Surely 1MDB bigger scandal and deserves RCI, says Kit Siang

Updated 6 years ago · Published on 19 Jul 2017 12:19PM · 1 Comments

Lim Kit Siang (left) with Amanah president Mohamad Sabu at the Pakatan Harapan 1MDB roadshow in Shah Alam on Monday. Lim says getting to the bottom of the financial scandal at the state investor is more urgent than the case more than two decades ago at Bank Negara. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, July 19, 2017.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang today asked why the government has not set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), despite allegations of embezzlement and wrongdoing amounting to billions of ringgit.

Lim said the lack of action against 1MDB was in stark contrast to the RCI formed to investigate Bank Negara’s forex losses almost 25 years ago.

The Prime Minister’s Office announced yesterday that Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V has given his consent for the formation of an RCI into the forex losses.

A special task force was set up earlier this year to investigate the financial scandal during the administration of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad after former Bank Negara assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid revealed that the central bank had suffered US$10 billion (RM43 billion) in forex losses in the early 1990s, and not RM9 billion as reported earlier.

Lim said the speed in which the task force and RCI was formed reeked of “gross abuse of power” by the Najib administration.

“It would appear from the three-month time frame for the RCI to complete its inquiry, that the RCI into the Bank Negara forex losses was specially tailored for the 14th general election to help Najib fight Dr Mahathir,” Lim said in his blog post today.

“This will be another gross abuse of power by Najib, his cabinet and his attorney-general in having an RCI into Bank Negara forex losses a quarter of a century ago, but not a RCI into a greater and more monstrous financial scandal.”

Lim said Najib has failed to respond to the question of why there has been no RCI into the current financial scandal involving billions of dollar involving 1MDB, which has “turned Malaysia overnight into a global kleptocracy”.

Opposition leaders have said investigations into Bank Negara forex losses are targeted at crippling Pakatan Harapan ahead of GE14, which must be called by next year.

The coalition announced its leadership line-up last week, with Dr Mahathir appointed as its chairman. – July 19, 2017. 

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Comments

  • LKS semakin buntu so desperate to mention 1MDB into every conversation that he forgets that there are already investigations launched and some concluded around the world.

    Yet he still calls for RCI on 1MDB simply to divert attention from the Forex Scandal RCI - and ironically, the latter RCI that was recently launched should have thrown LKS into ecstasy as he has been demanding for exactly one until he became bedfellows with the central figure in the RCI, LKS' own former arch-enemy turned 'best frenemies forever'.

    So, why now you suddenly no likey Forex Scandal RCI, LKS?

    Posted 6 years ago by Cassius Pereira · Reply