THE head of the inquiry probing Bank Negara Malaysia’s foreign exchange losses today refused to retract a statement made in the early days of the hearings, which a lawyer representing Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed was prejudicial to the former prime minister.

Royal Commission of Inquiry chairman Mohd Sidek Hassan said he would not withdraw his remark made on the first day of the hearing on August 21, that it could be concluded that BNM had suffered losses of RM31.5 billion because of its foreign exchange trading.

Dr Mahathir’s lawyer, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, had asked Sidek to retract his remarks as the inquiry had not completed its proceedings.

“The RCI will make its final conclusion. During the inquiry, some numbers came up, whether they differ from the first conclusion, the issue of withdrawal does not arise. 
“We will make a final conclusion when we present the report (to the King),” Sidek said today.

He also announced that today would be the last day of the inquiry proceedings.

The panel had heard from 25 witnesses and studied 42 documents.

Sidek drew the hearings to a close today by announcing the panel had decided to reject three requests made by Dr Mahahtir’s lawyers.

Besides his refusal to retract his early “conclusion” on the losses, Sidek said the panel also decided not to recall former BNM assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid to the witness stand.

“The RCI finds that it has done all it has to do with (Murad). RCI has no plans to recall Murad,” said Sidek.

Neither will the panel consider Haniff’s request that the RCI secretariat lodge a police report against Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Mohd Puad Zakarshi for allegedly making prejudicial remarks against the former prime minister.

Puad had accused former BNM adviser Nor Mohamed Yakcop of lying to the panel to protect Dr Mahathir.

The RCI was held to establish the extent of losses from BNM’s forex trading activities in the late 1980s until 1994, and whether any laws had been broken.

Opposition members and Dr Mahathir have said the RCI was politically motivated and aimed at tarnishing the former prime minister, who is now leading the opposition Pakatan Harapan bloc.

Dr Mahathir had testified that he knew of losses based on the figure in audited reports given to the cabinet and tabled in Parliament, and that they were not as huge as RM30 billion.

The RCI came about after former assistant governor Murad told the New Straits Times in an interview that the losses in the early 1990s were much higher than what BNM reported (RM9.3 billion) in its 1994 annual report. The government then formed a Special Task Force to determine the need for an RCI.

Sidek, who led the task force, was subsequently made chairman of the RCI, drawing claims of bias and prejudice from the opposition and Dr Mahathir’s lawyers. – September 19, 2017.