ANNUAR Musa jumped the gun when he said that Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) losses in the foreign exchange (forex) scandal amounted to RM30 billion, said a lawyer representing Dr Mahathir Mohamad, pointing out that the probe is still going on.

“According to the law, any institution tasked with coming to a decision or a recommendation, whether it be the courts or the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), cannot make conclusions until the entire proceedings are completed…,” said Mohamed Hanif Khatri Abdulla, the lead counsel for the former prime minister.

Dr Mahathir is the central figure in the RCI as the forex losses occurred when he was prime minister. He has maintained he was not involved and that the losses were about RM10 billion, as reported by BNM in 1994.

“(Nothing can be concluded) until all the witnesses have given their testimony and all documented evidence are put forward,” said Hanif.

Annuar, who is Umno information chief, yesterday said that the billions in forex losses suffered by the central bank were “real”, while 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s losses were just on paper.

“The RM30 billion losses in the forex trading scandal in 1993 have been confirmed by the ongoing RCI. That is a real loss that the country can never recover. It is not a loss on paper but a real loss that is forever,” he was quoted as saying on Umno Online yesterday.

RCI chair Mohd Sidek Hassan, who is also Petronas chairman, had summarised the proceedings of the first day of hearings on Monday by coming to the “conclusion” that BNM suffered RM31.516 billion in losses.

This was immediately objected by Hanif, who said the RCI was still ongoing and the panel should not arrive at a conclusion on the first day of hearing testimonies. 

“[The RCI] did not deny our objection and correction at all,” Hanif said, adding that Sidek no longer made references to the amount of losses since. 

The RCI will sit again on Tuesday. 

Opposition lawmakers have called the inquiry politically motivated. 

Jailed Pakatan Harapan de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim was finance minister between 1991 and 1998, while Dr Mahathir, who now chairs opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan, was prime minister between 1981 and 2003.

Lawyers representing Anwar and Dr Mahathir have attempted to disqualify Sidek and Saw Choo Boon from the panel on the grounds that their presence in the RCI would lead to bias as they were formerly members of a special task force probing the forex losses, which later recommended to the cabinet that an RCI be formed.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court later quashed Dr Mahathir’s bid to recuse both men, saying the proceedings were of public interest. – August 26, 2017.