Press Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader and DAP Secretary General, Lim Kit Siang, on Thursday, 21.7.1983
DAP calls for Commission of Inquiry into billion dollar BMF loans in Hong Kong, the inproprieties and malpractices involved and the murder of Bank Bumiputra Audit Division Head, Jalil Ibrahim.
The cold- blooded murder in Hong Kong of Encik Jalil Ibrahim, the head of Bank Bumiputra’s internal audit division, sent to the British colony in connection with Bumiputra Malaysia Finance loans problem is most shocking and has given the whole BMF loan scandal a completely new dimension.
For the last six months, government minister and Bank Bumiputra officials have been trying to sweep the BMF scandal under the carpet either by denying or downplaying the allegations of inproprities and even corrupt practices involved in this massive loan transactions. All that top government officials would admit was that these loans were made “beyong normal banking prudence”.
The murder of Encik Jalil shows that the BMF loan transactions is likely to be a matter of misjudgemenmt but involved malpractices and inproprieties which had to be hushed- up by so heinous an action as cold- blooded murder. There can be only three interested parties in the BMF loans scandals in Hong Koong.
Firstly, the borrowers, secondly, the BMF and Bank Bumiputra officials, and thirdly, the intermediaries who had been responsible for establishing contacts between the borrowers and officials. I can see no reason why the borrowers want to aliminate Encik Jalil for it they have become insolvent, they can just declare their inability to pay. Only the other two parties i.e. the BMF and Bank Bumiputra officials and intermediaries would have reasons to want to eliminate Encik Jalil if they had committed improprieties and corruption in the loan transactions, especially if, Encik Jalil was uncovering such malpractices.
For sometime there has not only been open reports about inproprities committed by BMF and Bank Bumiputra officials in the loan transactions which had remained unrebutted but there has also been rumours that influential Malaysian leaders had been involved in the recommendation and approval of the loans.
With the murder of Encik Jalil, I call on the Malaysian government to stop its virtual hands off policy on the BMF affairs and to have a Commission of Inquiry into the billion dollar BMF loans and the inproprieties and malpractices in Hong Kong and cold- blooded murder of Encik Jalil.
I would also call on the Minister of Finance when answering my question on the BMF loans in Parliament on Monday to stop taking an evasive attitude but to give a full accounting of what government knows about the BMF scandal. This is necessary to ensure that no other people would meet the fate of Encik Jalil Ibrahim because of the criminal attempt by certain people to cover- up their inproprieties and malpractices in the loan transactions.