US3.5 billion breakdown for simple folks ~ By Zakiah Koya

According to the civil lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice to seize 1MDB assets, it was alleged that between 2009 and 2015, more than US$3.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB was misappropriated.

As of today, US$3.5 billion equals to RM14.3 billion. 

What is RM14.3 billion? Let us break it down to what we common people can understand:

Let’s say one MyVi-advanced with all specs - the most expensive MyVi - is RM58,000. RM14.3 billion means about 246,551 units of MyVi. 

Let’s say a low cost house, 800 sq ft with three rooms in Kuala Lumpur costs RM150,000. RM14.3 billion means more than 95,333 of such houses. 

Let’s say a public university graduate needs a scholarship of RM100,000 to complete his or her four years of study. 

RM14.3 billion means more than 143,000 such scholarships. (One must remember that it takes less than that for a public university student to graduate, unless he or she is doing a medical course.)

Now, let’s say a bungalow costs RM2.8 million. RM14.3 billion means about 5,107 of such bungalows. 

The whole budget for Malaysia this year was RM267.2 billion. RM14.3 billion is about 5.4% of the whole budget of the country. 

Under the 2016 budget, RM7 billion is to sponsor 72,000 Bumiputra students to continue their tertiary education. Therefore, RM14.3 billion would have sponsored more than 144,000 Bumiputra students to continue their tertiary education. 

BRIM this year for a household earning RM3,000 and below, is RM1,000. Pocketing RM14.3 billion would mean stealing the BRIMs of more than 14 million households.

Under the budget, RM190 million would have set up 50 farmers’ markets and 150 new Agrobazaars Rakyat 1Malaysia. Taking away RM14.3 billion would mean breaking down 3,763 farmers’ markets and 11,289 new Agrobazaar Rakyat 1Malaysia. 

A medium-income household living on RM5,000 a month spends the money on the instalment of the house and car, and groceries. This means if someone took away RM14.3 billion, 2.9 million such households were left homeless and hungry for one whole month.

The dividends paid out by EPF as of February this year was RM38.24 billion. If someone pocketed RM14.3 billion, this means they pocketed 37% of that dividend. 

Highway concessionaire Plus Expressway Bhd (Plus) is supposed to have collected RM2.61 billion in 2014 alone. If RM14.3 billion were paid to Plus, Plus could likely provide five years of no-tolls for users of Plus highways. 

So, now that we have these calculations, maybe we common people can grasp how much is exactly the RM14.3 billion that 1MDB allegedly misappropriated on gambling debts, collectors’ art, luxury yachts, jets and luxury homes.