SHAH ALAM, 2 June: Former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has joined the chorus in questioning Bank Rakyat’s policy to allow carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan to repay a RM32 million loan without interest, suggesting that it was an irregular banking practice.
The Gua Musang MP said even Bumiputera businessmen did not enjoy such a preferential deal when taking loans from government banks despite Putrajaya’s pro-Bumiputera business policies.
“Taking the financial facility that is being debated in this particular case, I don’t think it is on,” said the veteran Umno leader, who held the finance minister’s portfolio from 1976 to 1984, quoted from the Malaysian Insider.
The Kelantan prince popularly known as Ku Li also queried which government policy the bank followed when the customer was given the deal.
“Under what particular government policy did the bank go with when it extended this very good facility based on the request of the customer?
“Is it a Bumiputera policy? He is not Bumiputera,” he said, referring to reports on Bank Rakyat agreeing to allow controversial businessman Deepak to settle his outstanding RM32 million loan without any interest.
Former Bank Rakyat chairman Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik had revealed to The Malaysian Insider last week that Deepak had allegedly used political connections to settle the loan with the intervention of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek.
The government-owned bank is not under supervision of the central bank, Bank Negara, and is not subject to federal banking laws.
Sabbaruddin had said the bank’s board of directors had initially rejected the compromise offered by Deepak to settle his outstanding debt.
Deepak had allegedly offered 120 post-dated cheques to be cashed in by the bank over a 10-year period.
Sabbaruddin said after the decision was made by the bank, Hasan was unhappy and refused to sign a letter extending his tenure as chairman of the bank, which ended on April 8.
He also alleged that the minister had met with Deepak without Bank Rakyat’s knowledge in January.
Following the allegations, Bank Rakyat said in a statement that the element of interest did not arise in the Islamic financing mechanism.
The bank, however, did not refute Sabbaruddin’s allegations.
Subsequently, Hasan told The Malaysian Insider that “everything was done above board”.
He also challenged anyone to prove that he had committed a wrongdoing by persuading Bank Rakyat to give Deepak the “sweetheart deal”.
Deepak has yet to respond to Sabbaruddin’s claims.
