BNM ‘overpaid’ for govt land, proceeds went to settling 1MDB debt, PAC finds

[superadmin]

PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) “overpaid” for a piece of government land it did not plan to buy, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said today.

In its report on the purchase of the land known as Lot 41, the PAC said the proceeds from the RM2.07bil sale to BNM went towards repaying 1MDB debts.

It also said the insufficient due diligence raised questions as to whether BNM were pressured into buying the land.

BNM had purchased the plot of land in December 2017.

“BNM did not plan to purchase Lot 41 before an offer was made by the finance ministry.

“There was no plan to purchase the land in BNM’s annual strategic planning for 2015 to 2017 though BNM stated that the purpose of the purchase was to develop a financial services education hub for the long-term,” it said.

The PAC also said the RM2.07 billion price tag, based on an evaluation conducted by Suleiman & Co, was particularly high.

It pointed out that the Valuation and Property Services Department had evaluated the lot at around RM1.42 billion based on the existing ownership status.

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