PETALING JAYA: Former Bank Negara Malaysia assistant governor Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop appears to be protecting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his testimony in the on going Royal Commission of Inquiry on the foregn exchange losses in the 1990s, claims Tunku Abdul Aziz.
The former Bank Negara adviser said he finds it hard to believe Nor Mohamed, who told the inquiry, did not get a direct order from Mahathir who was then the prime minister.
"He must have been given the fullest possible authority to 'intervene' in the market without restraint,” Abdul Aziz said.
"That authority to break all known rules had to come from the governor as it is inconceivable that Mahathir as Prime Minister then would have given Nor Mohamed a direct order.
"Even so, his instructions had to come from the governor. (But) the governor would not have dared to act unilaterally without the tacit approval of the Prime Minister," he said in a press conference here.
Abdul Aziz said the trading losses happened due to the lack of responsibility and attitude that did not respect the trust given.
"This I'm referring to the fact that there was an abuse of trust. The attitude of not respecting trust had encouraged this scandal,” Abdul Aziz said.
In his testimony Nor Mohamed had confirmed that forex losses happened under his watch and that the central bank paid a steep price for trading in foreign currencies in the early 1990s.
He admitted BNM had “misread the market” and took “full accountability” for the losses.
“The forex losses happened. There is no denying it. There is also no denying of my accountability for the forex losses. I accepted my fair share of accountability for the forex losses and resigned from BNM,” he had said.