Friday,
October 29, 1999
Datuk
Abdul Murad Bin Khalid (NRIC No. 531215-08-5957), a Malaysian
citizen of full age and care of No 104, Jalan Setiabakti 9, Bukit
Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, do hereby solemnly and
sincerely declare as follows:
1.
On 16th September 1999 I was charged with failing to
disclose truthfully information on Ben Harta Sdn Bhd (BHSB) shares
and 51 of its properties allegedly held for my benefit pursuant to
section 87(2)(c) Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989
(BAFIA).
2.
In order to do justice for my own sake, I must make a
public declaration on certain matters connected with the various
positions I held in Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) so as to show to
the public at large the nature and stresses/strains that were
attendant to these positions. This
public statement is also intended to provide the public with the
proper perspectives of the machinations of the former Deputy
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) who was also the
Finance Minister and hence the Minister directly in command of
BNM.
3.
As one of the top executives in BNM, I invariably came into contact
with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who took a liking for me
and subsequently entrusted me to carry out some of his
instructions, what has to come to be believed by me now to further
his political ambitions. In
futherance of his political scheme, Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim instructed me to implement certain corporate exercises in
favour of his friends and cronies. The
debts of his cronies were cleared/settled using the profits from
deals using the influence of BNM.
4.
Amongst the most significant corporate exercises is the takeover of
Sikap Power, the concession holder of the Independent Power
Project (IPP) at Lumut, Perak. The
concession was sold to MRCB on the instruction of Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim and MRCB later injected the concession into Malakof Berhad,
which is the subsidiary of MRCB. I
believe that a profit of about RM50 million from this deal went to
one of DSAI’s political funds.
5.
A male Chinese named Tong Kooi Ong is also involved significantly in
raising financial assistance for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Tong
Kooi Ong is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Phileo Allied
Berhad, which is listed on the Main Board of the KLSE. Phileo
Allied Bank is also under the control of Tong Kooi Ong. Tong
Kooi Ong came into contact with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on my
introduction and they subsequently became very close. Tong
Kooi Ong subsequently disclosed to me that in return for the favours
granted to him by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, he had established a
“Master Account” under his control, from which
financial contributions could be made for the interests of Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim. This
Master Account is to derive revenues from the holding of shares and
buildings. At
one point Tong Kooi Ong confided in me that the Master Account was
worth RM200 million based on the values of shares and
building assigned to it.
6.
I believe there are at least 20 other “Master Accounts”established
for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by his various cronies. I
believe that the total funds in these 20 Master Accounts run into
more than RM3 billion. DSAI’s
modus operandi is to divide and rule and the operator of each Master
Account is not aware of the existence of the other Master Accounts. I
believe the Government is aware of who these cronies are.
7.
As far as I know and through my own involvement, more than
RM120 million had been paid to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, his
cronies and the organisations he used to advance his own political
ambitions.
For
example, it is within my personal knowledge that on the
instructions of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim funds from the Master Account was paid to himself and the following persons and organisations known to be affiliated or connected to him between 1992 to 1997:
instructions of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim funds from the Master Account was paid to himself and the following persons and organisations known to be affiliated or connected to him between 1992 to 1997:
(1)
to himself (DSAI) – RM50 million
(2)
Dato Abdullah Ahmad (UN) – RM5 million
(3)
Dato Nasaruddin Jalil – RM10 million
(4)
Asia Pacific Policy Centre (APPC) & Douglas H. Paal –RM38
million (USD 10.0 million)
(5)
Institut Kajian Dasar (IKD) – RM5 million
(6)
Aliran & Dr Chandra Muzaffar – RM5 million
(7)
ABIM – RM5 million
(8)
International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) – RM2 million
(9)
A UK-based Islamic Foundation – RM1 million
Total
– RM121 Million
8.
I am also informed that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim instructed Tong Kooi
Ong to take into his employ Puan Shamsidar and one Encik
Rahman, which he did. Puan Shamsidar is the wife of Encik Azman
Ali, the Private Secretary to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. It
is widely known that Puan Shamsidar is generously remunerated and is
provided with a car and driver and most of the time she did not
needto go to work.
9.
