Malaysia Chronicle

 

Malaysia Chronicle

BUT WILL NAJIB DO ANYTHING? Account for the humongous illicit outflows - Guan Eng tells PM

 

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak must fully account to 28 million Malaysians for the shocking RM 200 billion in dirty money siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010 and the scandal of RM 871 billon lost over the last 10 years or else admit the failure of his ETP. Najib’s stubborn silence and failure to act over this RM 871 billion scandal demonstrates not only his failure to uphold pubic accountability but that the BN government condones the practice of outflow of illict or dirty money.

Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI), in its latest report which tracks capital flight, says the level of illicit flows from Malaysia in 2010 was the highest in 10 years. RM 197 billion of dirty money was siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010 compared to RM 93 billion in 2009, an increase of 112 %. Malaysia has the shameful record of being the No.2 country in the world after China, of illicit outflow of dirty money.

Figures are 'conservative' estimates

The GFI report, ‘Illicit Financial Flows From Developing Countries: 2001-2010', is co-authored by GFI economists Sarah Freitas and Dev Kar, who is a former senior economist at the International Monetary Fund. GFI has warned that capital flight in Malaysia is "at a scale seen in few Asian countries".

GFI described its estimates of global dirty money as "extremely conservative". Whilst Malaysia was ranked No. 2 globally in 2010, Malaysia is ranked No. 3 globally over 10 years from 2001-2010. The total 10-year estimate for Malaysia is US$285 billion (RM871.4 billion), while China is US$2,740 billion, and Mexico, US$476 billion.

GFI said that trade mispricing - the practice of shifting profits overseas by over- or under-invoicing intra-company transactions - accounts for an average of 80.1 percent of illicit financial flows from developing countries. The rest of the dirty money involves proceeds of corruption, bribery, theft, and kickbacks.

Where are the RESULTS of BNM probe

Despite Najib’s promises last year that a probe would be conducted by Bank Negara, Bank Negara has yet to announce the result of its investigations or explain the massive illicit capital flight, despite offers of help from top GFI economists. Is this another case of BN’s “Janji Tak Ditepati” of unfulfilled promnises?

The GFI report merely confirms the findings by the 2012 Transparency International report that Malaysia topped the Bribe Payer’s Survey in terms of lost business due to bribery. In this area, Malaysia ranked worst out of the 31 countries, worse than even Indonesia (47%), Pakistan (42%) and Russia (39%).Najib should come clean about this RM 871 billion scandal and wash away the shame it has brought to Malaysia by inviting top GFI economists who drafted the report to get to the root of this scandal.

Lim Guan Eng is the Penang Chief Minister & the DAP sec-gen