 KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27: The National Cooperative Organisation of Malaysia (ANGKASA) is in crisis, said a cooperative consultant in a statement.Thuraisingham Shun, of the Cooperative Union of Malaysia, said the ousting of long serving president Royal Professor Ungku Aziz had left the organisation in disarray, pointing out to a 10-point bullet legal statement requesting eight officials to vacate their positions for criminal breach of trust, mismanagement and misappropriation, abuse of power, and misleading statements to the media.
Zooming in on Angkasa’s recent proposal to form Bank Koperasi Islam, Thuraisingham claimed the motion was brought up “in an ad-hoc manner” which was deemed illegal in an extraordinary general meeting “Nevertheless a proposal for the formation of Bank Koperasi Islam was tabled, and passed by the members present. ANGKASA has spent unauthorised funds in millions to make true with their intention to form the cooperative bank. "The Malaysian Cooperative Societies Commission too danced to their tune and approved the formation of the proposed cooperative bank,” he charged. 'Not a bank' He added ANGKASA had lied to the media after Bank Negara moved in to issue a statement that the body had breached Section 15 of the Bank and Financial Institution Act, for using the term “bank” when its real intention was to initiate a cooperative body named Masraf Angkasa. Referring to a recent news report that ANGKASA would form a Shariah financial consultative cooperative, Thuraisinghan said the organisation had ran foul of the banking act as well as Syariah rules by not obtaining the relevant authorities approval. “Twisted facts and approved notions are confusing the cooperative fraternity. Even the Ministry officials seem to be involved in this sandiwara with confusing statements," he said, chiding Bank Negara for its inaction. "Bank Negara seems to be in armchair management mode to take appropriate action to nip this problem in the bud. Police reports and reports to Bank Negara seem to be futile,” he lamented. Thuraisingham further claimed that ANGKASA had also floated Amanah Saham Angkasa for a sum of RM300 million with mobilised funds from FELDA settlers and students, accumulating losses in millions, and a loss of RM6.5 million over a land deal in Kelana Jaya with Malaysian Association of Productivity. He listed several other cooperatives linked to ANGKASA which are currently in trouble, namely the Koperasi Bir, where he claimed that a leading stalwart of ANGKASA had been suspended. According to Thuraisingham, Konsortium Koperasi was in a downturn and Bank Rakyat, had went into the doldrums of Tinju Dunia, not holding its AGM for 15 years. “Angkasa officials from the so called apex cooperative organisation should be charged for 'economic sabotage' for spreading lies and misstatements in cohorts with the Malaysian Cooperatives Societies Commission officials. "As has been evidenced and reiterated repeatedly, the cooperative movement is in a dire peril, and needs to be resuscitated,” he added. | 
