KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — A PAS leader has questioned if banking details of key PKR leaders’ foes would be safe under the new administration, following PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli’s disclosure of the alleged owner of the bank account which transferred RM1.4 million to whistleblower site Sarawak Report (SR).
Marang PAS committee member Zakaria Ismail claimed that those who are political rivals of PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Rafizi may see their banking privacy breached.
“In the era of Malaysia Baharu, if you are the political foe of DS Anwar and Rafizi, or you are friends to their political enemies, your banking transaction information can be ‘raided’ at any time, overriding the powers of Bank Negara and the country’s law enforcement agencies,” he claimed in a statement carried on PAS mouthpiece Harakah Daily.
Zakaria noted that Rafizi’s actions may have been intended to expose the truth, but said it was in a manner that was not allowed by law and causes “panic” and anxiety.
“This current development is very unhealthy and scary for every bank account holder in our country,” he added.
On March 1, Rafizi claimed to have identified the owner of a Bank Islam account which was purportedly used to transfer RM1.4 million in legal fees to SR, also disclosing the full account number and the name of the account’s owner.
Zakaria today pointed out that any bank officers and financial institutions’ staff would know that bank account details of any individual is private information that cannot be simply disclosed to the public.
“An individual’s account can only be ‘raided’ by those in charge of controlling financial institutions such as Bank Negara or agencies under the Ministry of Finance, if there are suspicious banking transactions.
“Or by enforcement agencies such as the police and the MACC when it involves financial crimes and bribery, that is based on the power granted by the Act or after obtaining the court’s permission,” he added.
Zakaria highlighted however Anwar’s claim to know of banking transactions involving PAS and Umno, as well as Rafizi’s claim to know of the RM1.4 million payer.
Zakaria said that PAS has denied knowing about the RM1.4 million transaction and denied making any payments to SR, while the individual named by Rafizi has kept silent on the claim.
Zakaria said it has not been verified if the RM1.4 million transaction alleged by Rafizi happened via the individual’s account, and said there is no order yet by the authorities for the individual to explain the matter.
Zakaria went on to ask if Rafizi’s disclosure was due to the leak of banking details or if it was based on Rafizi’s own claims.
“If it is the first category, then Bank Negara must investigate how such an information leak happened. Identify where it started and prosecute those responsible,” he said.
If it was the second category, Zakaria said Bank Negara and the enforcement agencies should warn those who frequently claim to have knowledge of the banking transaction details of political foes to stop spreading lies and hurt the reputation of those being “attacked”.
On March 1, SR editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown claimed that PAS president and Marang MP Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had to cover SR’s RM1.4 million in legal fees, in order to withdraw his defamation lawsuit against the portal.
Hadi had sued Rewcastle-Brown in 2017 over a report the preceding year alleging PAS leaders took RM90 million to support Umno and Barisan Nasional ahead of the 14th general election.
He inexplicably withdrew the lawsuit filed in London, UK, this year, prompting views that he was no longer disputing the accuracy of the report that remains on the SR website.
