10 priorities for new task force on 1MDB

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

A QUESTION OF BUSINESS | When it comes to dealing with and putting things right at 1MDB, time is of the essence when it comes to certain things. The committee which has been formed by the so-called Council of Elders to make recommendations has to work pretty fast.

Here are some things which need to be done soonest:

1. Secure all documents, including electronic and Internet trails. This is absolutely essential for investigators to piece together what has happened.

The search for and securing of all records is of paramount importance and should include all electronic records as well, such as emails and others. If some of them are missing then it is imperative that other sources are relied upon to obtain them.

2. Appoint a new 1MDB CEO and board immediately. This really can’t wait because presumably the current board and CEO continue in office until they are replaced. If they are complicit, they can do a lot to hide and destroy important information to make it difficult for investigators to proceed.

The CEO must be a very respectable and capable person with substantial experience in the corporate sector while the board composition must comprise people with impeccable credentials. Right now, 1MDB seems to be in a leadership limbo.

3. New board must immediately commission a major forensic audit. No committee is going to be able to sit down and determine what happened without expert professional help because of the scale and complexity of transactions.

The firm to undertake this audit must be one of the big four accounting giants and preferably one of those who declined to be auditors of 1MDB because they could not verify certain things. This will include EY and KPMG.

Periodic forensic reports should be required to be made and 1MDB should make the necessary police reports progressively to facilitate investigation and bring those involved to account.

4. Reactivated multi-agency task force needs to get cracking. Before it was disbanded, the previous government had a multi-agency task force set up in 2015 to investigate 1MDB. This comprised members from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, police, MACC and Bank Negara Malaysia while the auditor-general made a special report on 1MDB which has since been declassified. A version of this task force has been reactivated.

Since they have had a head start, they may be in a position to press charges soon. They should work with the forensic auditors to identify those accountable and bring them to book, as well as with foreign investigators and international organisations such as Interpol to track and detain those who are involved in the alleged theft.

5. Identify and secure assets. Previous CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy had been rather cagey about revealing assets. There are over RM30 billion in long-term bonds/loans but the assets are not easily and clearly identified. There is a pressing need to identify and secure the assets.

Now that theft can be readily admitted, arrangements should be made with other countries for the return of billions of ringgits of assets with which bond repayments can be made...