KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 — 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) must explain the outcome of its US$1.1 billion (RM4.476 billion) in “units” deposited in Singapore before the public will accept its explanations on other issues, DAP’s Tony Pua said.

In his latest rejoinder after the state-owned firm again rejected his challenge for a public dialogue, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member noted that there have been no updates since Putrajaya was forced to correct a parliamentary reply stating that the amount was “cash” deposited in 1MDB’s bank account in Singapore.

The explanation came after 1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy said in an interview with the Business Times in Singapore that he had seen the cash in person, but which Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said were “units” of an indeterminate nature.

Since then, Pua said, neither 1MDB nor Putrajaya has explained what these “units” comprised or why they could not be deposited locally.

“The fact that 1MDB refuses to address these crucial questions will only convince the people that 1MDB has lost all of these funds and is one of the key causes why the taxpayers have been forced to bailout the company,” Pua said in a statement yesterday.

“If the questions have been answered, there would have been no need for me to ask again, nor will there be any need for 1MDB to deploy evasive manoeuvres to avoid answering these questions,” he added in response to the firm accusing him of recycling his allegations against it.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP also rubbished the firm’s claim that he was attempting to undermine ongoing investigations into 1MDB, pointing out that both the PAC and special taskforce’s probes have now been “crippled” or declared illegal.

Pua has over several days repeatedly challenged Arul to take up the former’s challenge to a public dialogue first made in January, after the 1MDB CEO appeared on public television and described the firm as “an open book to investigations”.

Arul had also lamented the postponement of the PAC inquiry into 1MDB, saying that the firm was eager to respond to the allegations against it.

The PAC hearings were suspended after its chairman and three Barisan Nasional MPs were brought into the Najib administration, prompting Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to halt its proceedings until a new chief is appointed.

The Cabinet has since refused to convene an emergency parliamentary sitting to appoint new members to the PAC, meaning the soonest that the watchdog can recommence its probe is in October when Parliament is next due to meet.

Prior to the suspension, the PAC had scheduled August 4 and 5 to question Arul and his predecessor, Datuk Shahrul Ibrahim Halmi, as part of their investigation into the state-owned firm’s dealings.

The special taskforce comprising the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Royal Malaysia Police, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigating 1MDB has also since been disbanded.