Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is to be commended for its swift and prompt denial at allegations that its officials were behind the leak of information concerning the 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) funds.
Denying the allegations, the bank said it had lodged a police report concerning the Malaysia Today blog on Saturday naming three central bank officials who it said leaked information on the money trail.
In a statement yesterday, the central bank said such allegations were without basis.
It said “Bank Negara Malaysia remains steadfast in our quest to uncovering the truth in a fair and just manner,” and that it will investigate any potential breaches to the laws it administers.
“In discharging its accountability, the bank is not aligned to any faction and will not betray the trust of the public.”
I believe the overwhelming majority of Malaysians appreciate this statement by Bank Negara and are asking why the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak cannot emulate the example of Bank Negara and make swift and prompt denial if an allegation is untrue.
It is now more than ten days since the Wall Street Journal report on 2nd July that Malaysian government investigators have found some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) deposited into Najib’s personal accounts at AmBank in March 2013, shortly before the dissolution of Parliament on April 3, 2013 in the run-up to the 13th General Election.
Up to now, Najib dare not deny, categorically and unequivocally, in the way that Bank Negara Malaysia has done, anyone of the four suppositions below:
1. that Najib had three personal bank accounts in AmBank; 2. Some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) of funds were deposited into his personal accounts in 2013 just before the dissolution of Parliament on April 3, 2013 in the run-up to the 13th General Election; 3. Where the RM2.6 billion came from; and 4. Where and to who these RM2.6 billion have gone to.
As after more 10 days, the Prime Minister had not denied anyone of the four suppositions, can anyone to be blamed for assuming all the four to be true?
A NGO today says that millions of ringgit in Najib’s Ambank private accounts were channelled to Barisan Nasional component parties in the run up to the 13th general election two years ago.
This NGO, the Citizens For Accountable Governance Malaysia (CAGM), blamed former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir for what it termed as the “system of greasing” the ruling coalition partners and election machineries.
It said: “CAGM can confirm, based on court documents in our hands, that millions from Najib’s Ambank accounts were actually used to ‘back up’ Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties in the run-up to the 2013 general elections,” as “system of greasing” the ruling coalition partners and election machineries.
CAGM chairman Md Zainal Abidin said:
“This system of ‘greasing’ the component parties and election machineries (in some cases, mercenaries) were actually put in place by Dr Mahathir and that has allowed BN to remain in power until now. “So, in essence, Najib was ‘paying’ to a system that was put in motion by Mahathir to ensure the results are in favour of BN. “The harder a victory in the elections appear to be, the more money it requires to secure a win and the 2013 general election was a very high-risk affair for BN after all.”
Besides the 13 BN component parties which Md Zainal claimed were allocated an average of RM30 million to RM50 million each, he said funds were channelled to more than a dozen BN-friendly parties and NGOs, which received between RM1 million and RM8 million each.
There is considerable credibility in this statement from the CAGM, which seems to have a very strange relationship with the powers-that-be, and I believe CAGM is either UMNO-supported or even UMNO-sponsored.
However, even if what CAGM said was true, there is still a vast sum of the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts which have not been accounted for.
Will the “special task force” headed by the four Tan Sris – Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamad be allowed to investigate where the RM2.6 billion came from and to whom, in detail, the RM2.6 billion had been paid out to?
Would the “special task force” of four Tan Sris be empowered to publish a report as to who were the receipients of the monies from Najib’s Ambank accounts, the sums paid to each Barisan Nasional party, Cabinet Minister and BN/UMNO candidate, and what has happened to the bulk of the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in March 2013?
Nobody believes that the “special task force” of four Tan Sris would have such powers, which is why the “special task force” should be scrapped immediately and be replaced by a Royal Commission of Inquiry of three Tuns, chaired by Tun Mahathir with Tun Abdullah and Tun Musa Hitam as the deputy chair-persons with commissioners on independent and credible Malaysians including DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua and PKR MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli.