đź“·MIC President and CEO Rafael Consing Jr.
Malaysian House Speaker Johari Abdul said competent leadership and proper oversight are needed in managing sovereign wealth funds, including the Philippines’ Maharlika Investment Fund, to prevent the billion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case from spreading to other countries.
Johari made the remarks in a press briefing in Manila on Tuesday, January 28, after the Maharlika Investment Corporation announced its first investment this week for the Maharlika Investment Funds, over a year after the fund was signed into law.
The MIF, which the Philippine government launched in 2023, aims to generate economic growth through strategic investments. However, concerns remain over its management, with calls for stricter oversight and better safeguards.
“The idea is noble, but you must have the right people running the noble things. Investment is one thing, but supervision is another,” Johari said in the briefing.
Johari also said that parliament plays a critical role in being transparent and accountable for investments.
He also called on lawmakers to exercise due diligence in scrutinizing such funds to prevent mismanagement of the funds.
“Parliament is very important. Members of parliament are given and entrusted by the people,” Johari said.
“MPs have their own role and responsibility to contribute to the people. They should be responsible too for not asking the right questions,” he added.
1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund co-founded by Malaysia’s jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009, has been investigated in at least six countries for the alleged misappropriation of over $4.5 billion by top officials and their associates.
In 2022, Malaysia’s highest court upheld Najib’s conviction for corruption and money laundering, ruling that he illegally received around $10 million from former 1MDB unit SRC International.
Last October, Razak issued a rare public apology over the 1MDB scandal but maintained his innocence. Najib, currently serving a six-year sentence, denies wrongdoing despite authorities linking over $1 billion to him from 1MDB funds.
The Malaysian speaker’s remarks hold significance in the Philippines following MIC President and CEO Rafael Consing Jr.’s announcement of the fund’s first investment in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
The state-owned investment firm is backed by capital from Landbank (P50 billion) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (P25 billion), a funding setup that has raised concerns from the International Monetary Fund.
In an interview with Nikkei in March 2024, Consing said MIC outsourced its cash management to the Bureau of the Treasury to prevent mismanagement of funds. (TCSP)
