Author: Kit

by Alex Ritman
The Hollywood Reporter
9/12/2016

Save Rivers, which is active in Malaysia, and Ambiga Sreenevasan, recipient of the U.S. International Women of Courage Award, are the latest to speak out about money linked to a corruption scandal.

Leonardo DiCaprio dropped by the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday to present the world premiere of his latest environmental doc Before the Flood, directed by Fisher Stevens, to a packed audience at the Princess of Wales theater.

The film, which follows the Oscar-winning U.N. Messenger for Peace around the world as he sees the devastating effects of climate change firsthand, was warmly received, The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore describing it as “well-intentioned,” noting the special access available to its star, who speaks to John Kerry, Barack Obama and Pope Francis.

But the very same day Before the Flood bowed at TIFF, another charity added its voice to a growing list of organizations and activists criticizing DiCaprio’s association with individuals connected to a major corruption scandal and called on him to return millions of dollars in donations made to his environmental charity. Continue reading “Human Rights Activist, Charity Demand Leonardo DiCaprio Return “Ill-Gotten” Donations”

Wartawan Sinar Harian
11 September 2016

PENGUNDURAN bekas Menteri Kewangan II, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah daripada Kabinet dan Umno menimbulkan tanda tanya banyak pihak.

Sebelum ini, Ahmad Husni pernah berkata hanya mahu tumpu tugasnya sebagai ahli parlimen tanpa mengulas lanjut tentang tindakan diambilnya. Sinar Harian berpeluang bertemu Ahli Parlimen Tambun itu mengenai perkembangan terbarunya dan sudi menceritakan detik-detik yang membawa beliau mengambil keputusan berundur.

Bila Datuk Seri lepaskan semua jawatan kerajaan dan parti, kecuali sebagai wakil rakyat, masih ramai yang tidak puas hati dengan kenyataan ringkas Datuk Seri. Boleh ulas sedikit apa yang mendorong kepada tindakan itu?

Saya ada terfikir untuk letakkan jawatan tahun lalu. Saya tetapkan pada Januari 2016 sebagai tarikh akhir dalam Kabinet. Saya telah bincang dengan setiausaha politik menyatakan rasa tidak serasi dengan pembawaan pimpinan. Bila tiba Januari, saya rasa tidak tergamak pula untuk meletakkan jawatan, saya terus berkhidmat. Kemudian, pada April lalu niat hendak meletak jawatan kembali dan semakin kuat. Pada awal April itu, saya membeli alat bacaan tekanan darah untuk isteri bila pulang dari pejabat. Tiba di rumah jam 7 malam, saya pasang pada tangan saya untuk tunjuk pada isteri cara hendak menggunakan alat tersebut. Tetapi, saya pula yang terkejut apabila bacaan tekanan darah saya begitu tinggi. Continue reading “Darah naik 5 jam! Husni kongsi cerita”

Until 18 months ago, 1MDB was a national scandal, the subject of constant parliamentary questions and badgering by DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua and the PKR MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli the previous five years – with Pua asking his first question in Parliament about the 1MDB scandal with regard to the rationale of 1MDB investment in PertroSaudi International as far back as March 2010.

But 18 months ago, the 1MDB scandal escalated and graduated from a national into an international scandal.

I remember I was in Labis on the evening of 1st March 2015 to take part in a DAP Chinese New Year kopitiam ceramah, and just before my turn to speak, I read on the Internet the shocking expose by the Sarawak Report whistleblower website in its “Heist of the Century” article which announced that together with London Sunday Times, they had completed an in-depth investigation into the 1MDB scandal.

It claimed to have obtained access to thousands of documents and emails relating to transactions by 1MDB, including its initial joint venture with the little known oil company PetroSaudi International from 2009.

It alleged that the documents establish that, in spite of copious official denials, the entire joint venture project was conceived, managed and driven through by the Prime Minister’s associate and family friend the party-loving billionaire tycoon, Jho Low and that the documents also prove that the USD$700 million so-called “loan” that was supposedly repaid to PetroSaudi as part of the joint venture agreement, was actually a “front” to channel the money to a company controlled by Jho Low.

It was a shocking tale about the makings of the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history. At the time, the figure quoted for the 1MDB scandal was RM42 billion, which was already the greatest of all the financial scandals in the country, eclipsing even the worst and biggest of financial scandals in the country’s history, whether the RM2.5 billion BMF (Bumiputra Malaysia Finance) scandal, Bank Negara forex exchange scandal, Maminco, MAS and Perwaja scandals.

Now the 1MDB scandal would have ballooned easily from RM42 billion to RM55 billion as the RM42 billion figure was for 1MDB liabilities on March 2014 – some 30 months ago – as the audited accounts for 1MDB for the past two years remain in the realm of mystery to the public including parliamentarans!

