PETALING JAYA: Following a Facebook post claiming banking documents released by the Wall Street Journal relating to the 1MDB money trail were fake, CIMB Islamic Bank CEO Badlisyah Abdul Ghani will now be facing an internal inquiry, said Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.
In an Instagram post late Wednesday, the CIMB group chairman apologised and said that Baldlisyah should not have commented on the documents as it was a technical matter.
Nazir posted a photograph of CIMB group CEO Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and CIMB Islamic chairman Datuk Syed Muhamad Syed Abdul Kadir showing Badlisyah's comments to former CIMB chairman Tan Sri Mohd Nor Yusof.
"Zafrul & Syed showing a surprised Md Nor the Facebook post by Badli (CEO CIMB Islamic) on WSJ article. Posts have been removed as it is a technical matter on which he should not be commenting. Our apologies, we will conduct an internal inquiry," Nazir said.
Badlisyah (pic), who is also Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia president, had claimed in his original posting that banking documents released by the WSJ allegedly showing transactions of US$700mil (RM2.6bil) of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds into personal accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak were false.
He claimed, among other things, that the Swift code in the document did not match that of the originating New York-based Wells Fargo Bank.
However, later the same evening, Badlisyah released a press statement admitting he was wrong in his analysis of the documents and that the opinions expressed on his Facebook page were strictly his personal opinion.
"I would also like to acknowledge that I had made an error in my post with regard to my analysis of the various Swift codes.
"The mistakes were correctly pointed out by a report in Malaysiakini on the matter, and I have also made the correction on my Facebook page," said Badlisyah in the statement.
Nazir, who is the brother of the Prime Minister, has been critical of 1MDB in the past, and has made numerous calls for transparency into the matter.
CIMB banker admits error in analysis of WSJ’s documents
Published: 8 July 2015 7:44 PM
CIMB Islamic Bank chief executive officer Badlisyah Abdul Ghani (pic) has admitted he made an error in his analysis disputing the Wall Street Journal's (WSJ) documents, which detail the alleged trail of funds that ended in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's bank accounts.
He said he has since corrected the analysis, which he published on his Facebook and was circulated on pro-Umno blogs.
"I would like to make clear that all the views published on my Facebook account are strictly my PERSONAL views and not the views of any other individual or organisation. They were meant for private consumption among a group of friends.
"I would also like to acknowledge that I had made an error in my post with regards to my analysis of the various SWIFT codes.
"The mistakes were correctly pointed out by a report in Malaysiakini on the matter, and I have also made the correction on my Facebook page," wrote Badlisyah in a statement.
Malaysiakini reported today that Badlisyah accused WSJ of using false documents in its report alleging that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) worth of 1MDB-linked funds were pumped into the prime minister's personal accounts.
Badlisyah said there was a discrepancy in the 'Swift' code mentioned in the documents WSJ uploaded online yesterday.
He said the documents released by WSJ stated that the Swift Code for Wells Fargo Bank was "PNBUS3NANYC", but it should actually be"PNBPUS3NNYC".
"The Swift Code PNBPUS3NANYC belongs to Alfa-Bank Moscow. This is not just a tell tale sign the document is an absolute hoax but a very firm confirmation that the document is a hoax or a fraud.
"How could WSJ miss this factual error?" he said in the Facebook post.
But Malaysiakini wrote that it examined Badlisyah's claim and found that the Swift Code for Alfa-Bank Moscow was ALFARUMM.
"Badlisyah correctly pointed out that the particular Wells Fargo bank branch should have a Swift Code of 'PNBPUS3NNYC' instead of 'PNBUS3NANYC' as listed on the documents released by WSJ," wrote Malaysiakini.
"A check showed that the 'PNBUS3NANYC' Swift Code belonged to its predecessor, Wachovia Bank, which was subsequently taken over by Wells Fargo Bank in 2008.
"It is unclear why the transaction used a Swift Code belonging to the predecessor of Wells Fargo Bank or how long the transition to a new Swift Code would take."
Badlisyah also said the document erroneously listed the bank's address as "375 Park Avenue, NY 4080, New York, NY".
The "real address" of the particular Wells Fargo bank branch is "375 Park Avenue, 10th floor, New York, NY 10152", he said.
However, Malaysiakini said here was no discrepancy in the address, as both "4080" and "10152" are part of the Bank's address, which is: "375 Park Avenue NY 4080. New York, NY 10152".
It also reported Badlisyah said the diagram showing the money trail was "unreliable evidence", and the documents did not show that the receiving bank accounts actually belonged to Najib.
WSJ posted the documents detailing the money trail online yesterday, and said it was sourced from a "Malaysian government investigation”.
The documents include a remittance application form, a cash deposit authorisation letter and charts outlining the flow of money.
In those forms, details of payment were listed as fund transfers for “CSR programmes”.
Some numbers, however, have been blanked out in the documents.
WSJ alleged in its report on Thursday that the funds were transferred to Najib's personal bank accounts, just before the 13th general election.
A task force set up to investigate the claims revealed it has frozen six bank accounts in its probe so far and also seized documents linked to 17 bank accounts at two banks for further investigation. – July 8, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/cimb-banker-admits-error-in-analysis-of-wsjs-documents#sthash.NOBEcst0.dpuf
