Anwar files to debate Leissner’s 1MDB revelations in Dewan

Politics
28 Feb 2022 • 1:14 PM MYT
The Vibes
The Vibes

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Anwar files to debate Leissner’s 1MDB revelations in Dewan

KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has filed a motion to the Dewan Rakyat to debate the explosive revelations made by former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner pertaining to the convoluted 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal. 

The motion was filed today under Standing Order 18(1) of the Dewan Rakyat, which stipulates that a private member may seek to discuss a defined matter of urgent public importance in the Lower House. 

Anwar, who is the opposition leader, said the matter in question requires detailed attention and debate as it involves the public interest.

The motion requested that the Dewan Rakyat allow the discussion of the revelations by Leissner in the United States court on the culture of corruption, power abuse, and misappropriation of institutions concerning 1MDB. 

“It must be expedited as the exposé was made at the international level and requires immediate explanation from the government,” he said in a statement today. 

“This is after the failure of the country’s enforcement agencies, especially the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, to detect, probe, and charge Malaysians involved in any of the dubious financial transactions. 

“I hope this motion will be given due consideration by the Dewan Rakyat speaker (Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun).”

Leissner has made several explosive claims during the ongoing 1MDB trial in the US, among other things that billions were transferred out of Malaysia overnight without any rigorous process by Bank Negara. 

He had claimed that the husband of then Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz had received a bribe to allow for this.

The disgraced former banker also testified that his ex-lover and former Astro chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan had blackmailed him into buying her a US$10 million (RM42 million) home, after she threatened to expose his involvement with 1MDB.

Leissner, the star witness in the trial, also told of bribes of at least US$100 million to top officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in order to grease the wheels in the financial scandal.

The Dewan Rakyat will sit for 16 days from today until March 24 in the current session. – The Vibes, February 28, 2022