KUALA LUMPUR: The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has remitted about RM1.9 billion (USD452 million), which represents seized funds linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) into Malaysia's Assets Recovery Trust Account, said the Finance Ministry today.
The Trust Account, which is under the custody of the Accountant General's Department of Malaysia, has to date received RM16.05 billion in seized and repatriated 1MDB funds.
Any balance in the Trust Account will be used to primarily to repay and service 1MDB and SRC's remaining debts, from which the government has so far repaid RM12.4 billion and RM3.1 billion respectively.
The balance of debts still outstanding, comprising the principal and coupon/profit/interest of bonds, Sukuk and term loans, currently amounts to RM39.8 billion for 1MDB and RM2.57 billion for SRC.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the current balance was sufficient to service 1MDB's debt obligations for this year and 2022 only.
This balance, he added, excluded the settlement amount of RM2.83 billion that will be received from the Ambank Group and RM336 million from Deloitte PLT1 while negotiations are also currently ongoing with KPMG.
"Once all recovered funds in the Trust Account have been utilised, the government will still have to continue bearing the burden of servicing 1MDB's debt obligations, which were backed by the government's Guarantee and Letter of Support when these debts were created.
"This recovery would not have been achieved without the excellent cooperation between the Malaysian and the US governments, particularly with the DOJ. On behalf of the Malaysian government, we would like to thank the US government and we look forward to the continued cooperation between us," said Tengku Zafrul.
He added that the government's current recovery efforts are focused on parties who have caused losses to 1MDB and SRC during the execution of their duties, whether through direct or indirect involvement in both of the companies' various operations and transactions.
"This includes those who have wrongfully received SRC monies disguised as corporate social responsibility activities. All those involved will be made fully accountable for the wrongdoings caused to the country through their involvement in 1MDB and/or SRC," said Tengku Zafrul.