DAP: BMF money didn't go into Dr M's account

DAP veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said the 1MDB controversy was much more serious than the declassified US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document which claimed that Mahathir-administration had links to the Bumiputera Malaysia Finance Ltd (BMF) scandal.

During a press conference in Penang today, Lim said the declassified documents offered nothing new and that he had said far more in the past on the issue through his press statements and his speeches in Parliament.

"The report did not say anything which I have not said before," said Lim.

"I have even debated the government report on the BMF scandal, but I am not even allowed to raise the 1MDB issue in Parliament, I may not be allowed to mention the word kleptocracy."

Also at the press conference was DAP vice-president Ariffin Omar (photo), who recalled that a government report on the BMF scandal was made public.

In contrast, the auditor-general's report on 1MDB was classified under the Official Secrets Act, he said.

"Also, the CIA report never claimed that the money went into Mahathir’s personal bank accounts, unlike the 1MDB scandal," he added.

BMF vs 1MDB

Among recently declassified CIA documents was a document which claimed that actions which resulted in BMF's US$1 billion loss during the early 1980s was perpetrated by individuals who had links to Umno, which was then helmed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

This was a major political issue at the time because BMF was a subsidiary of state-owned Bank Bumiputera Malaysia Bhd, and a BMF auditor Jalil Ibrahim was murdered in Hong Kong during the course of his investigations.

The issue erupted during Mahathir's second year as prime minister.

On the other hand, the 1MDB controversy is the subject of money laundering investigations by several jurisdictions.

Singaporean authorities have convicted four individuals in connection with dubious transfers of 1MDB-related funds while Swiss authorities have sanctioned several banks over similar offences.

However, the most damning allegation was made by the US Department of Justice over claims that portion of 1MDB's money made its way into the bank accounts of one "Malaysian Official 1" (MO1).

It has been established that MO1 is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.- Mkini