By Ishmael Lim
I nearly choked on my nasi lemak bungkus when I saw the message on my phone: “Transaction on your debit card ending XXXX for MYR200.00 at SHELL-TIRAM. Please call XXXXbank if you have any query.”
My appetite disappeared. My mind raced and my heart pounded. What in blue blazes was this? Was the station trying to pull a fast one on me? Fifteen minutes earlier, I had filled up my tank with RM75 of RON95.
I quickly phoned the bank. The voice on the other side was trying hard to console me as I said, “This has never happened before. I never pump more than 100 ringgit unless I’m going outstation. My tank won’t take 200 ringgit.”
“When was the transaction done, Sir?” the voice asked.
“Less than half an hour ago,” I said.
The voice explained, “Sir, if the station hasn’t submitted the claim yet, the bank will automatically reserve 200 ringgit on your balance to settle transactions at the pump terminal. Another SMS will be sent later when the station makes the claim.”
“You mean you’re holding my 200 ringgit only until the station makes its claim for 75?” I asked.
“Yes, Sir. That’s right.”
I could feel my pulse returning to normal. “Okay, thanks.”
More than a week ago, Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and its subsidiary Aabar PJS announced to the London Stock Exchange that they had no connections whatsoever to Aabar PJS Ltd (BVI). And according to the Swiss Attorney-General, the British Virgin Islands company recently wound up, but not before receiving billions in cash intended for Aabar PJS (Abu Dhabi) from 1MDB.
Where were the background checks on the payee? What were the directors and high powered advisors doing if not to guard and take care against this kind of con job? It makes a mockery of the term “due diligence”.
The response from 1MDB to this news has been totally inconsistent with that of an aggrieved party. It is a wonder why no one at 1MDB is expressing any urgent interest in recovering the billions that have gone to the wrong payee. The normal reaction of someone who finds that he has been cheated is to chase down the tricksters or to report the crime so that the crooks can be caught. Where is any of that?
The professionalism of the custodian of the nation’s coffers – our Ministry of Finance – leaves much to be desired. Shouldn’t it be concerned that the money has been diverted to scam artists? Shouldn’t our officials be on the next plane to Abu Dhabi to question the suspects who are currently detained by the Abu Dhabi authorities? They showed such purposefulness with Xavier Justo in Bangkok. Will we see the same purposefulness with public funds at stake?
Before concluding the call, the voice for XXXbank queried, “Is there anything else I can help with, Sir?”
I said, “You shouldn’t say it’s a 200 ringgit transaction. It wasn’t. Maybe you should reword the SMS lah so people won’t get a heart attack.”
“We will advise management of this, Sir,” said the voice. “Thank you for your feedback.”
What a relief, I told myself. I nearly started a commotion at the petrol station over a perceived wrong charge.
Ishmael Lim is an FMT columnist.
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