PETALING JAYA, May 11 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will be able to recover most of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) money, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said last night.
The seventh prime minister said that this would be one of the means to repay the country’s existing debts which he said could easily reach RM1 trillion.
“Barisan Nasional said the total amount of debts is RM800 billion but this does not include the hidden figures. To say that we owe RM1 trillion is actually not an exaggeration.
“We believe we will get most of the 1MDB money back from Switzerland to repay this debt. We have a number of people whose expertise can be lent in order for us to reach that goal,” he said at news conference at the Sheraton Hotel here.
1MDB was first under investigation for alleged impropriety in July 2015, after reports emerged that investigators traced some US$700 million (RM2.1 billion) wired into former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bank accounts.
In February, the Swiss government seized RM95 million Swiss Franc (RM400 million) during the 1MDB probe.
This money was said to have been seized from BSI Bank, Coutts & Co and Falcon Bank.
Dr Mahathir said he believes that his previous 22-year experience in administering the country between 1981 to 2013 would come in handy to solve the massive debts.
“Once the economy is stable, it would also increase the confidence of investors,” the 92-year old said.
