MEDIA STATEMENT: DID THE PM LIE TO PARLIAMENT ON SRC?
Yesterday, the Minister of Finance gave me a written reply to a Parliamentary question on the subject matter of SRC International Sdn. Bhd. (SRC). SRC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance and has been widely covered by the local and international media as an issue related to the 1MDB financial scandal. I asked the following question: Tuan Wong Chen [Kelana Jaya] to ask the MINISTER OF FINANCE to state:-
(a) the person who approved the transfer of RM42 million from the SRC International Sdn. Bhd. to the Prime Minister’s personal account without his knowledge; and
(b) whether the money of RM42 million has been returned to the SRC International Sdn. Bhd.
The reply from the Minister of Finance (Najib) was:
“SRC has no information whatsoever about the issue and the matter is based on a report from a portal with unverified source of news. Therefore, under the Standing Order 23(1)(i), this question need not be answered as it is one regarding the accuracy from a newspaper.”
The reply from the Finance Minister is shocking to say the least as it represents a blanket denial of the existence of the alleged transfer of RM42 million to the Prime Minister’s personal bank accounts. This blanket denial is also contrary to the Attorney General, Apandi Ali’s official press statement on SRC matter where he acknowledged that the SRC transfer existed but that the Prime Minister is not to be charged. The AG also inadvertently showed a flowchart of the SRC money transfer.
In light of this bare denial, we now need to ask four other parties to elaborate on the matter. I would like to ask the Attorney General, the Auditor General, the MACC and Bank Negara a very simple and straight forward question:
“On the alleged SRC matter of RM42 million being transferred to the PM’s personal bank accounts, did it happen or not?”
If all four parties can attest that this transaction never happened then I will be satisfied with the answer given by the Minister of Finance (who is also the Prime Minister). If any of these four parties refutes the Finance Minister’s blanket denial and confirms that such a transaction did happen, then it proves that the Prime Minister has lied to Parliament.
YB Wong Chen
Member of Parliament for Kelana Jaya
9 March 2016
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