Amid news of scandals, Nazir Razak calls for truth to be revealed

The Instagram posting by CIMB Group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak which implies a desire to have the truth revealed on issues plaguing the country currently. – Instagram pic, June 29, 2015.

Institutions in Malaysia must uncover the truth as the lack of it was causing people to be divided, prominent banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said today on his Instagram account.

His post was not specific but comes at a time when the government is under pressure over current issues such as debt scandals involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat's (Mara) overpriced purchase of property in Melbourne.

Nazir, who is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's brother, said that without the truth, such issues would divide Malaysians, and only once all the facts were known, could reconciliation take place.

The photo on his Instagram account showed a signboard with the words "Truth. Next exit" with an arrow along with the post: "I hope so. Our institutions must get us there quickly. Malaysians feeling truth deprived – depressing and divisive. After truth we can find reconciliation."

Nazir, who is CIMB Group chairman, has been vocal on current issues, once calling on the 1MDB board to resign if they did not want to take proactive measures to address concerns over its finances.

1MDB which has debts of RM42 billion, is owned by the Finance Ministry and has loans which are backed by letters of support from Putrajaya. Najib is also finance minister and chairman of 1MDB's advisory board.

Previously, Nazir had also taken 1MDB top executives to task for failing to attend an inquiry hearing by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

"Your company has triggered a national crisis and you can be too busy to face Parliament? Unacceptable," he had posted on his Instagram account last month after 1MDB group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi did not attend a scheduled PAC hearing and asked for a later date.

Earlier this month, Nazir had also taken to his Instagram account to question why Putrajaya was being slow in auditing 1MDB's accounts for the year ending March 2015.

"I am perplexed why your March 2015 audit has not even started? How is this allowed? Has standards of GLC governance dropped so low?

In the case of Mara's Melbourne property buy, Australian newspaper The Age had last week reported that the agency's investment arm Mara Inc had overpaid for an apartment block by A$4.75 million (RM13.8 million) in 2013.

Three "super rich Malaysian officials" had overbid for the property, Dudley International House, from A$17.8 million to A$22.5 million (RM65.3 million), with the difference pocketed as bribes back home.

Mara is now being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, while in Australia, police have begun cracking down on those believed to be behind property scams in Melbourne.

- TMI