Nazir orders internal inquiry

CIMB Islamic CEO taken to task over FB comment on WSJ article

PETALING JAYA: CIMB Islamic Bank CEO Badlisyah Abdul Ghani will face an internal inquiry following his Facebook posting claiming that banking documents released by the Wall Street Journal on 1Malaysia Development Bhd were fraudulent.

CIMB group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, in an Instagram posting late Wednesday, said Badlisyah should not have commented on the documents because it was a technical matter.

Nazir had posted a photograph of CIMB group CEO Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and CIMB Islamic chairman Datuk Syed Muhamad Syed Abdul Kadir showing Badlisyah’s comments to former CIMB chairman Tan Sri Mohd Nor Yusof.

“Zafrul & Syed showing a surprised Md Nor the Facebook post by Badli (CEO CIMB Islamic) on WSJ article. Posts have been removed, as it is a technical matter on which he should not be commenting. Our apologies, we will conduct an internal inquiry,” read Nazir’s post.

Badlisyah, who is also Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia president, had claimed in his original posting that banking documents released by WSJ allegedly showing transactions of US$700mil (RM2.6bil) of 1MDB funds into the personal accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak were false.

He claimed, among others things, that the Swift code in the document did not match with that of the originating New York-based Wells Fargo Bank.

However, later that evening, Badlisyah released a statement admitting he was wrong in his analysis of the documents and that the views expressed on his Facebook page were strictly his personal opinion.

“I would also like to acknowledge that I had made an error in my post with regard to my analysis of the various Swift codes.

“The mistakes were correctly pointed out by a report in Malaysiakini on the matter, and I have also made the correction on my Facebook page,” said Badlisyah in the statement.

Nazir, who is the brother of the Prime Minister, has been critical of 1MDB in the past. He has made numerous calls for transparency on the matter.