Anwar lied at the RCI hearing

By MT Webmaster Last updated Sep 13, 2017

Anwar has to remember what he says because he has been contradicting himself so many times. Back in 2012 Anwar said the losses were about US$10 billion and that Mahathir was involved, and yesterday he said it was only RM5.7 billion and Mahathir was not involved. The problem with Anwar is he is incapable of telling the truth and nothing that comes out of his mouth can be believed any more.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Yesterday, Anwar Ibrahim testified at the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the Bank Negara US$10 billion forex scandal and insisted that the losses were only RM5.7 billion and not RM31-32 billion.

RM5.7 billion was the official figure while what was not reported and was hidden from public knowledge is that the real losses exceeded RM31 billion. And it was Anwar who was the Finance Minister then and who hid the real figure from the public and lied to both Parliament and the Cabinet.

Other than what the real losses were, the other lie that Anwar perpetuated was the nature of the losses. To Parliament Anwar said they were only ‘paper losses’ while to the Cabinet Anwar said they were ‘deferred expenditure’ and ‘unrealised losses’. Both were lies.

In 2012 Anwar fingered Mahathir and Daim and said the losses were US$10 billion

Yesterday Anwar told his third lie. He told the RCI that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad never gave any instructions to gamble on the forex market while five years ago in June 2012, in a seminar in Penang, he fingered Mahathir and Tun Daim Zainuddin (see news reports below).

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Mahathir did not give any instructions to play the forex market

(Malaysian Digest, 8 September 2017) – Jailed Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim finally testified before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) foreign exchange (forex) losses in the 1990s.

In his testimony yesterday, he placed the blame largely on former BNM advisor Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

As the finance minister during the 1990s, Anwar said it was Nor Mohamed who did not provide an accurate picture of the losses when questioned by Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.

Anwar also revealed that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad never issued any instructions regarding the forex losses.

“Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) did not give instructions (regarding forex trading),” Anwar told the commission that he instructed then Treasury second deputy secretary-general Clifford Francis Herbert to prepare the report, The Malaysian Insight reports.

“And we met Dr Mahathir. He never gave any instructions to proceed with forex or not. He just listened.”

The RCI chairman had also raised the query as to whether Anwar deliberate keep the real losses when he presented the report in the Cabinet.

However, his line of questioning was sidelined by Anwar who said he merely reported on what was in the audited report.

“Cabinet was informed of BNM’s audited report,” Anwar replied.

“Although they knew, as far as the Cabinet was concerned they were never informed of the actual losses.

“I am sure you are smarter than that, Datuk Seri,” Sidek countered in answer.

“You managed the economy and what you’re talking about now is about the accounting treatment. You knew it (about the losses)! But you chose not to inform the Cabinet,” Sidek said.

Anwar replied that the Cabinet had been briefed in 1994 that the total exposure amounted to RM9.3 billion.

A statement was issued by his lawyer Gurdial Singh after the RCI session to reporters stating that Anwar was simply reporting what was in the audited report.

“He cannot deviate from that. Now the chairman (Sidek) kept insisting that (RM5.7 billion) was not the actual loss. But that is not for him to say. If that is not the actual loss, then you must take into issue the auditor-general or the governor of Bank Negara, why did you present it in this way.”

Anwar is the 18th witness to testify before the RCI and according to media reports, Anwar did not provide any written statement when giving his testimony before the panel, as he claimed he was not given sufficient time to prepare, NST reports.

Mahathir also made his second appearance at the RCI yesterday to watch Anwar testify, arriving 10 minutes after Anwar started his testimony. Anwar’s wife and PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was also present during the proceedings.

Anwar was the finance minister from 1991 to 1998 while Mahathir was still prime minister.

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Anwar: Daim and Mahathir approved BNM Forex Trading

(The Edge, 24 September 2012) – Foreign exchange trading activities undertaken by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) in the early 1990s, which resulted to the central bank losing at least RM5.7 billion of its reserves, was approved by then Minister of Finance Tun Daim Zainuddin, with the support by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

This was explained by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to clear his name after Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin recalled from a 1993 Parliament Hansard that veteran politician Lim Kit Siang had called for Anwar’s resignation as the Minister of Finance then when the fiasco was uncovered. Lim was said to have called for Anwar’s resignation as a ministerial responsibility to the fiasco.

“During the said Parliament session, I have explained to the house that the then governor of Bank Negara Tan Sri Jaafar Hussein said that he had not received the full information regarding the forex trading activities, as it was conducted by the forex trading department under the (now) Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

“As the Minister of Finance then, I had ordered for the forex trading activities to be stopped immediately. The late Tan Sri Jaafar told me that the forex trading activities was conducted by Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop with the approvals given by both the Minister of Finance before me and the Prime Minister then. Go and ask them!” he said in Parliament on Monday.

Anwar also questioned why Nor Mohamed was later appointed as a minister several years after the fiasco, despite his direct role for the loss of the RM5.7 billion, which was considered as a very huge amount then, given that BNM’s total assets was estimated to be about US$20.7 billion in 1992.

The issue was brought up by Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, as the fourth order of the house for the day, asking the Minister of Finance to state the actual loss suffered by BNM in the foreign exchange market from 1990 to 1992, who were the persons identified and why there was no stern action taken against those responsible.

Lim, the Secretary General of the Democratic Action Party and the current Chief Minister of Penang, said the reason he asked the question in Parliament was to determine whether the actual loss suffered by BNM as a result of the forex trading activities was far higher than disclosed by the central bank in its annual report tabled to the Parliament in 1993.

In his oral reply to the question, deputy Minister of Finance Senator Dr Donald Lim Siang Chai said BNM has not conducted any activities that could risk the repeat of such huge loss of national treasury anymore.

He said BNM has also introduced a benchmark of investments and the control of risks in managing the country’s international reserve.

“Treasury risk management unit has also been established to oversee Bank Negara’s investment risks. Reserves investing activities is also been monitored and audited by the National Audit Department and Internal Audit Department of the central bank itself,” he said.