TASK FORCE’S INITIAL FINDINGS
THERE HAD BEEN ATTEMPTS TO CONCEAL FACTS ON THE LOSSES MISLEADING INFORMATION GIVEN TO THE CABINET, PARLIAMENT LOSSES SUFFERED WERE MUCH MORE THAN WHAT WAS REPORTED
AROYAL Commission of Inquiry (RCI) will be formed to investigate Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) foreign exchange (forex) market losses in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in a statement yesterday, said the decision to form the RCI was taken after the task force formed to probe into the scandal presented its report to the cabinet.
“The task force found that there was a prima facie case to be answered by BNM for the losses and, therefore, recommended the formation of the RCI.
“Its formation is in line with public interest, as it could determine the BNM losses, which involved national reserves.”
The task force’s initial findings, the statement said, had established that the losses suffered were much more than what was reported to the cabinet and Parliament.
“The task force had also found that there had been attempts to conceal actual facts on the losses with misleading information given to the cabinet and Parliament.
“The cabinet had unanimously agreed with the task force’s recommendation, that there was a need to form the RCI… it would hopefully be able to unravel the issue which has shackled the nation for 23 years,” it added.
The task force, which is led by former chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan and assisted by a sixmember team, was tasked with probing into the US$10 billion losses incurred by BNM through forex dealings between 1991 and 1993.
The New Straits Times had, in an exclusive interview with former BNM assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid in January, reported that the central bank suffered US$10 billion in forex market losses in the early 1990s, far higher than it had ever admitted. Soon after, the task force was formed.
Former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was also the finance minister at the time, had confirmed that the country lost between RM15 billion and RM30 billion in the foreign exchange scandal.
Anwar, who gave his statement to the task force in April, claimed that the then central bank governor Tan Sri Jaafar Hussein, had admitted to him that former BNM assistant governor Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop was identified as the officer responsible.
He had said Jaafar was not provided with the complete information and he then accepted Nor Mohamed’s resignation.
Nor Mohamed was among several individuals, including DAP adviser and Gelang Patah member of parliament Lim Kit Siang, whom the task force had called up since it was formed on March 14.
It was reported in January that declassified documents from the United States Central Intelligence Agency had linked the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad administration to some US$1 billion in losses from bad loans made by BMF in the late 1980s to a Hong Kong property group.
Dr Mahathir has since downplayed the report, saying that it did not directly link him to the scandal, and was merely a normal information paper for the US government back then.
Lim had said that there was nothing new to the BMF scandal, adding that he was disappointed as there was no new revelation in the document.
Lim, however, was slammed for his tame comments against the longest-serving prime minister as the former had been a vocal critic of the scandal during Dr Mahathir’s premiership.
Previous RCIs included the one in 2012 to look into the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah under “Project IC”.
The report from the RCI. released on Dec 3, 2014, had subsequently established there were foreigners who obtained citizenships through dubious means.
In 2011, another RCI was formed to look into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, who died while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
The RCI’s report had concluded in July 2011 that Teoh was driven to commit suicide and blamed intensive interrogation by three MACC officers.
In 2007, an RCI into the “V.K. Lingam Video Clip” was formed to investigate an allegation of illegal intervention into the judicial appointment process of Malaysian judges.