Najib: PAC report on missing GST funds clears BN of ‘robbery’ claim
KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigation report on missing Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds vindicated his Barisan Nasional administration of claim it “robbed” the country.
He said the PAC report included testimony from government officers, including those from the Finance Ministry from when the GST collections were entered into the Consolidated Account before being allocated for refunds.
“I feel I was vindicated by the PAC report as it was proven that no robbery or misappropriation had taken place from the GST collection.
“There is a process the funds that came in we had used for management expenses such as administration costs and development purposes. This was the most suitable method,” Najib told the media in Parliament lobby here today, adding that this was also practised in other countries such as Singapore.
Following his explanation on the transfer of the GST funds, Najib said it was impossible that there would be any “robbery” or misappropriation of the said funds.
The Pekan MP then accused Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng of making false allegations in the Dewan Rakyat.
“This is a serious allegation. Which is why as a party, the Opposition leader had lodged a report against him for the committee to look into the matter,” he said, in reference to Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri who reported Lim to Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee.
In a report on the probe into Lim’s “robbery” claims yesterday, the PAC said it found no such losses of RM19 billion meant for GST refunds.
However, the committee found that the past BN government did not abide by the legal provisions to allocate the refund payments into the appropriate account.
The PAC investigated the matter over 11 months beginning from August 2018.
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