I must make a special mention of the American based
organisation called Asia Pacific Policy Centre (APPC) headed by
Douglas H. Paal, the former Senior Director from Asian Affairs
(1989 to 1993) of the National Security Council (NSC) of the
United States of America. Douglas
H. Paal left the National Security Council to start APPC in 1993
funded mainly by contributions from Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. I
was responsible for arranging USD 10 million in contributions to APPC
and Douglas H. Paal on Datuk Seri Anwar’s instructions. I believe that other cronies of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also
made substantial contributions to APPC and Douglas H. Paal.
Although I cannot ascertain the exact quantum of their
contributions I am convinced they ran into millions of US Dollars.
APPC and Douglas H. Paal are one of the main vehicles used by
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to promote his image in the Western
countries, mainly in Washington, USA and the United Kingdom and
other European nations. APPC also lobbied strongly for Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim with the international media organisations.
10.
APPC organised “The Pacific Dialogue” conferences under
the patronage of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The First Pacific
Dialogue was held in Penang sometime in November 1994. The Second
Pacific Dialogue was held in January 1996, the Third Pacific
Dialogue in November 1996 and the Fourth Pacific Dialogue in
January 1998. There was supposed to be a Fifth Pacific Dialogue to
be held in December 1998 but it was cancelled because the Patron
was no longer the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of
Malaysia. All the Pacific Dialogue conferences were held in
Malaysia because Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the major source of
funding for APPC.
11.
In what I believe as tantamount to a betrayal of public trust, Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim also insisted that APPC should manage
BNM’s reserves of RM50 billion and the EPF fund in return for
the services provided to him by APPC. Alternatively a hefty fee of
USD 3 million was to be paid annually to APPC for the cost of
running the Centre in Washington. Fortunately this instruction of
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for APPC to manage the above funds was
never put into effect. What I have stated above goes to prove
without doubt that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was indeed an unscrupulous leader who was prepared to sacrifice the country’s
coffers for the benefit of its political ambition withthe help of
foreign elements. The current developments that are taking place
in the country which threatened the public peace and well being of
the Rakyat to further Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s political
ambition are ample proof to support this assertion.
12.
I was also directed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, then
already appointed as the Finance Minister, to assist the following
persons to clear their debts as described below:
a)
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim instructed me to settle the debt of Tan Sri
Abdullah Ahmad (now the permanent representative to the
United Nations) with Bank Bumiputra of more than RM10 million. I
helped to negotiate the settlement amount of RM7 million. An
amount of RM5 million was taken from Master Account to help pay
the debt. The balance of RM2 million came from Tan Sri Abdullah
Ahmad from the sale of his land.
b)
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim instructed me to help settle Puan
Marina Yusof’s debt with local banks amounting to more than RM20
million. I presented her application to the Tabung Pemulihan
Usahawan (TPU) forassistance to develop her land along Jalan Tun
Razak, on which is now the completed Complex Marinara. The TPU
panel approved her application. Puan Marina Yusof is extremely
grateful to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
c)
Penang based Mercury Securities owed MUI Bank more than RM10 million
secured by a third party land charge. The majority shareholder is
Chew Seng Guan and one Encik Ahmad Kamal whom Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim groomed to be an up-and-coming Bumiputra businessman
and politician. I subsequently helped to arrange for the sale of
the land to Matang Emas Sdn Bhd, a company owned by Taib Hamid,
the sale of which incidently also sorted out some of Taib’s
personal problems. The same piece of land was later sold to TPPT
Sdn Bhd by Encik Taib for a low cost housing project which is now
known as Taman Tun Perak.
d)
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim instructed me to help Dato’
Nazri Abdullah’s Group to take over NST Group from Renong. I
sought the assistance of Hong Leong Group to structure the deal. I
spoke to Seow Lun Hoo and Quek Leng Chan of Hong Leong. They
proposed that Dato’ Nazri’s Group use MRCB as vehicle to take
over the shares of NST. I then spoke to Maybank to arrange a loan
for Dato’ Nazri to buy into MRCB and another loan for MRCB to
buy into NST.
e)
I was directed by Datuk Seri Anwar to help Encik Faiz Abdullah (Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s ghost writer), together with Seow Lun Hoo of
Hong Leong to buy into Kewangan Usaha Bersatu Berhad (KUBB),
then owned by Idris Hydraulic Berhad. The scheme involved using
Arus Murni Berhad formerly known as Timuran Berhad, a company
listed on the Main Board of KLSE as the holding company. I
approached the following banks to help syndicate the loan for the
purchase of KUBB shares costing above RM400 million. 1. Hong Leong
Bank 2. Hong Leong Finance 3. Sime Bank 4. RHB Bank 5. Southern
Bank 6. BSN Commercial Bank. Faiz Abdullah is a very clever ghost
writer and a political operator for Datul Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He
is also a lawyer, ex-journalist and ex-Special Branch police
officer.
