Former Malaysia Airlines chairperson Tajudin Ramli found his way into Parliament today under mysterious circumstances - via flyers believed to be secretly circulated.

The flyers, in three different sets of documents totalling 10 pages, detailed Tajudin's 'predicament' over the bailout and buyback scandal surrounding the national carrier.

But Tajudin need not be unnecessarily alarmed over the flyers. The contents were sympathetic towards him.

The flyers, written in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, portrayed the business tycoon as a victim in the MAS saga.

They were titled 'The Tajudin Ramli's bombshell: Who is the real culprit?', 'The skeletons in Bank Negara's closet', 'Tajudin Ramli's counterclaim against Danaharta, why did he do it?' respectively.

But who was behind the circulation of the flyers in the august House? That will remain a mystery as even Parliament Speaker Ramli Ngah Talib was in the dark.

Only some MPs got it

When asked about the flyers, he said he has not given any approval for its circulation in the House.

Prior consent from the speaker or the secretary is needed for any distribution of documents in the Dewan.

"I don't know anything," said Ramli, refusing to comment on the motive behind the circulation.

But not all MPs received the flyers. A random check by reporters revealed that only several backbenchers received it while the others, including ministers and opposition members, did not get it.

Two backbenchers SK Devamany (BN-Cameron Highlands) and his colleague seated next to him, Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Itam), confirmed they received the flyers. They found them on their table when the sitting resumed this morning.

However, both of them were clueless as to how the flyers were distributed in the House undetected by Parliament officers.

On the content of the flyers, Wee said: "I've read it, it was interesting but it is up to everyone to draw their own conclusions."

The documents, among others, attacked an unnamed minister who was responsible for the estimated RM30 billion losses by Bank Negara for over-hedging "our country's funds in the foreign exchange market".

It is believed that the minister referred to is Finance Minister II Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who was in Bank Negara when the forex losses were incurred.

The MAS saga

Tajudin made a startling revelation in his countersuit filed on June 29 against national management assets company Danaharta, the government and several other companies and individuals for a total sum of about RM13 billion.

Prior to that, Tajudin had been sued by Danaharta for RM589 million.

The businessman has claimed his acquisition of a 32 percent stake in MAS in 1994 - through Naluri Bhd - was done on the instruction of then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and then finance minister Daim Zainuddin as a 'national service'.

He purchased the controlling stake of 29 percent in MAS from Bank Negara (which owned MAS shares then and suffered from the forex losses), paying RM8 per share above the market price of around RM3.

However in the midst of the Asian financial crisis in 1998, the loans Tajudin took became non-performing and were taken over by Danaharta. These included securities like Naluri and Technology Resources Industries Bhd that Tajudin had pledged to the banks.

The government bought back the loss-making airline in 2000 in what was widely seen as a bailout for Tajudin, RM8 per share, again more than twice its market value at the time.

In May this year, Danaharta sued Tajudin to recover another RM589 million which led Tajudin to file his countersuit.