The tragedy of the 1MDB scandal is that in retrospect, all the grave allegations whether in the Sarawak Report in the article “Heist of the Century”, or in international newspapers like the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, both before and after the “Heist in the Century” article, had withstood the test of time and neither 1MDB nor the Malaysian Government had been able to puncture or cast doubt on the veracity of anyone of the serious and myriad allegations about the theft, embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of billions of ringgit of 1MDB funds – with the “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” cast like a spider at the centre of the spider web. Continue reading “Is Husni prepared to lead a national and international campaign to save Malaysia to purge and cleanse Malaysia of the ignominy of a global kleptocracy so that not only he could be healed, but the nation and 30 million Malaysians could be healed of the 1MDB sickness?”

By TOM WRIGHT
Wall Street Journal
Sept. 11, 2016

Documents show $6 million in credit-card spending by Rosmah Mansor

A major financial scandal swirling around the Malaysian prime minister is drawing fresh attention to his glamorous wife, Rosmah Mansor, who newly revealed documents show has racked up at least $6 million in credit card charges in recent years—despite having no known source of income beyond her husband’s salary.

At an anticorruption rally last month in Kuala Lumpur, hundreds of students, young professionals and other demonstrators took to the streets behind a cardboard caricature of a meticulously coiffed woman carrying a Hermès handbag, demanding an investigation into Ms. Rosmah’s finances.

“She said she saved that money since she was small. That is impossible,” said Anis Syafiqah Mohd. Yusuf, a 24-year-old student from the University of Malaya who helped organize the protest.

Ms. Rosmah’s jewel-bedecked public appearances have long made her a polarizing figure in this relatively poor, Southeast Asian country. She is the only child of schoolteachers, hasn’t had a regular paying job in years and her husband, Prime Minister Najib Razak, is a longtime bureaucrat with an annual salary of $100,000.

Ms. Rosmah, 64 years old, says she has a habit of saving. “I have bought some jewelry and dresses with my own money. What is wrong with that?” she wrote in her 2013 autobiography. Continue reading “1MDB Scandal Around Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Puts Spotlight on Wife”

The following was written three days after the live telecast of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 59th National Day Message urging Malaysians to treasure “moments of unity” so that Malaysian can become great and respected the world over as “a glittering eastern star”:

“Semenjak Merdeka, tidak ada satu tahun di mana kita menyambut kemerdekaan dalam keadaan negara seperti tahun ini, di mana pemimpin-pemimpin Kerajaan menghadapi krisis integriti yang paling serius dan imej yang paling teruk. Sebabnya boleh disimpulkan dengan satu perkataan: rasuah.

“Umumnya, pemimpin-pemimpin politik sudah tidak boleh hendak dihormati dan diteladani untuk tujuan yang baik lagi. Selain daripada mereka disorak (cheered) oleh penyokong-penyokong mereka yang berkepentingan, yang mengharapkan sesuatu habuan atau yang tidak tahu dan terikut-ikut, paling tinggi, mereka hanya ditolerated oleh pegawai-pegawai awam yang berkerja di bawah mereka dan tiada pilihan. Dalam keadaan itu, kita lihat, masa depan negara menurun dan menurun.”

Was this written by political leaders from DAP, PKR or AMANAH in Pakatan Harapan? Or was it by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir?

None of the above. It was penned by a former topmost public official, former Chief Justice, Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad who held the highest judicial post in the land from 2007 to 2008.

It reeks of contempt by public officials, especially former top public servants, for the government of the day because of rampant corruption in the country.

How can Malaysia command the respect of the world as “a glittering eastern star” when there is so much contempt for the government of the day not only by the intelligentsia in Malaysia, but by the public officials and former public officials? Continue reading “Is Malaysia going to continue to bumble and bungle on the world stage pretending that we are unaffected by the new notoriety of an overnight global kleptocracy?”

The Cabinet meeting today should endorse the BBC admission by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan that “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (“MO1”) is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and it should authorize the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to re-open police investigations into the 1MDB scandal taking into account the information in the DOJ forfeiture lawsuit.

This is for two reasons: Firstly, at least two Ministers, namely the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong and the Minister for Housing and Local Government, Datuk Noh Omar have expressed ignorance of the identity of “MO1” when asked by the press after Abdul Rahman’s BBC interview.

Secondly, the reasons given by Abdul Rahman that Najib was not named directly was because he was not part of the investigation by the various United States agencies under the US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative is not a good, credible or tenable reason for the Malaysian police to turn a blind-eye to the series of criminal conduct unveiled by the DOJ lawsuits on the embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of US$3.5 1MDB funds for the forfeiture of US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Apart from the five persons named in the DOJ lawsuits – Jho Low, Raja Shahrir Aziz bin Abdul Aziz, “Eric” Tan, Khadem Abdulla AL QUBAISI and Mohamed Ahmed Badawy AL-HUSSEINY – four persons were referred by code, viz “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1”, “1MDB OFFICER 1”, “1MDB OFFICER 2” and “1MDB OFFICER 3”.

