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1MDB financial scandal – the global noose is closing in while at home the Ministers are in sixes and sevens trying to defend the indefensible

Three international developments today are harbingers of the global noose of the 1MDB scandal that is closing in, viz:

• The withdrawal of the BSI Bank’s status as a merchant bank in the city state by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for “serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the bank’s operations and gross misconduct by some of the bank’s staff” and the reference of six members of the BSI Bank’s senior management and staff to the public prosecutor – after investigations into the 1MDB scandal in Singapore.

• Commencement of criminal proceedings by Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General (OAG) against BSI SA Bank for allegedly failing to prevent offences linked to 1MDB, including offences of money laundering and bribery of foreign public officials. Swiss authorities believe at least RM4 billion in Malaysian state fund had been misappropriated as part of their investigations into 1MDB scandal.

• Resignation with immediate effect of Swiss Bank BSI’s Group CEO Stefano Coduri following the announcement by the Money Authority of Singapore on the closure of its Singapore branch and criminal proceedings by the Swiss OAG in connection with their 1MDB investigations.

At home in Malaysia, however, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Ministers and minions are in sixes and sevens, indulging in sophistry, prevarication, obfuscation and downright evasion defending the indefensible instead of being true and frank about the RM50-55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion global financial scandals. Continue reading “1MDB financial scandal – the global noose is closing in while at home the Ministers are in sixes and sevens trying to defend the indefensible”

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Confidence wanes in Malaysia govt-backed 1MDB bonds

Straits Times
24th May 2016

SINGAPORE • The fortunes of bonds in Malaysia’s troubled investment fund 1MDB are diverging this month: Those guaranteed by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund have rallied, while notes with support from Malaysia’s own government have dropped.

Its 4.4 per cent 2023 notes, backed by a letter of support from Malaysia’s government, slumped 6.4 per cent in May, set for the worst slide in 16 months. The fund’s 5.99 per cent 2022 bonds, on which Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) paid interest earlier this month in its role as guarantor, gained 1.9 per cent, the most since at least September 2014.

The contrast reflects growing investor concern about the Malaysian government’s backing as it grapples with an economy forecast to expand at its slowest pace in seven years amid a collapse in oil prices. 1MDB is at the centre of multiple investigations from Switzerland to the US amid allegations of money laundering and embezzlement.

Even as the firm has consistently denied wrongdoing, it has brought negative attention to the government. Continue reading “Confidence wanes in Malaysia govt-backed 1MDB bonds”

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Resurrected And Hitting Back?

Greg Lopez
Forbes
MAY 23, 2016

Malaysia’s embattled prime minister seems to be weathering the corruption allegations – and by some signs may even be going back on the offensive.

On Jul. 2, 2015, the Wall Street Journal “alleged” that $700 million had gone into the personal bank accounts of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

On Aug. 3, 2015, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reported that the alleged $700 million deposited into Razak’s accounts came from donations, and not from the debt-laden 1MDB.

Many opined that he could not possibly survive this disclosure; with several suggesting that he was a “dead man walking”.

If Razak is likened to a pharaoh – a term given to Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamed, who is now the main protagonist in attempting to bring down Razak – one could say that the period between Jul. 2, 2015 and May 8, 2016 was a period where Razak was “mummified,” safe within the pyramid. Several defensive measures were later followed with the election triumph of the Barisan Nasional (the ruling coalition that the prime minister leads) in the Sarawak state election, suggesting that the “mummy” is now fully resurrected. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Prime Minister Resurrected And Hitting Back?”

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Time for Najib to speak up personally and state which version or versions about the source of the multi-billion ringgit deposits into his personal bank accounts was the true and correct one

Since the expose by Wall Street Journal in early July last year of the RM2.6 billion into Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking accounts, there have been numerous diverse and even conflicting versions about the source of the multi-billion ringgit deposits in Najib’s accounts, with the total figure expanding from RM2.6 billion to RM4.2 billion.

The latest and newest version about the source of the RM2.6 billion donation to Najib’s personal banking accounts came from the Director-General of Department of Special Affairs (Jasa), Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi in his speech in Canberra in his international “Veracity Tour” to “brainwash” Malay students overseas.

Puad told Malay students in Canberra that Najib had told UMNO leaders when the Wall Street Journal reported the expose in early July last year that he had “Bank Negara documents” to approve the transfer the money (RM2.6 billion) into his personal accounts and that he had discussed it with the Bank Negara governor.

According to Puad, Najib denied the money originated from 1MDB and told UMNO leaders that the money was from the Saudi King (Raja Saudi) to “combat the Islamic State, and secondly, to help in other places such as in Palestine and others”.

The other and sometimes conflicting versions of the source of the RM2.6 billion “donation” into Najib’s personal bank accounts include: Continue reading “Time for Najib to speak up personally and state which version or versions about the source of the multi-billion ringgit deposits into his personal bank accounts was the true and correct one”