Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's statement in March that 1MDB's funds in cash were kept in the BSI Bank is an offence under the law. – The Malaysian Insider pic, May 24, 2015.Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has fired another salvo at embattled Datuk Seri Najib Razak, saying the prime minister had "lied" over the status of 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) US$1.103 billion (RM3.6 billion) which was said to have been kept at the BSI Bank in Singapore.
In referring to Najib's parliamentary reply on the matter earlier this week, the former prime minister said any "cover up" or attempting to hide a mistake in government affairs was an offence under the law.
He said it comes under Section 218 of the Penal Code and felt that the police should investigate the matter.
"I am very sad that I cannot avoid from saying that the prime minister had lied. The first lie was that no cash from 1MDB was repatriated back.
"Secondly, there was no cash in BSI Bank in Singapore. It was clear from the latest reply that there was no cash totalling USD1.103 billion that was in BSI Bank but documents that were kept in it.
"What are the documents is unclear but what is known is that it is clearly not cash," he wrote in his blog today.
In the parliamentary reply to Tony Pua (DAP-Petaling Jaya Utara), Najib had said the balance of the investment redeemed by 1MDB were assets in US dollars.
Najib had, last March, in a parliamentary reply to Pua said that the redeemed money was in cash form.
He said BSI bank had denied issuing documents supplied by 1MDB relating to the accounts for 1MDB subsidiary Brazen Sky Limited.
This, Dr Mahathir said, clearly showed that Najib's March parliamentary reply was untrue.
He said that Bank Negara Malaysia would have been informed by Singapore's monetary authorities that the funds were not in cash.
In that reply, Najib had confirmed US$1.103 billion had been “redeemed” from Brazen Sky’s alleged offshore fund in the Cayman Islands and was now being “kept in US currency” at BSI Bank Limited in Singapore.
Malaysia's longest serving prime minister said any cover up or acts to hide offences committed in government business are wrong in the eyes of the law.
He also singled out government officials, Bank Negara and 1MDB, which he claimed had contravened Section 218 of the Penal Code.
"Something serious is happening. Money owed by a government-owned company, of which RM7 billion is guaranteed by the government, can no longer be traced and attempts are made to lie to Parliament and the country.
"There is an element of crime in this case, which needs the police to investigate, and if the money cannot be found, then the legal process has to be taken against the relevant parties," he said.
Criticism has been mounting over the Finance Ministry's wholly-owned investment vehicle, established in 2009, which has chalked up debts of up to RM42 billion, backed by Putrajaya.
The auditor-general is currently looking through 1MDB's books, with a preliminary report expected to be submitted to the Parliament in June, while Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) started its investigation into the company last Tuesday.
- TMI
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