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Umno cuts its nose to spite own face in forex probe
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YOURSAY | ‘This is an unmatched world-class charade just because of the actions of one nonagenarian.’

Cabinet green lights task force on Bank Negara's forex losses

Telestai!: I was one of those working close to the "crime scene" of the BMF (Bumiputra Malaysia Finance) scandal.

I can confidently say that there was no abuse of power by the government of the day in respect of the BMF fiasco. It was a fraud (or a series of frauds) perpetrated by a customer of BMF with the collusion of Bank Bumiputra employees.

As for the Bank Negara forex (foreign exchange) fiasco, it was purely a judgement call made by the central bank when it decided to take on international forex players.

The government's only fault in both cases was not exposing those at fault, punishing the wrong guys and covering up the mess.

Then Bank Negara governor Jaafar Hussein, whom I had a healthy dose of respect, paid the ultimate price. Besides, the central figure in the forex fiasco was brought back into the BN government during Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s tenure.

So, I don't know what the present government is trying to achieve by digging up the past.

FellowMalaysian: We have never witnessed the cabinet worked harder and with such alacrity as the past week in their effort to set up the task force to probe Bank Negara’s forex losses of 1991-1993.

Barely a week has passed since Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin announced the likelihood of the cabinet reopening the investigation into the alleged RM44 billion losses and it has since approved the probe.

The big question is what had prompted these Umno ministers, who has never been known to show any interest when past calls were made to probe into the many wrongdoings of the government, to 'god-speed' investigations into this issue which was buried for over 25 years before they decide to unearth the files again?

The sudden decision reeks a conspiracy that smells right till high heaven and the most wonderful part is that the theatrics are done under the orders of the highest offices.

I salute Bolehland for staging an unmatched world-class charade just because of the actions of one nonagenarian.

Anonymous 122461436161429: What a waste of taxpayers’ monies. Why investigate this old issue? Of course, we know it is because Dr M is gaining support and PM Najib Razak doesn't like it.

However, why no task force on the billions in Najib’s personal account? What has our country come to?

RM2.6 Billion Turkey Haram: By setting up a task force to investigate the forex loss more than 30 years ago merely show how silly and ridiculous our leaders can be.

In fact, they do not have a purpose in the investigation, other than to distract public's attention from Najib's infamous donations, allegedly taken from 1MDB.

The public are not stupid like the ministers. They will not let the 1MDB scandal rest as long as Najib keeps running away from the issue.

Anonymous 2436471476414726: Is this a joke or what? If it is then it is a very sick joke. The task force investigating 1MDB was disbanded for no proper reason.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) enquiry into the scandal was, as we all know, terminated when the chairperson and some others were "promoted " as cabinet members.

The previous attorney-general (AG) was medically retired all of a sudden when in the midst of allegedly preparing the charge sheet against MO1 (Malaysian Official 1).

The 1MDB thief and their co-conspirators are enjoying their loot and here we are instituting a task force on something that occurred some 30 years ago.

The present cabinet members must have totally lost their moral compass to agree to such a thing. The country is truly heading towards tyranny and autocracy.

Basically: Keeping quiet about a crime is also a crime. Will the task force also investigate top BN ministers for keeping quiet over the past decades?

Either they are complicit, negligent, or are totally incompetent. Whatever it is, they should answer.

Anonymous#007: About time. Let's not forget it was DAP national chairperson at the time, Lim Kit Siang, who had been pushing for an investigation since 1994, when the losses happened.

You can read it here. But it has been largely and effectively ignored by Umno/BN.

DAP also pushed for investigations into the BFM scandal in the 1980s. It involved a grand sum of RM2.5 billion, which is equivalent to about RM15 billion to RM20 billion in today's ringgit.

Had DAP been given the power to run the country, all these would have been wrapped up by now, and the people involved behind bars. Indeed, 1MDB would not happen.

Malaysia needs DAP to help Malaysians get back the over RM100 billion of public funds which have been lost under Umno/BN. That is why Umno/PAS is hell-bent on getting rid of DAP through every dirty means possible.

Mahsuri: Great move. It will cast public doubt on the only statutory body in the country which foreign investors see as having a shred of credibility. Let’s see the ringgit nosedive to new lows.

Ipohcrite: The government has once again proven that it has everything to hide by trying to divert attention away from the elephant in the room.

But, as has been proven time and again, its shenanigans will soon come to naught as every man in the street and his cat will start asking - when will the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) for 1MDB be constituted?

Rick Teo: Forex losses are just bad business decision. The money did not end up in Mahathir's bank account. But the 1MDB scandal is different, the money allegedly went straight into Najib's account.

Anticonmen: Kleptocrats exposing kleptocrats is good for us.


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