BN: Forex RCI not possible while Mahathir held sway

PETALING JAYA: Ask Pakatan Harapan leaders Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim why they didn’t have an inquiry into Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) forex trading losses in the 1990s.

This retort came from BN strategic communications (BNSC) unit deputy director Eric See-To today after detractors had questioned why the inquiry was being held so long after the scandal.

See-To said those who posed this question in light of the recently concluded Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the matter were “a bit silly”.

He said Mahathir and Anwar, who were then prime minister and finance minister respectively, were in charge of the government.

He said the actual losses were bigger than earlier suspected and the RCI report stated there was a cover-up of the affair.

“Why would Mahathir and Anwar want to agree to a RCI then if they were allegedly busy trying to cover it up?

“You could also not do the RCI 13 years ago as Mahathir was still fully in charge,” he said in a statement today.

“If Pakatan really must question why an RCI was not conducted 23 years ago, you should ask your Pakatan chairman Mahathir and de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim why. Because they were in charge then.”

The 524-page report on the RCI, which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, found that there was basis for the police to commence investigations, among others to determine whether Mahathir had condoned the actions of Anwar, which led to the central bank to incur losses of RM31.5 billion.

It also said evidence hinted at a possible criminal breach of trust of funds belonging to BNM under Sections 406 and 409 of the Penal Code was committed by “persons directly involved in the forex dealing operations, principally Nor Mohamed Yakcop”, who was a senior official there then.

See-To said the main allegation was that there was a cover-up as the amount was much bigger than what Parliament or the cabinet were told.

“In fact, the RCI also stated that the losses were hidden in BNM’s accounts and that it took 10 years or 20 years to amortise the losses,” he said.

“Since 13 years ago, no one from the government or who had worked for BNM at that time had come out to blow the whistle that the losses were much bigger than were reported.”

He said the current government had called for the RCI only after Abdul Murad Khalid, who was BNM assistant governor during the trading activities, “shocked Malaysians” in February with his claim that the losses were much larger and that there was a cover-up.

“Why did Datuk Murad take so long to spill the beans? You will have to ask him. Perhaps he waited until Mahathir’s influence in government was truly over,” See-To said.

“Or perhaps he could no longer stand Mahathir’s hypocrisy? We can only speculate.

“As for those who said that investigating this mother of all scandals is futile because a key witness has passed away, let it be known that the then BNM governor Jaffar Hussein passed away in 1998 — while Mahathir was still in charge.

“Based on their logic, it would still have been futile to investigate this crime 20 years ago,” he said.

See-To added that unlike the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue, no Public Accounts Committee (PAC) session was ever held on the BNM case.

He said there was also no special auditor-general’s report on it and the police did not undertake any investigations.

“So, what is the problem of the government closing a chapter on this mega-scandal and uncovering the truth? If we wait any longer, even more witnesses will not be around.” -FMT