KUALA LUMPUR (May 6): Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad shot back at recent criticism levelled at him about the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance Ltd (BMF) scandal that occurred during his tenure as the nation's leader, saying he did not steal any money when he was Prime Minister.

"I did not steal money," he told reporters after delivering a talk on Islam at the Perdana Foundation here today.

"At that time, all kinds of banks lost money. It cannot be that I am to blame when other people lose money," he added.

In his column with an English daily on May 4, former DAP national vice chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim had taken Mahathir to task over the scandal involving Hong Kong-based BMF and its parent Bank Bumiputera Malaysia Bhd which had accumulated assets worth more than US$15 billion (RM54 billion) by 1988.

Abdul Aziz had alleged that the flagship of the New Economic Policy had moved aggressively into overseas ventures and lent "recklessly" to politically well-connected companies and individuals, many of whom did not have the capacity or intention to repay the loans, losing billions in the process.

The bank had shifted large sums of money to BMF, which lent in total US$1 billion to a Hong Kong $2 company Plessey Investment Ltd and Carrian Investment Ltd, which folded within months of BMF capital being channelled to it, Abdul Aziz said.

He had also said an inquiry, headed by then auditor general Datuk Ahmad Nordin, recommended that criminal proceedings be taken against those responsible for the scandal but no such action was taken.

Abdul Aziz also said Mahathir's indifference at the time suggested high-level complicity.