Published: 10 July 2015 10:28 PM
Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor says the account mentioned in Sarawak Report is hers. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, July 10, 2015.
A law firm acting on behalf of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has admitted that the account referred to in the Sarawak Report belonged to her and that it was open in 1984 while she was working at a development firm.
Messrs Noorhajran Mohd Noor, in a statement tonight, said that the inferences made against Rosmah was malicious, baseless and unsubstantiated.
Calling it a breach of the bank's function, the law firm hoped that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) would immediately or within 72 hours conduct a probe into the matter and issue findings into the "offensive unauthorised disclosure" by the bank.
The statement comes after the government task force, in charge of investigating allegations against Datuk Seri Najib Razak, issued a statement that it has begun probing the account of the prime minister’s wife before whistle-blower site Sarawak Report alleged that RM2 million was deposited into her account.
“The bank account referred to the above report is a personal account of my client. It was opened in 1984 while my client was in employment with Island & Peninsular Sdn Bhd for convenience,” said the law firm.
“It is my client’s view that failure by BNM to immediately conduct the said probe will erode the trust of investors and consumers of financial institutions.
“The privacy and secrecy restrictions must be strictly adhered to retain the integrity, security, respect and confidence of the Malaysian banking and financial systems and processes,” the statement added.
The law firm also said that in view of the serious inference against Rosmah, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been urged to take a look at the matter and determine whether it had breached the law and take action under the MCMC Act 1988.
The law firm also denied that funds were deposited into Rosmah’s bank account as reported by Sarawak Report was from 1MDB.
"My client has not committed any criminal offence or any misappropriation of funds and strongly denies any links to the funds being from 1MDB.
"The report is deemed to be indecent, menacing, false, and is intended to annoy or harass my client," said the law firm.
It added that the editor-in-chief of Sarawak Report, Clare Rewcastle Brown, should justify the report.
“By issuing improper and incorrect reporting against my client and in the spirit of responsible journalism must stand and justify by the story it reports.
“My client appeals for responsible reporting of any facts, to have ethical and moral obligation of fairness and accuracy." – July 10, 2015
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