Khairy wants open probe over Guan Eng's claim that RM18bil of GST refunds 'robbed'

Lim (left) with Khairy.

PETALING JAYA: Khairy Jamaluddin wants an open investigation over Lim Guan Eng’s claims that RM18bil of GST tax refunds had been "robbed" and for any guilty parties to be brought to "justice".

To "nudge" this probe along, he said he will lodge reports with the police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC).

“This is so that an open investigation can take place to ascertain the veracity of @guanenglim’s expose,” the former Youth and Sports Minister said in a series of tweets on Thursday (Aug 9).

The Rembau MP said that he will lodge the report on Thursday and Friday (Aug 9 and 10) against former top officials from the Ministry of Finance at the time the allegations took place.

Lim who is Finance Minister had on Wednesday (Aug 8) claimed that the previous government has not been able to refund companies their tax credits from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) because 93% of the money was not placed in the trust account.

He claimed some RM18bil of the RM19.4bil input tax credit (refunds) under the GST system since 2015 had been "robbed" by the previous Barisan Nasional administration.

Khairy said, “I do not think an internal inquiry by @MOFmalaysia is sufficient when a serious allegation of misappropriation or “rompakan” (robbery) has been made.

"Since @guanenglim is not keen on anything beyond an internal inquiry for now, I would like to nudge this along in the public’s interest.

“If true, bring those responsible to justice. As a former minister, such a misappropriation, if true, must be investigated thoroughly & openly,” he added.

Khairy said he had asked several questions on the delay in the RM19bil of refunds: how many were because of non-compliance with GST regulations, how many the subject of ongoing customs audits and how many were unpaid because of misappropriation.

“After waffling for a bit about the missing amounts being 'certified', the Finance Minister finally admitted he did not have a detailed breakdown of why input tax claims were not paid,” said Khairy.

He added that the allegation of misappropriation was serious and should not just be made by way of a speech in Parliament but must be subject to a full and transparent investigation that can bring the perpetrators to justice.

“Today, I would like to once again call for this matter to be investigated and substantiated beyond the Minister’s speech in parliament which was devoid of a detailed breakdown of the unpaid claims."