Action can be taken under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Amlatfa) against those who have allegedly taken part in the Liberty Reserve money-laundering scheme, said Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan.
“Certainly, it won’t be long before we take action based on the information you have stated,” he said at a press conference today.
He was responding to reporters’ queries about the court case in the US, where prosecutors claim that Liberty Reserve had used unlicensed remittance services in countries with little government oversight to conduct its business, including in Malaysia.
The US$6 billion (RM18.3 billion) operation is believed to be the largest online money-laundering operation in history.
While personally unaware of the issue, Ahmad believes that Bank Negara - which enforces Amlatfa - is already on the case.
“Certainly, it won’t be long before we take action based on the information you have stated,” he said at a press conference today. He was responding to reporters’ queries about the court case in the US, where prosecutors claim that Liberty Reserve had used unlicensed remittance services in countries with little government oversight to conduct its business, including in Malaysia.
The US$6 billion (RM18.3 billion) operation is believed to be the largest online money-laundering operation in history.
While personally unaware of the issue, Ahmad believes that Bank Negara - which enforces Amlatfa - is already on the case.
Stop being in denial, gov’t told
When asked what measures would be taken to strengthen Amlatfa’s enforcement, Ahmad declined to answer.
“Nevermind, we will talk about this another time. We do this one at the time. Now, it is the Customs Department’s ‘chapter’. That is Bank Negara’s ‘chapter’,” he said at a press conference with Royal Malaysian Customs officials.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng (left) called on the government to adopt financial reform, pointing out that Malaysia is fifth in the world in illicit capital outflow, with US$291 billion (RM927 billion) siphoned out between 2000-2009.
“The time has come for the BN federal government to stop being in denial by adopting genuine financial reforms to clean up and stop such criminal activities of illicit outflow of ‘black money’ and money-laundering.
“Otherwise, there is no point in winning accolades for Bank Negara or for our purported good running of the economy when the real issues of transparency and accountability are not addressed,” he said in a statement today.
He added that Malaysia’s reputation for money laundering is now worse than Thailand or Indonesia, and is now on par with Nigeria and Russia.
“Nevermind, we will talk about this another time. We do this one at the time. Now, it is the Customs Department’s ‘chapter’. That is Bank Negara’s ‘chapter’,” he said at a press conference with Royal Malaysian Customs officials.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng (left) called on the government to adopt financial reform, pointing out that Malaysia is fifth in the world in illicit capital outflow, with US$291 billion (RM927 billion) siphoned out between 2000-2009.“The time has come for the BN federal government to stop being in denial by adopting genuine financial reforms to clean up and stop such criminal activities of illicit outflow of ‘black money’ and money-laundering.
“Otherwise, there is no point in winning accolades for Bank Negara or for our purported good running of the economy when the real issues of transparency and accountability are not addressed,” he said in a statement today.
He added that Malaysia’s reputation for money laundering is now worse than Thailand or Indonesia, and is now on par with Nigeria and Russia.
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