PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) said the declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report linking him to the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal was an attempt at demonising him.
The former prime minister said there were other reports “beyond CIA” that said he had no involvement in the scandal.
He did not say which reports these were.
“Even when I do no wrong, they demonise me and accuse me of doing things I didn’t do,” he told a press conference at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here, Wednesday.
Dr Mahathir also questioned the timing of the release of the CIA report, claiming it was politically-motivated.
“These things happened way back, between 1981 and 1984, why are they bringing it up now?
“Can you correct what I’ve done before? The purpose is political. Maybe some people might benefit from it,” he said.
Last week, the CIA released a declassified report on Bank Bumiputra Bhd and its subsidiary BMF in the 1980s, saying the scandal had damaged the reputation of the Government under Dr Mahathir’s tenure.
The documents claimed that although “no direct links have been established between Mahathir and the corruption at BMF”, the “hint of association” had damaged his administration.
The CIA claimed that the most damaging aspect of the scandal was the “alleged connection of (now defunct Carrian group and former chief executive officer) George Tan to Umno officials”.
The report said many businessmen and bankers had believed that the Government had used "the accused BMF officials as scapegoats to avoid implicating senior government officials”.
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