LIM Kit Siang, the DAP parliamentary opposition leader, will be appearing before the special task force investigating the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) forex losses on Thursday.

He said the task force – set up in February by the Cabinet – was “living proof of the negligence and irresponsibility of the first degree of the ministers”.

Lim said: “I am prepared to assist the task force to probe into the foreign exchange losses incurred by Bank Negara more than two decades ago. 

“In fact, if the (Prime Minister) Najib (Razak) administration is sincere about accountability and good governance principles and not set on vendetta, Nor Mohamed Yakcop should resign or be sacked or suspended as Khazanah Nasional Bhd deputy chairman.

“This is because Nor Mohamed was the chief operator of Bank Negara’s forex speculation, which resulted in colossal losses amounting to RM30 billion,” he said at his Jelajah Desa programme in Batu Kawan this morning. 

Last week, in a statement, former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim said Nor Mohamed was involved in the forex losses. Anwar was among the first to be called to assist the task force’s probe.

Lim said Anwar had sought Nor Mohamed’s resignation at the time but that was rejected.

“I had referred to Nor Mohamed’s role in the forex losses in my speeches in Parliament in 1993 and 1994, referring to the massive forex speculation by Bank Negara in the foreign exchange market where at its height, Bank Negara’s maximum exposure could be in the region of RM270 billion. 

“The amount was three times the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) and more than five times the country’s foreign reserves at the time.”

Lim said Nor Mohamed owed the country an explanation, not just to the task force. 

The DAP veteran and Gelang Patah MP also said he stood by his speech in the Dewan Rakyat in April 1994 calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara’s forex losses. 

The RCI, he said, must ascertain whether Bank Negara’s forex losses since 1992 could have exceeded RM30 billion, whether there had been any financial malpractices and abuses in view of the inconsistencies and conflicting explanations, and to establish how Bank Negara could incur such losses.

Lim said he had even offered himself to speak at Umno and Barisan Nasional’s nationwide roadshows to explain the task force to the public. 

The seven-member task force looking into the BNM forex losses is headed by Mohd Sidek Hassan, former chief secretary to the government. 

It also comprises Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission deputy chief commissioner Azam Baki, Police Commercial Crimes Department director Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, Securities Commission Malaysia chairman Ranjit Ajit Singh, Retirement Fund Inc chief executive officer Wan Kamaruzaman Wan Ahmad, Pemudah co-chairman Saw Choo Boon, and lawyer Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos.

Lim also waded into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy, asking why the Cabinet has not set up a task force to probe the “monstrous” 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal.

“If they could set up a special task force to investigate a scandal which took place more than two decades ago, why no word on 1MDB?

“What accountability and good governance principles are we talking about when we are blind to the elephant in the room – the 1MDB money-laundering scandal – which has brought infamy and ignominy to Malaysia?

“What is more urgent and imperative now is an RCI into the 1MDB scandal.”

Lim also questioned if Najib was the final authority in approving the 1MDB-IPIC arbitration settlement, overruling finance minister Johari Abdul Ghani, who was convinced 1MDB would win the arbitration case in the London International Arbitration Court based on documentary and legal grounds. 

“Did any minister suggest that the prime minister not get involved in any further decision-making making process about the 1MDB scandal, as he is directly implicated in the 1MDB scandal?”

He also asked if the minister had questioned if Malaysians would now have to pay IPIC the US$1.2 billion settlement, who was buying the 1MDB “units” and if Malaysia was fast becoming a rogue state. – April 30, 2017.