PUTRAJAYA, Aug 29 ― The chairman of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) currency trading losses, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, was urged to retract a statement he made regarding the amount allegedly lost during the scandal from the 90s.
During today's proceedings, lawyer for former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, asked Sidek to retract previous remarks that suggested it was conclusive that BNM lost approximately RM31 billion from the currency speculation.
Haniff said that making such conclusions before the end of the RCI was premature, and that all findings must be first presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“We hope that a decision can be made today, and If not we will raise it again in the near future,” Haniff told reporters here today.
Sidek had, at the end of the first day of RCI hearing, concluded that the forex losses stood at RM 31 billion based on witness testimony.
Haniff immediately took issue with the statement during the hearing, but the conclusion was not repeated during the second day of the RCI hearing.
However, Haniff said that Umno information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa recently referred to Sidek’s statement as a RCI finding, hence there was a need for the latter to retract the statement.
