The government-owned company has not only committed three offences; it has also failed to bring back USD1.83b to the country as instructed by the central bank.
KUALA LUMPUR: A political analyst took to his blog in his latest posting to plead with Bank Negara that it move, and move quickly, on 1MDB running foul of the Financial Services Act. “Since the central bank has powers under the Act to punish the wrongdoers at 1MDB for misleading it, it should act.”
Shahbudin Husin, the analyst, expressed confidence that the truth was with Bank Negara and the Court will be able to make a determination on that matter. “It’s not the done thing to delay matters any further. What’s the point of claiming to have powers but not acting? 1MDB must bring back USD1.83 billion to the country as instructed by Bank Negara.”
“The people are waiting for Bank Negara to take the lead on 1MDB. It must be brave enough to act, based on the truth, and nothing but the truth.””
The integrity of the central bank depends on this, said Shahbudin. “Bank Negara must also keep in mind that the people are watching it and if the central bank was found wanting in the matter, the people’s confidence in it as the pillar of the economy would be affected, perhaps even shattered.”
The analyst noted that Bank Negara had already advised the Attorney-General Mohd Apandi Ali on how 1MDB ran foul of the Financial Services Act. “The reasons cited and the explanations given are good enough to bring the matter to Court.”
“There’s definitely a very strong case against 1MDB. Let the Court decide. The Attorney-General is not the last word in seeking justice although he has the prerogative on criminal wrongdoing.”
Shahbudin was commenting on a Bank Negara statement that it has administrative powers, under the Financial Services Act, to move against 1MDB for the manner in which it ignored conditions imposed when it gave three permissions to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The analyst conceded that Bank Negara did not mention 1MDB in its statement on what powers it had under the Financial Services Act but “there are no prizes for guessing that the statement was indeed about 1MDB”.
“Since Bank Negara has cancelled the three permissions earlier given to 1MDB, it means that the company has committed at least three offences under the Act.”
It’s not important, said the analyst, how much in fines the company would have to fork out. “What’s important is to prove that 1MDB has been found guilty of wrongdoing and has been brought to Court.”
“So far, nothing of that sort has happened to the company and it continues to carry on as if it was innocent while the fact is that it has been acting with impunity all this while and protected by the powers-that-be.”
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