KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia has been ranked third in illicit outflow practices, following Russia in first place and China in second.
Revealing this in the Dewan Rakyat today, Sim Tze Tzin (Bayan Baru-PH) added that Malaysia experienced significant outflow of money to other countries in 2015, citing a survey by the Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a think tank based in Washington DC.
“In Russia, massive amounts of money flow out due to the prevalence of crime and organised crime syndicates. In China, the outflow is attributed to the size of the country.
“Malaysia ranks third! Despite being a small country compared to Russia and China, it still experiences billions of ringgit flowing out,” he said.
He said that approximately RM138.6 billion had been involved in illicit outflows over several years, indicating that “something is amiss.”
Sim said this during the second reading of the amendment to Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters 2002 (Act 621) by the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), M. Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat-PH).
The first reading of the amendment was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat by Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Pengerang-BN) on November 27, last year.
Sim said that Malaysia’s once-most-wanted individual, Tedy Teow, was sought for fraud and dubious investment schemes. Additionally, other local individuals are also implicated in “ponzi” scams, as listed in the Panama Papers.
He said that these cases had involved enormous amounts of ringgit being taken out of the country; therefore, there is a need for amending Act 621 to prevent such monetary crimes.
“As Jelutong MP (R.S.N. Rayer) said, the Panama Papers has over 2,000 (Malaysians) individuals from ‘high standard groups’. “These are high-network individuals who transact money from Malaysia,” he said.
Sim also stressed the importance of taking serious cases involving illicit outflows seriously amidst the recent financial crisis and devaluation of the ringgit.
“We must combat crime. In Malaysia, instances of snatch theft have diminished; instead, we are witnessing a rise in white-collar crime,” he said. – March 21, 2024