FORMER prime minister Najib Razak should be investigated for allowing the government to use the goods and services tax (GST) refunds to finance its expenses, say DAP lawmakers.

“The fact that the previous government had deposited the money into the consolidated revenue account first instead of the specific trust account has breached the fundamental trust law principles and accounting requirements,” said Bandar Kuching MP Kelvin Yii.

Yii said this was confirmed by the attorney-general in the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) report on the RM19.4 billion worth of refunds owed to taxpayers.

PAC tabled its report on the RM19.4 billion GST refunds today and concluded that although the monies did not go missing, the government had breached certain procedures and used the money to cover its revenue shortfalls.

“The AG said that the government had contravened the GST Act and departed from the intention of Parliament,” he said in a statement today.

According to Yii, the problem would have continued had there not been a change of government after the last general election.

“...a shameless Najib even admitted that the issue would have been resolved if the government continued with GST and not given a tax holiday.

“This showed that the previous government would have continued to break GST provisions had they continued to govern,” said Yii.

Fellow lawmaker Khoo Poay Tiong also called for criminal investigations be opened into the matter.

The Kota Melaka MP said that the PAC report confirmed that GST refunds had been used for government purposes.

“This is clear admittance that the money was stolen because it is in effect taking and withholding money from taxpayers by force.

“Through this, the previous government was able to enjoy interest-free capital at the expense of taxpayers.”

He said the report showed that Najib had breached the trust of taxpayers and the matter warranted a criminal investigation. – July 15, 2019.