He said the Public Accounts Committee report on 1MDB tabled in Parliament this week had been silent about TIA’s formation, which led to its takeover by the federal government and renamed 1MDB.
“The MB of Terengganu then must now reveal to all what were the terms set out by Menteri Besar Incorporated of Terengganu,” said Mohd Ariff in a blog posting today.
Mohd Ariff did not name the menteri besar.
TIA was set up in 2008, when Ahmad Said was menteri besar. Ahmad Said was replaced in May 2014 after an internal power struggle in Umno.
Last month, he said that he was “withholding” secrets that could embarrass the people and Prime Minister Najib Razak. He unsuccessfully tabled a vote of no-confidence against his successor as menteri besar, Ahmad Razif And Rahman.”
Mohd Ariff made no reference to Ahmad Said but he said former 1MDB chief executive Shahrol Azral had been set up “as a culprit for rushing ahead” and ignoring the terms set out by Terengganu’s Menteri Besar Incorporated.
He said Shahrol Azral and AmInvestment Bank should be questioned about “whether some private deals were made”. Mohd Ariff said AmInvestment was paid RM11.5 million in arranger fees in the deal.
Mohd Ariff said: “We will never know what made the Terengganu government give up TIA and cede the sovereign wealth fund to 1MDB.”
Terengganu Investment Authority was set up to invest the federal oil royalties paid to the Terengganu state government.
Mohd Ariff questioned if the federal government had held back RM6 billion of royalties due to the state, and whether the prime minister, Najib Razak had forced the state to turn the RM6 billion into TIA capital.
In a jab at several prestige projects carried out by previous administrations, Mohd Ariff suggested that Najib had done so to prevent the state from spending the royalties on “hare-brained ideas” such as the “Monsoon Cup (yacht races), Crystal Mosques, floating places of worship and what not”.
Mohd Ariff pointed out that the federal government had agreed to provide guarantees for Islamic notes to be issued by TIA, using future earnings of petroleum royalty as collateral.
“Effectively, the whole amount of capital of RM11 billion is Terengganu’s money but control will be exercised by the federal government,” he said.
He questioned what the Terengganu government obtained by agreeing to hive off TIA, and whether payments were made to Penang-born businessman Jho Low for suggesting the setting up of the sovereign wealth fund.
Don’t make me reveal the truth, says Ahmad Said