Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng today said that his ministry did not order the seizure of US$243.25 million (RM1 billion) from a local bank account belonging to the China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Ltd (CPP).

On Saturday, the Straits Times reported that Malaysia has seized the money from the account of the Beijing-owned firm.

According to the report Putrajaya ordered HSBC to transfer the funds held in the Chinese firm's account to Suria Strategic Energy Resources, which is wholly-owned by the Finance Ministry.

The report also said CPP was perplexed by the alleged unilateral transfer of funds out of its account without notification.