IN view of the recent exposes on the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) trial in the US, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sent an urgent motion to the Dewan Rakyat to debate the matter.
In a letter addressed to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun, Anwar invoked Standing Order 18 (1) to get the latter’s approval to debate it, calling it a matter of national interest.
“This is an urgent matter as involves Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), where it was alleged that its then-governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz had approved a transaction worth US$1 bil to pay off her husband, Datuk Tawfiq Ayman.
“This is a matter of public interest as BNM is our central bank. These exposes must be addressed at the Dewan Rakyat to preserve the nation’s integrity,” he added.
Last week, during ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng trial in the 1MDB case in the US, star witness Tim Leissner mentioned graft involving a former Bank Negara governor’s husband.
However, Leissner acknowledged that he could not independently verify whether a bribe was indeed paid.
According to court transcripts of Ng’s trial, Leissner said this when prosecutors queried his dealings with the PetroSaudi-1MDB joint venture project.
He mentioned that he had heard through Ng – Leissner’s subordinate at the time – that 1MDB had invested US$1 bil (RM4 bil) into the deal.
“You have to understand that in 2009, Malaysia still had capital controls in place, which would require an investment of that size to be approved by BNM in terms of the money leaving the country.
International mockery
“They would have to approve a billion dollars leaving Malaysia, basically. And what Roger (Ng) reported back to me was that he had heard that the money had left overnight, the country.
“A billion dollars was wired overnight to Malaysia to the joint venture and it had been done because the husband of the then governor Zeti (Akhtar Aziz) at BNM had received a bribe to make that happen,” Leissner told the court.
On that note, Anwar urged Azhar to speed up the matter at the Dewan Rakyat as the case had received international attention.
“It also shows how the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had failed to detect, investigate and charge Malaysians who were involved in the scandal,” the Port Dickson MP remarked. – Feb 28, 2022
