Rafizi to hit the road to expose Bafia abuse

PKR director of strategy Mohd Rafizi Ramli, who is facing criminal charges under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (Bafia), will embark on a roadshow to highlight how the law has been applied inconsistently.

Rafizi (right) said that while preparing his case, had can come across other possible violations of Bafia which were not subject to any form of prosecution.
“Thus there are two cases that are running parallel - one in court and another, we will be exposing to the public. We will show how Bafia is not being used in the people’s interest.

“We believe that many people feel victimised by the banks who are violating this law,” he told reporters at the Shah Alam court complex, today.

On Aug 1, Rafizi and former Public Bank clerk Johari Mohamad were jointly charged under Section 97 of the law for disclosing National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) financial documents to the press.

The duo can be jailed up to three years or fined up to RM3 million upon conviction.

Rafizi said being charged under this law was somewhat of a blessing in disguise because others who are aggrieved by the law have begun to contact him.

He said his new contacts want to expose the wrongful use of personal information by banking institutions which have been ignored by the authorities.

“Our campaign will be interesting because although Bafia was applied in the NFC case, many other cases are not receiving the same attention,” he said.

Four weeks after the trial commenced, Rafizi fought back by establishing the National Oversight and Whistleblowers (NOW) centre to lobby for law reforms to protect whistleblowers.