, a former member of the 1MDB board of advisers," 1MDB said in a statement today.
malaysiakini.com
Meanwhile, weighing on the whole issue, Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching raised a very pertinent question, saying the fact that when 1MDB's own Advisory Board member cannot get information from the state-owned fund, it does not bode well for ordinary Malaysians concerned about the finance ministry-owned firm's huge debt
"If a member of the advisory board also could not get a briefing on the status of the company, how can the rest of us get access to the real financial standing of the company?" she said in a statement today.
Furthermore, Teo pointed out, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, against whom serious allegations related to the 1MDB issue have been made, heads the 1MDB advisory board.
"Did he (Najib) know that a member of his board had repeatedly requested for a briefing? Did he know that the request was not entertained for a period of six months? If 1MDB and Najib himself have nothing to hide, why is it so difficult to arrange a briefing for its advisory board member?" Teo asked.
malaysiakini.com
Her sentiments were echoed by DAP's Lim Guan Eng:
“Even the advisor appointed by the Barisan Nasional federal government could not get any information on the 1MDB financial scandal so this shows that there is no hope for us to find out what happened with the RM42 billion,” he told reporters after a photo session with municipal council workers at the investiture ceremony at Dewan Sri Pinang here.
themalaymailonline.com
