Dr M: No political donations banked into my account

Dr Mahathir

PETALING JAYA: No donations during his 22 years as the prime minister was channeled to his personal account, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir said accusations that he put public funds in his private bank account for use in the general elections were baseless and malicious.

He explained that during his time as the Umno president, he was among the three trustees in charge of a separate bank account for donations, especially for election purposes.

“Two of the three trustees had the power to manage this account and had to sign a cheque every time money was cashed out.

"They were also named as the owners of all shares and properties of Umno," he wrote in Chedet.cc.

“So when I resigned, I had ordered for money up to RM200mil and all the properties worth RM1.2bil to be handed over to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,” he said adding that no money meant for elections were transferred into his personal account.

Dr Mahathir said he was willing to have his bank details from his 22 years as prime minister inspected by those who have no personal interest against him.

Speaking of an incident in 1970 when he was expelled from Umno, Dr Mahathir said the Inland Revenue Board raided his home and clinic and made him pay a RM130,000 fine for not declaring a cheque worth RM20,000.

“During the 1964 and 1969 elections, I received RM20,000 from the head office to be given to my parliamentary and state constituency. It was a large amount so I banked it into my account and wrote a cheque to the election committee of the Parliament and State Assembly.

"The money was not a donation but Umno’s money which was given to be used by the candidate for the election,” he said.

He said that despite almost always winning parliament by a majority in the past, hardly any amount of money was used for it.

“If now Umno needs RM2.6bil for elections, it is actually against the laws of elections as there is a cap on how much can be spent,” he said adding that the each candidate needed to report their expenses for the election.

On 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Dr Mahathir said he will wait for the report by Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee.

"I may not accept all that they will say and for now, I am not going to talk about the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (IMDB), though it is my right,” he said.