KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that he does not know where proceeds from the sale of a RM2 billion property by the previous Barisan Nasional government to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) have gotten to.
He said that despite the Pakatan Harapan government being informed of the sale of the plot of land, located beside Kompleks Sasana Kijang here, he has not a shred of information on where the proceeds are.
“I only know that the land was sold to Bank Negara for RM2 billion.
“What happened after that, I do not know. Where the money went, I do not know.
“It is clear that somebody at BNM knows about it, and (the authorities) are investigating the issue,” he said.
Dr Mahathir was speaking at a press conference after he launched the Industry 4.0 National Policy at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Tower here today.
Also present were Chief Secretary Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar; Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali; Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad; Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong; Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub; International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking; his deputy Dr Ong Kian Ming; and Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Datuk Soh Thian Lai.
It was reported today that four BNM officers were ordered to go on leave to facilitate a probe into the RM2 billion land sale conducted early this year.
The sale, announced by the Finance Ministry in January, was made after sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) was reported to have made payment of US$600 million (RM2.4 billion) to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) in December last year.