Ministry to conduct internal probe, followed by public inquiry
KUALA LUMPUR: The Finance Ministry is initiating an internal inquiry into the alleged disappearance of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund money, which will be followed up by a public inquiry.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the inquiry would be headed by Treasury secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar.
“The new Treasury secretarygeneral was not part of the decision-making process then. He will submit a report and we will submit it to the prime minister for consideration,” he said.
Lim also suggested for an open and independent inquiry.
The minister’s remarks came following a report lodged by Rembau member of parliament Khairy Jamaluddin over Lim’s claim in Parliament on Wednesday that the Barisan Nasional government had “robbed” RM18 billion in GST refund claims.
Earlier, Lim said the investigation was necessary to establish whether past cabinet members, especially the finance minister and finance minister II, knew of the then-Treasury secretarygeneral’s actions.
He said this stemmed from the government’s failure to pay the GST claims, which he said totalled RM19.4 billion up to May 31.
“The decision over how much money was to be placed in the fund was made by the previous Treasury secretary-general, who headed a committee to discuss the matter.
“We want to know just whether the sec-gen’s decision had the blessings or knowledge of both the finance minister II and finance minister, of whom the latter was also the prime minister. We want to be fair in this.
“An internal inquiry will be done. Did the finance ministers know of the sec-gen’s decision? They have to know. I believe they did.
“After the internal inquiry is completed, I will recommend to the prime minister that a public inquiry be done, headed by experienced parties.
“This inquiry will be transparent as everything is recorded. There is a trail of documents, finances and payments. There’s nowhere to run. There has to be a public inquiry so that the people will know,” he told the Dewan Rakyat.