AmBank Group has spoken up about the Citizens for Accountable Governance Malaysia (CAGM) hoax where the fictitious NGO fabricated a redacted statutory declaration (SD).

The SD, from an alleged former Ambank banker, claimed that the bank had sacked him for trying to report to Bank Negara about transactions featuring large sums, that involved an account purportedly owned by the prime minister.

Ambank revealed that they are currently investigating CAGM and its purported chairperson, Md Zainal Abidin, a person who CAGM claimed never existed, to ascertain the real culprits behind the hoax.

"Once their identities and motives are ascertained, we will take such action as is available to us under the law," the statement read.

Ambank said the report contained "malicious and defamatory statements" against it, regardless of the motives behind the elaborate hoax.

"This was compounded by the re-publication of these statements in other media publications thereby gaining unwarranted attention and traction.

"It is of little comfort to us that the so-called CAGM now admits that this hoax was directed at the media and presumably not at us," they said in a statement today.

Yesterday, CAGM revealed on their blog that they were just an " experiment in social media in Malaysia" and that the SD they published on their blog was fictitious.

"We would like to reassure our valued customers that the AmBank Group operates with high levels of integrity and that our business is operating as usual,' AmBank Group chairperson Azman Hashim ( photo ) added.

The statement stressed that AmBank is bound by the Financial Services Act and Islamic Financial Services Act, which is strict in their protection of client confidentiality.

They also pointed out that they have cooperated fully with the authorities in an open and transparent manner and will continue to do so.

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