G25 wants Bank Negara to file civil case against 1MDB

PETALING JAYA: G25, a group of eminent Malays, wants Bank Negara to take civil action against 1Malaysia Development Bhd without the involvement of the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

It said the central bank was well within its powers to act against 1MDB independently of the AGC under Section 239 of the Financial Services Act.

“Since the central bank’s action to date is within its powers to take up the civil suit, Bank Negara can, therefore, proceed to act independently without consultation or any manner of involvement of the Attorney-General,” it said in a statement yesterday.

G25 said although a decision on a criminal action could only be made by the AGC, the action it was suggesting was that Bank Negara proceed with civil action for non-compliance with the central bank’s directives and “ask the court for any of the orders under the Act”.

Should 1MDB fail to comply with the court order, Bank Negara would be able to institute contempt proceedings against it, G25 said.

“Legal experts have verified that this need for civil action is appropriate and arises only because the Attorney-General has decided there are no grounds to prosecute and denied Bank Negara’s request that the case be reviewed and re-examined,” G25 added.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali had said that the AGC would not be taking further action against 1MDB, as there was no additional evidence, despite the central bank’s appeal for review.

Following this, Bank Negara revoked three permissions granted to 1MDB under the Exchange Control Act and ordered the state fund to repatriate US$1.83bil.

G25 said just because the money to be repatriated by 1MDB had been spent, it did not mean that the plans for repatriation could not be submitted to the central bank.

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