New governor could give Bank Negara more bite against 1MDB

Bank Negara Malaysia could see a more vigorous investigation into the 1MDB matter if a widely-tipped candidate, former Bank Negara Malaysia deputy governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus (above), is confirmed as the new head for the central bank.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Nor Shamsiah was closely involved in Bank Negara's inquiry into 1MDB in 2015 under then Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

"The central bank recommended at the time that the attorney-general’s office file criminal charges against 1MDB alleging that it gave inaccurate information regarding the investment of US$1.83 billion outside the country from 2009 to 2011.

"Nor Shamsiah’s return to Bank Negara could inject vigour into the central bank’s investigations into what went wrong at 1MDB," the American business paper said in a report today.

Former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had then rejected Bank Negara's recommendation for prosecution.

The new Pakatan Harapan government, which swept into power in the May 9 general election, had accused Apandi of a cover-up and put him on leave.

The Wall Street Journal quoted two unnamed sources familiar with the matter that said Nor Shamsiah was the likely candidate to replace Muhammad Ibrahim but that this would need the consent of the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

Muhammad resigned last week after he became entangled in the 1MDB scandal by overseeing Bank Negara's RM2.066 billion purchase of land from the government earlier this year.

The money was subsequently used by the then BN government to pay off 1MDB's debt.

Muhammad had denied facilitating the then government in the 1MDB matter, pointing out that he had no control how the government would spend the proceeds from the land purchase.

Nor Shamsiah joined Bank Negara in 1987 and rose to become deputy governor in 2010. She left when her term ended in November 2016.

Najib has been accused of misappropriating money from the state-owned 1MDB. He has denied any wrongdoing or taking public funds for personal gains.

The matter is also a subject of international investigations as 1MDB's funds were laundered across the globe.

The US Department of Justice believes that at least US$4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB. - Mkini