by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, 15th July 1994:
Police and Attorney-General should explain why they had failed to take any action although Bank Negara had lodged its first police report about the Mercantile Insurance Sdn. Bhd. scandal more than five years ago
The Police and Attorney-General should explain why they had failed to take any action although Bank Negara had lodged its first police report about the Mercantile Insurance Sdn. Bhd. scandal more than five years ago
The Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamed responded to my query during the debate on the Insurance Amendment Bill in Parliament yesterday and said that Bank Negara had made its first place report against Mercantile Insurance Sdn. Bhd. on 14th February 1989.
This is more than five years ago, and if the Police and the Attorney-General had taken action as far back as 1989 to check the financial rot in Mercantile Insurance Sdn. Bhd. – which was the ‘king’ of motor insurance industry at the time – may be the liquidation of Mercantile Insurance Sdn. Bhd. today could have been averted!
Bank Negara also owes the public, and in particular the 263,000 Mercantile policyholders and 43,000 claimants, an explanation why it had only lodged one police report against the Mercantile Insurance Sdn. Bhd.
What happened to the 1991 Bank Negara investigations against four Mercantile executives for misappropriation of funds, criminal breach of trust and gross mismanagement, resulting in solvency deficiency reaching RM600 million?
Or is this another ‘heinous crime without criminals’, another financial scandal without crooks?