By Chan Quan Min
Deloitte, the accounting firm that stepped in earlier this year in to replace rival KPMG as the auditor for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) counts among its partners the eldest son of the Prime Minister.
Nizar Razak
Nizar Razak, 36, a partner in Deloitte, is the eldest son from the first marriage of Najib Abdul Razak, who is both prime minister and finance minister of Malaysia.
Coincidently, 1MDB is incorporated as a strategic investment fund fully owned by the Ministry of Finance and this month submitted its audited accounts for the financial year ended March 2013 close to a year late.
Deloitte Malaysia’s corporate profile lists Nizar as the head of the firm’s Financial Advisory and Energy & Resources business segments.
Nizar is a qualified chartered accountant with more than 10 years consulting and auditing experience for government, multinational companies, local public listed and large private enterprises, according to the Deloitte publication.
In addition to his official roles, Nizar is part of the Deloitte Malaysia Clients & Markets team working to secure new business clients for the firm, a source told KiniBiz.
Outside his job, Nizar is active in politics. He has been a member of the Titiwangsa UMNO division since 2008.
In a 2009 interview with The Star newspaper, Nizar demonstrated a close familial bond with his father by defending him: “We believe in him and what he stands for, the allegations thrown against him are baseless and unfair.”
“His detractors will stop at nothing to put him in a very bad light,” he said. “But I believe he has a good heart.”
In 1MDB’s 2013 financial year audited accounts prepared by Deloitte, the state-owned investment fund, posted a maiden net profit of RM878 million but at the same time held debt of RM42 billion.
If not for a revaluation of its prime real estate holdings of RM2.7 billion, the fund would have been in the red by approximately RM1.8 billion.
Incredibly, 1MDB’s size expanded nearly five-fold in the space of a year between March 2012 and March 2013. During that time the investment fund amassed a RM23.6 billion cash-pile from multiple loans and bond issues.
For a full list of articles on 1MDB published on KiniBiz, click here.
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