13.
My involvement with Tong Kooi Ong and “Master Account”
in furtherance of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s instructions landed
me in trouble with the law. On 16th September 1999, I was charged
with failing to disclose truthfully information on Ben Harta Sdn
Bhd shares and 51 of its properties allegedly held for my benefit
totalling RM23.9 million.
14.
I must state that I never knew the two gentlemen purportedly to be
the shareholders of Ben Harta Sdn Bhd i.e. Gan Hong Sin Lan Hong Sing
and Gan Sor Ting. Tong Kooi Ong did indicate to me that this company
holds property and shares as part of the scheme to raise funds for
Datuk Seri Anwar. I have never been shown or seen the books of
the Master Account handled by Tong Kooi Ong. I am not aware of any
shares held by Ben Harta on my behalf, nor the locations of the 51
properties allegedly also held on my behalf, except one (1)
apartment and one (1) bungalow which I was entrusted to maintain
for purpose of investment and to be later sold for the Master
Account.
15.
I strongly believe that wrong information has been given to
the authorities implicating me with Ben Harta Sdn Bhd. I point my
finger at Tong Kooi Ong and the two shareholders of Ben Harta.
They have implicated me to save their own skin.
16.
Apart from the properties held under Ben Harta Sdn Bhd, I also know
that a few properties have been bought for investment under
the Master Account and for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s future
personal use. These properties located around Kuala Lumpur are
valued at about RM15 million.
17.
As regards the damaging policies adopted by BNM following
the economic recession in July 1997, I must categorically state
that I was opposed strongly to these policies. I opposed the
“Legal Lending Limit”, the reduction of NPLs (non-performing
loans) from 6 months to 3 months, the “Credit Crunch”
introduced in October 1997 and the Higher Rate of Interest. These
were all policies endorsed and adopted by Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim. A few concerned BNM officers/executives and I tried to
halt these policies from being implemented. Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim even censured me for speaking out against these policies.
He accused me of being “too close to the market”. I now
realise that these harsh measures were Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s
political plan to crush the economy and bring Malaysia to its
knees in order to invite in the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
to enable Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to force Dr Mahathir to resign
and take over the Prime Minister’s position.
18.
Following my arrest and my subsequent resignation as
Executive Director of RHB Bank Berhad I have thought over my
involvement with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and have come to realise
that what I have done, though as I said earlier was forced upon me
as one of the Executives in BNM, is indeed very regrettable. I now
realise that I have been exploited and made use of by Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim to hold assets for his political and personal use
and benefit. These assets including those held under Ben Harta, do
not belong to me. As such, it is up to the Government to take the
necessary legal action in respect of their disposal, including
forfeiture if permissible.
19.
I now call upon all peace loving and loyal citizens of Malaysia to
reject all the political manoeuvres by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
and his supporters and instead support all the economic and fiscal
efforts to bring back the economic well being of the country. I am
ever ready and willing to go public to denounce the improprieties
and machinations of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in furtherance of his
political ambitions that are indeed detrimental to national peace,
security and political stability.
20.
In conclusion I state in unequivocal terms that this
Press Conference/Release made by way of Statutory Declaration was
made by me voluntarily, without any inducement, threat or promise
or coercion from any quarter, nor in return for any favours or
special treatment in connection with the charge that I am now
facing AND I make this solemn declaration conscientiously,
believing the same to be true and by virtue of the Statutory
Declaration Act, 1960.
Signed
by the abovenamed
Dato’ Abdul Murad bin Khalid
Dato’ Abdul Murad bin Khalid
©
Copyright 1999, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad. All
Rights Reserved
AIDC
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