Rafizi to write to Bank Negara, A-G on 1MDB’s Cayman funds

PKR's Rafizi Ramli will write to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Auditor-General to ask for a probe into 1MDB’s money trail. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, November 20, 2014. 

After being repeatedly stonewalled by the Finance Ministry on his queries about 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB) RM7.18 billion kept in the Cayman Islands, PKR's Rafizi Ramli will write to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Auditor-General to ask for a probe into the money trail.

Invoking the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the PKR Pandan MP hoped the move would allow the public to know where the funds were parked and its investment portfolio.

One of the clauses in the act provides for full declaration of money movements, which is a standard feature in similar anti-money laundering legislation around the world.

"Bank Negara should have information on the money trail because the amount involved is not small. If the money is being brought back, there must be statutory declarations coupled with other relevant details," he said at a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan had said earlier this month that 1MDB is bringing back the funds in the Cayman Islands, saying that it has already brought back 60% and the balance 40% will return to Malaysia by year-end, despite registering a return of 6% to 7% at the end of last year.

In dispelling accusations that 1MDB had “lost” the funds after accumulating RM38 billion debts in just five years of its operations, its chairman Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin had said it had instead yielded a profit of US$488 million (RM1.63 billion) from an initial investment of US$1.8 billion in an oil and gas venture.

Rafizi said he would write to both the central bank governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz as well as Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang urging them to start investigating.

Although the Auditor-General had said it would not audit 1MDB as it was already handled by one of the "big four" international auditing firms, Rafizi remained unfazed.

"He needs to investigate what are the impact and risks of 1MDB's undertakings on the federal government's debt," he said.

This comes as all his questions on 1MDB's money trail have been receiving the similar "copy and paste" replies, which he described as non-answers and an insult to Parliament.

"From here, we can safely conclude that Najib would not give any answers or details on the fund," he said in reference to prime minister and finance minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, noting that the reluctance to divulge information denotes that there is something fishy.

If he did not receive any answer from both the central bank and the A-G, Rafizi said he would pursue this with the authorities at countries where 1MDB has dealings, which include Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland.

- TMI