KL money changers aiding capital flight

Apabila mendengar pemimpin-pemimpin negara terlibat dalam pemindahan wang dengan jumlah yang banyak, timbul rasa kegerunan saya. Bimbang yang amat sangat tentang keselamatan khazanah negara yang kini dipegang oleh mereka. Selamatkah wang rakyat ini?

Apabila diteliti operasi pemindahan haram wang melalui syarikat 'money changer' ianya mungkin akan akhirnya menyerlahkan bahawa negara terdedah kepada kerugian berbilion ringgit melalui kegiatan tidak sah ini. Pengelibatan MB N9 dalam pemindahan wang secara tidak sah dengan jumlah yang sangat meragukan (RM10 juta) ini mencetuskan lagi ketidakpercayaan rakyat kepada pemimpin negara terutamanya UM NO dan BN. Bukan setakat ragu atas urusniaga tersebut tetapi juga dari mana wang itu diperolehi.

Adakah sebenarnya mereka-mereka ini telah lama berjalan dan mereka telah melarikan jumlah yang sangat banyak 'wang negara' keluar negara bagi menyembunyikan kekayaan mereka dari pengetahuan rakyat. Mereka bimbang sekiranya wang disimpan di dalam negara maka kekayaan mereka lambat laun akan diketahui. Tetapi di luar negara siapa nak tahu. Bank luar pun tiada kepentingan untuk mendedahkannya.

Saya masih lagi menunggu apakan tindakkan Bank Negara selepas ini.... Disinilah perlunya pertukaran tampuk pemerintahan negara. Bukan setakat tukar orang tetapi tukar parti yang memerintah. Mungkin selepas itu baru kita tahu bahawa wang negara dah terlalu lama dan banyak mengalir ke negara orang. Diharapkan masa itu masih lagi tidak terlambat untuk memperbetulkan keadaan.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — A nationwide crackdown on money changers has lifted the veil on the huge amounts of capital fleeing the domestic economy, which bankers estimate could be in excess of several billion US dollars each year.

Since early this year, the central bank, Bank Negara, has closed down 49 money-changing firms after raids by its enforcement division revealed that many operators were illegally remitting funds to countries such as Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The crackdown has attracted fresh public scrutiny in recent weeks following claims by the country's opposition that several high-profile Malaysians, including the Mentri Besar of Negri Sembilan, Datuk Mohamad Hasan, had engaged the services of money changers to transfer vast amounts of money overseas.

Mohamad, a senior politician from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's ruling

Umno party, is alleged to have transferred RM10 million to London in the middle of last year, according to government officials familiar with the central bank crackdown.

Mohamad has yet to comment on the allegations, but sources close to the politician told The Straits Times that the money represented his personal funds and was meant for the purchase of a piece of property in London.

Foreign exchange rules stipulate that the transfer of funds overseas can be carried out only by licensed financial institutions, such as banks.

But money changers in Malaysia, which like in many Asian cities are run by people from the Indian sub-continent, have long been a popular conduit because they offer foreign exchange rates that are far more competitive as well as low fees to carry out the fund transfers.

There is also another compelling reason.

“Money changers are used mainly because the money is illicit funds from corruption and activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution,” said Datuk Paul Low, president of Transparency International's Malaysian chapter.

The sums involved are huge. Bankers and government officials said that a single money changer can boast a turnover of roughly RM300 million each month, or about RM3.6 billion annually.

A Bank Negara official said that the crackdown was part of an “ongoing surveillance” of the activities of the country's 875 licensed money changers.

She declined to comment on whether action would be taken against those engaging the services of money changers.

Economists said the central bank's move to shutter the businesses of 49 licensed money changers underscores a deeper malaise afflicting the economy: the flight of capital.

Money leaving the country comes from several sources.

Apart from Malaysians building a retirement nest egg or squirrelling money away to pay for their children's education, bankers and money changers said a bulk of the money leaving the country comprises funds from the country's so-called black economy, which thrives on kickbacks from large public sector contracts and illegal businesses such as drug trafficking and prostitution.

Last month, Transparency International said that Malaysia fell to No. 56, from No. 47 last year, in a league table of 180 countries surveyed around the world, and that graft had hit “alarming” levels.

Bankers also said the growing number of capital flight cases is a reflection of the unease over Malaysia's political and economic future, stemming from rising crime rates and the country's increasingly chaotic politics.

“At one time, the main people taking out money were the Chinese. But these days, a large number of them are the rich Malays,” said one money changer in Kuala Lumpur, who asked not to be named. — The Straits Times