KUALA LUMPUR, July 3- A claim made by a member of Parliament in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stashed away RM332 million in 20 banks in four countries, including Israel, drew an angry response from opposition members.
Quoting anti-secrecy organisation WikiLeaks, Liang Teck Meng (BN-Simpang Renggam) said the Permatang Pauh member of Parliament was said to have a treasure-trove of US$66 million (RM209 million) and SGD$49 million (RM123 million) in 20 banks in the United States, China and Singapore besides Israel.
“This information went viral on the internet. And when I read this, I wonder where this money comes from,” he said when debating the motion of thanks on the royal address.
Liang said that all accounts had detailed particulars of the holder’s name, position and passport number as well as the date the account was opened and the maturity date.
He said hence, the government should investigate the matter as one of the account was opened in Israel where Malaysia had no diplomatic relations.
Tian Chua (PKR-Batu), who was the first to come to Anwar’s defence, asked Liang to provide proofs to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to enable investigations to be carried.
“We’ve been pursuing our struggle for 15 years and we didn’t even get a single sen. If our leader is so rich, we also want to know about it,” he added.
Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun (DAP-Jelutong) said if Liang failed to provide proofs, he should be taken to task by the Rights and Privilege Committee.
Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) interjected and challenged the opposition to sue WikiLeaks for posting the information.
Liang ended the debate by criticising Anwar for opening a bank account in Israel as this showed that he had reneged on his stand against the Israeli invasion of Gaza.
“When the prime minister tabled a special motion condemning the Israeli invasion of Gaza last year, Permatang Pauh together with PAS and the DAP condemned the incursion. But behind our back, he has an account in the country concerned,” said Liang.
The sitting continues tomorrow.
– BERNAMA
