Citizens’ Demands on 1MDB and Najib’s US$1 billion “donation”

The 1MDB Colloquium held in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar on 11th and 12th June 2016 respectively, which was graced by many distinguished speakers have raised many pertinent issues with regards to the Government’s complete lack of accountability with 1MDB.

The recent global developments over 1MDB made it even more imperative for Dato’ Seri Najib Razak to explain what he has refused to explain for more than a year.

We, the undersigned, are citizens of Malaysia demanding clear and direct answers by the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet on the following pressing questions on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and Najib’s US$1 billion deposits into his personal bank account:

1. Who will pay if 1MDB loses the arbitration case with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC)?

On 14 June 2016, IPIC has filed its US$6.5 billion worth of claims against 1MDB in London’s Arbitration Court. IPIC is seeking US$3.5 billion bond plus interest that amounts to US$4.8 billion, the US$1.2 billion loan plus interest, and about US$481 million owed to its subsidiary, Aabar Investment PJS.

The above claims followed the discovery that 1MDB has made as much as US$3.5 billion of payments to a fraudulent British Virgin Island incorporated entity, Aabar Investment PJS Limited, which IPIC has denied ownership.

2. Why hasn’t the Ministry of Finance confirmed Bank Negara’s findings presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which disclosed Good Star Limited, that the recipient of US$1.03 billion of 1MDB funds was owned by Jho Low?

In Bank Negara’s letter addressed to the PAC on 6 April 2016, which was hidden by the PAC Chairman Datuk Hassan Arifin from the PAC members, it explained that two foreign regulators have confirmed the Good Star Limited was owned by Jho Low since its incorporation in 2009. This letter has since been exposed by the Wall Street Journal.

3. Where has 1MDB’s US$940 million of so-called “unit” parked with BSI Bank Singapore disappeared to, now that the Bank has been shut down by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for the failure to comply with money laundering laws and regulations?

The Prime Minister has claimed that these “units” were “redeemed” from 1MDB’s Cayman Islands investment in January 2015. The Cayman Islands investment was made with the purported proceeds from 1MDB’s earlier investments with Petrosaudi International Limited. The disappearance of these US$940 million would confirm a bigger fraud involving the top 1MDB officials in complicity with Petrosaudi.

4. Why have the Ministry of Finance and the new Board of Directors chaired by Treasurer-General Tan Sri Irwan Serigar allowed 1MDB’s CEO, Arul Kanda Kandasamy to participate in Barisan Nasional’s Sg Besar by-election campaign?

Malaysians are shocked that Arul Kanda is allowed to campaign for Barisan Nasional when he has the grave responsibility to ensure that all the Malaysian tax-payers’ money are properly accounted for in 1MDB in the light of the discovery of fraud and the collapse of its much-hyped rationalization exercise.

5. Why has Dato’ Seri Najib Razak granted unfairly generous tax concessions to the master developer of Bandar Malaysia, IWH CREC Sdn Bhd and its wholly-owned subsidiaries?

The Prime Minister said the incentives would include a 10-year income tax exemption and eight years of exemption from stamp duty, as well as real property gains tax and withholding tax. Why has these private local and China companies received such unfair tax privileges which will deny Malaysia possibly billions of ringgit of tax income over the next 10 years? Is it because IWH CREC is now unable to raise the necessary financing to acquire the 60% of Bandar Malaysia for the agreed RM7.41 billion?

6. Why has Dato’ Seri Najib Razak not explained how he had spent the alleged Arab donation of US$681 million into his personal bank accounts as well as the nature of an additional US$300 million or more which was also deposited into the same accounts?

The Wall Street Journal and Australian Broadcasting Corporation have exposed the additional sums deposited into Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s accounts. These exposes would bring the total deposited into the Prime Minister’s account to a total of more than US$1 billion (RM4.2 billion). The Prime Minister cannot remain silent and must explain the origins of these additional sums. Are these “donations” too?

At the same time, we demand that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak

7. Instructs the Auditor-General and directs the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to reopen the investigations into 1MDB.

This is in the light of the disastrous failure of 1MDB’s rationalization exercise and the fact that 1MDB had made as much as US$3.5 bilion of payments between 2011 and 2015 to a fraudulent entity, Aabar Investment PJS Limited incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.

Given that 1MDB has failed to present all documents, including crucial bank statements relating to its foreign subsidiaries and transactions in the first report by the Auditor-General, the Prime Minister must give full powers to the Auditor-General to procure these documents from foreign authorities. This will allow the Auditor-General to trace the ownership of entities incorporated in tax-havens as well as obtaining bank statements from foreign banks.

8. Instructs the Auditor-General and directs the PAC to commence the audit and investigations into SRC International Sdn Bhd.

SRC International has been found to have made payments amount to at least RM69 million via intermediaries into Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account(s).

The Prime Minister has failed to explain how the RM69 million the Ministry of Finance subsidiary has found its way into his personal account. However, the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Apandi Ali has declared that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is innocent because he was unaware of the origins of the fund. If that is the case, why hasn’t the monies been returned to SRC International? At the same time, the management of SRC International has not been brought to task for transferring the sums into the Prime Minister’s account.

This Citizens’ Demand, which comes under the Citizens’ Declaration petition, is signed by the following Malaysian citizens:

(The document was signed by YAB Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, YAB Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah, DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang, President of Parti Amanah Negara Mohamad Sabu, PKR Vice-President Shamsul Iskandar, GKCM president Kamarul Azman Habibur Rahman and Pakatan Harapan candidate from Amanah for P093 Sungai Besar, Azhar Shukur.)