PETALING JAYA, Jan 12 — PKR MP Rafizi Ramli alleged today that a sum of RM1.6 billion sovereign investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd equity sale has not been unaccounted for, and pressed the government for a public explanation.

Claiming to have sighted sukuk documents on the matter, the federal opposition lawmaker said a RM2.4 billion Sukuk Murabahah (Islamic bonds) was issued in 2014 to fund the relocation of eight army camps under Bandar Malaysia.

He noted that 1MDB had announced Bandar Malaysia still has RM1.9 billion left to pay off for the relocation, and that it would be absorbed by the China consortium that had recently bought a 60 per cent stake in the land.

“Why is the financial burden to upgrade these armed forces camps keep being brought up until it is part of the equity sale of Bandar Malaysia when 1MDB through Bandar Malaysia had taken borrowed RM2.4 billion in 2014 for it?” he told reporters here at the PKR headquarters.

He noted that while 1MDB reportedly said that the total cost of the project is RM2.7 billion — RM300 million more than the sukuk issued — it would mean that only RM800 million of RM2.4 billion sukuk was spent, even taking into consideration the project still had RM1.9 billion to pay off.

“This means that RM1.6 billion from the Sukuk Murabahah that was meant for the work was not used for its intended purpose.

“Where has the RM1.6 billion gone and what was it used for?” the Pandan MP asked.

1MDB had on December 31 announced its sale of 60 per cent stake in Bandar Malaysia to a consortium comprising Iskandar Waterfront Sdn Bhd (IWF) and Chinese Railway Express Corporation‎ Limited (CREC).

While 1MDB claimed the sale was valued at RM7.41 billion, CREC said it only paid RM5.28 billion for the 60 per cent joint venture with IWH in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last Monday.

1MDB later issued a statement clarifying that the difference in figures was the consortium’s absorption of the linked liabilities including the army camps.

Rafizi also questioned the sale of equity to CREC, which is linked to the Chinese government.

“When the private company involved is linked to the government of China, it begs the question, how deeply involved they would be in the decisions made regarding matters of where these army camps will be placed, now that the Chinese company is a joint owner of Bandar Malaysia that is in charge of such matters,” he said.