Bank Negara denies media leak from inside
Central bank says no basis to suspicion of officials involved, internal investigation going on
(Free Malaysia Today) – Bank Negara Malaysia has condemned allegations that its officials had leaked information to the media, stating that it was without basis and that a police report had been lodged.
In a brief three-paragraph statement issued today, the central bank said it was also conducting its own investigation of “any breaches to the laws it administers”. It was not immediately clear whether by this internal investigation the Bank was referring specifically to the leaks.
The statement comes a day after blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin named three Bank Negara officials as being investigated on suspicion of having been the source of leaked documents which formed the basis of media reports. http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2015/07/11/bank-negara-trio-named-for-najib-leaks/
Last Tuesday, Raja Petra had also named the heads of the agencies in the task force as being part of a conspiracy by “Six Tan Sris” to carry out a coup d’etat against Najib Razak as prime minister.http://www.malaysia-today.net/malaysias-first-coup-detat/
Bank Negara made no mention of Raja Petra’s claims. However, it said the Bank was “not aligned to any faction and would not betray the trust of the public” in the quest to uncover the truth in a fair and just manner.
Bank Negara, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the police and the anti-corruption agency MACC are members of the special task force appointed by the government to investigate the affairs of the government-owned investment company 1Malaysia Development Bhd whose financial transactions and investments have been the subject of public criticism.
The four agencies are headed by: Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the bank; Abdul Gani Patail, Attorney-General; Khalid Abu Bakar, Inspector-General of Police; Abu Kassim Mohamed, chief commissioner of MACC.
Leaked documents, said to be from within the investigating team, have formed the basis of revelations published by Sarawak Report and the Wall Street Journal which last week showed a trail of financial transactions ending in deposits totalling US$700 million in AmBank Private Banking accounts held in the name of Najib Razak, the prime minister.
