YOURSAY | ‘Can Treasury sec-gen explain why full GST refund was not given to Customs?’

Najib: Did Harapan gov't spend RM18b, yet accuse BN of 'robbery'?

Gerard Lourdesamy: Who is telling the truth, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak or Customs director-general T Subromaniam?

The Pakatan Harapan government was only formed on May 10, 2018 but the cabinet itself came into existence on May 21, 2018.

The Customs DG referred to a time frame of April 1, 2015 to May 31, 2018. So if Najib is to be believed, the RM18 billion was spent by the new government over a 10-day period?

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund had to be transferred out of the consolidated fund account into the trust fund account. Was this done when Najib was the finance minister?

Based on the DG's statement, it would seem that the shortfall arose because the monies were spent in the consolidated fund account and not transferred to the trust fund account. Therefore, the monies are missing.

Whether it was robbery or misappropriation would depend on the intent of the former finance minister and his Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah, who failed to transfer the funds on a monthly basis to the trust fund account from the consolidated fund account as required by Customs.

Given the antecedents of Najib and Irwan Serigar, both are devoid of credibility, let alone integrity. So my bet is on the DG telling the truth.

There is no iota of evidence based on the Finance Ministry and Customs internal audit and the factual matrix of the case to accuse Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng of misleading the House.

In fact, Parliament is the appropriate place to discuss and debate this issue.

Anonymous_db56f03b: Najib is not entirely forthcoming. The Customs DG has reported that only RM63.5 billion of RM82.9 billion which the Customs requested was paid out between 2015 and May 2018. Why were the funds withheld?

Perhaps the Treasury secretary-general should answer that. The money should have been refunded immediately. Why weren’t the funds refunded immediately?

Anonymous_1371465729: These refunds are amounts long overdue, way before GE14. How could Harapan have spent the money? Further, the Customs Department corroborated Lim's account.

When it comes to a choice between who to believe - Lim or Najib - it is a no-brainer. Lim wins hands down.

Anonymous_db56f03b: I know of many friends and acquaintances whose businesses have not received their refund for many months.

Many of these refunds date back three years. Customs was not very cooperative either, each call to them for help was given the run-around.

So you are talking nonsense again, Najib. The money should have been returned long ago.

Anonymous_1529132749: It could well be a trap Lim waded into. BN left the GST refund money in the consolidated account instead of trust account.

The Harapan government, unaware, could have been rightfully spent the money in the consolidated account since taking power. This could be troublesome for Harapan.

Detailed transactions involving GST refund money should be looked into to check if there are mistakes or derelictions of duty on the part of the BN government.

Anonymous 1689721435778173: Funds to be refunded should never have been treated as revenue. Indeed, banks do not treat term deposits from their customers as revenue.

Melvin: If Najib had instituted policies allowing for financial transparency, he would be able to question those numbers. But he didn't. This is the problem of legislating to win elections.

Anonymous 2327531438397239: The question to ask is: Why would Lim bring up the missing RM18 billion GST refunds if Harapan has spent it all? Wouldn’t that be the silliest and stupidest thing to do?

The matter was put forth as Lim and his team can’t find the lost RM18 billion (total was RM19.4 billion) in the refund account.

And regarding the tainted one’s incredulous explanation, I strongly recommend that everyone read National Geographic’s June 2017 issue entitled “Why we lie” to have an insight into the minds of liars, cheats, tricksters, et cetera.

Customs Dept: Only RM63.5b of RM82.9b in GST refunds paid

Rick Teo: The Customs DG says the shortfall of RM19.4 billion was not transferred to the trust account from a consolidated account.

But Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar says the money is not missing. So who is telling a lie?

Anonymous_64999b01: It sounds simple enough - is the money still in the government's consolidated funds account? If it is gone, when did the withdrawal happen?

If Najib claims that the money was used by Lim during his tenure as finance minister, the dates will reveal the truth. Otherwise, we know then which government has siphoned off the funds.

Anonymousytmq123: Under Article 106 and 107 of the Federal Constitution, the auditor-general audits the consolidated funds, and present a copy to the Agong, who shall cause it to be laid before Parliament. Why didn't that report in the last few years pick this up?

This is so serious that Agong's advisers ought to advise him on the next course of action, including to advise His Majesty to direct the attorney-general to immediately commence a probe.

Fair Play: Regardless of the provision of the GST Act 2014, if the RM19.4 billion is neither found in the consolidated account nor in the trust account, the former finance minister and the former Treasury secretary-general might have committed a criminal breach of trust.

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