Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said this was one of the smallest amounts that were written off.

“They were selling lingerie and bras and undergarments. The investment had to be written off,” said Azmin, who is among the four new directors of Khazanah recently named by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“There was another deal to take over a private bank. The write-off was RM3 billion,” he added.

He said the government wanted to put Khazanah “back on track” so that its strategic assets were properly managed.

He was replying to Najib Razak (BN-Pekan) who said Khazanah had seen wealth creation for the past 10 years with its assets increasing from RM33 billion to RM134.5 billion.

Najib had also asked for an explanation on how Khazanah deviated from its original objective.

Mahathir had criticised Khazanah for deviating from its initial purpose of helping Bumiputeras. Days later, all the members on its board of directors tendered their resignations to pave the way for the fund’s revamp.