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Umno minister slams Zeti for giving impression 1MDB broke laws

Umno minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan today took to his Twitter account to slam Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz for misleading the public about 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) breaching the Exchange Control Act. In a series of tweets, Rahman also thanked Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali for clarifying the matter in a press conference earlier. "Thank you to the AG for clarifying that 1MDB indeed followed procedures and did not break any laws as claimed by the Governor of BNM," the urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister said. "So it seems 1MDB did comply with BNM's requirements. Why did the BNM Governor give us the impression that 1MDB broke BNM rules & regulations?" At the centre of a political crisis over its debt of nearly RM42 billion and alleged financial graft, 1MDB is the subject of several probes by different authorities, including Bank Negara. At a press conference today, Apandi said 1MDB had rightfully furnished the information required for the purpose of the remittance, referring to three permissions obtained by 1MDB from Bank Negara to make remittances on September 29, 2009, September 6, 2010 and May 20, 2011. "BNM is a respected institution. Reckless accusation is not helping its integrity, which by the way, the governor told us must be protected," said Rahman. "Many question BNM's timing on 1MDB lately. This much belated accusation is 1 of them. They asked, is BNM under pressure to act? I hope not!" Last Thursday, Apandi announced the AGC's decision not to take further action against 1MDB with regards to making inaccurate disclosures to obtain permissions. He said the decision was made despite the central bank's appeal for a review, because there had been no additional evidence. Bank Negara the following day revealed that it had revoked three permissions granted to 1MDB between 2009 and 2011 because of inaccurate disclosures. Apandi's announcement last week drew criticism, with chief 1MDB critic Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad even accusing the A-G of now behaving like a judge. – October 13, 2015.