KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — The 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) rationalisation to pay off its reported RM42 billion debts will not resolve unanswered questions about a RM25.5 billion “hole” in its accounts, The Edge reported in its latest weekly edition.

The Edge asserted that 1MDB’s accounts for the 2015 financial year will possibly show debts growing to about RM49 billion, due to a US$975 million (RM3.666 billion) loan taken last September and around RM3 billion in interest costs.

Citing anonymous sources, The Edge said that 1MDB is hoping to raise RM49.7 billion to clear off its debts through a fund injection and sales of power assets and land.

This would purportedly involve Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC)’s pumping in US$4.5 billion, and 1MDB raising RM15 billion by selling off its power unit, Edra Global Energy Bhd, directly or by listing it on the stock market.

It would also purportedly involve the targeted gain of RM18.5 billion from the sale of land marked for 1MDB’s proposed projects Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and Bandar Malaysia.

However, The Edge said its sources believe the controversy surrounding 1MDB would not end even if the firm clears off all its debts, owing to two unexplained holes.

Citing the unnamed individuals, The Edge said 1MDB’s ability to sell off TRX and Bandar Malaysia land at a targeted price of RM18.5 billion when the firm purchased these for RM600 million in 2012, would indicate that the initial land sale was meant to cover a RM17.9 billion “hole”.

“Questions will have to be answered on what happened to the RM17.9 billion? Where or who did the money go to?” the paper asked.

The paper also cited sources when claiming that US$2.1 billion of the US$4.5 billion expected to be pumped in by IPIC is yet another “hole that is being covered under the rescue plan”.

The IPIC amount of US$4.5 billion is said to cover a US$1 billion payment for 1MDB’s Brazen Sky Ltd’s assets in BSI Singapore, while US$2.1 billion will be for GIL funds and 1MDB’s Penang land, and US$1.4 billion is actually 1MDB’s deposit with IPIC’s subsidiary Aabar Investments, the paper added.

US$2.4 billion out of this expected amount is actually 1MDB’s own funds, with US$1.4 billion being its deposit and the US$1 billion was last year’s payment to buy back Aabar’s option’s to buy 1MDB’s power assets.

“To summarise, calculations by The Edge based on what we know about the rescue plan drawn up by (Datuk Seri Ahmad) Husni (Hanadzlah) and his team show that the hole at 1MDB could, in a best-case scenario, be RM17.9 billion.

“A worst-case scenario will be a whopping RM25.5 billion - RM17.9 billion +RM7.6 billion,” the paper said, adding that a thorough investigation should be carried out to determine where the billions ended up given the size of the alleged bailout.

But this week, 1MDB said its RM42 billion debts are all accounted for and provided a breakdown of its expenses and investments under this amount.