The Government through Abdul Rahman has admitted that “MO1” is Najib. The identity of “1MDB Officers 1, 2 and 3” are also easy to identify, namely Casey Tang Keng Chee who served as executive director of 1MDB from the time of its creation until approximately March 2011 as “1MDB Officer 1”; Datuk Shahrol Halmi who was 1MDB chief executive officer from the beginning to March 2013 as “1MDB Officer 2” and Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, previously 1MDB’s general counsel and executive director of group strategy, as “1MDB Officer 3”.

Both Casey Tang and Jasmine Loo are on the Bank Negara “wanted list”, sought by the Malaysian authorities in connection with financial crimes with regard to the 1MDB funds.

In the case of Shahrol, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report on 1MDB tabled in Parliament on April 6 had recommended action to be taken against him as he must take responsibility for the 1MDB global scandal. Continue reading “Cabinet today should endorse Abdul Rahman’s admission that “MALAYSIA OFFICIAL 1” is Najib and authorize IGP Khalid to re-open police investigations into the 1MDB scandal taking into account the information in the DOJ forfeiture lawsuit”

Imagine a Minister who can be confused between a turtle egg and a chicken egg accusing me of being confused between a civil and criminal case over the US Department of Justice (DOJ) billion-dollar forfeiture lawsuits over 1MDB-linked assets in the world’s biggest single kleptocracy and money-laundering action and the mystery of MO1!

Sabri may be hoping that the world’s biggest kleptocracy and money-laundering 1MDB scandal will end up like his “turtle-egg” scandal – lost in a maze of contradictory statements, denials and bureaucratic inertia.

Can Sabri enlighten Malaysians what is the outcome of his “turtle egg” scandal in Sandakan last August?

When Sabri’s “turtle egg” scandal first broke in November last year about his feast of “turtle eggs” with Beluran UMNO division chief James Ratib in Sandakan three months earlier, he put the blame squarely on Beluran UMNO as the organiser of the function responsible for serving turtle eggs.

Sabri denied eating turtle eggs as he had eaten fish at the dinner, claiming that it had been “a long time since I’ve eaten turtle eggs” as it is “high in cholesterol”.

When Sabri said it was “a long time since I’ve eaten turtle eggs”, was it a confession he had violated the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 which protected turtle eggs under Section 41(1) with a fine of RM50,000 or a jail sentence of up to five years, or both, upon conviction?

Later, new photographs appeared in the social media showing a half-eaten, full-boiled egg on Sabri’s dinner plate, and the fresh evidence provided a new impetus to the investigations by the Sabah Wildlife Department.

Sabri should tell Malaysians of the outcome of the investigations into the “turtle egg” dinner of the Umno Beluran division meeting dinner at Restoran Indah Keranamu in Sandakan in August last year before his creates new confusion over the 1MDB global scandal which is clearly completely out of his depths. Continue reading “Imagine a Minister who can be confused between a turtle egg and a chicken egg accusing me of being confused between a civil and criminal case over DOJ billion-dollar forfeiture lawsuits over 1MDB-linked assets and MO1!”

A week before the 59th National Day, the issue dominating the warongs, coffee shops and national conversations was “TANGKAPMO1”.

In the past three days, another issue had overtaken “Who is MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” as the hottest topic of the country – the worldwide admission by the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, in his interview with BBC on Sept. 1 that “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (MO1) is none other than the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

And the question: Why Abdul Rahman “outed” Najib publicly and internationally as “MO1” when for the past six weeks, the entire government apparatus from the Prime Minister to the Cabinet and the heads of the national enforcement and investigative institutions like the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara, the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee had engaged in a national “cat-and-mouse” game, putting up a national and international pretence that they do not know who is “MO1”.

Is Abdul Rahman a friend or foe of Najib? Continue reading “Call on all Malaysian organisations, whether political, civic, religious , commercial or even communal and clan associations, to take a common patriotic stand in a national and international campaign to purge and cleanse Malaysia of the international indictment of an overnight global kleptocracy”

News
abc
2.9.2016

A Malaysian cabinet minister says Prime Minister Najib Razak was the mysterious unnamed official who the US Justice Department claimed took part in rampant looting of state funds.

The admission confirmed widespread suspicions that Mr Najib was “Malaysian Official 1” mentioned in a Justice Department lawsuit filed in July.

The lawsuit — part of US moves to seize more than $1 billion in allegedly ill-gotten assets — repeatedly fingered the official as someone conspiring to divert vast sums from state investment fund 1MDB.

1MDB, or 1Malaysia Development Berhad, was launched by Mr Najib in 2009 and closely overseen by him.

In an interview with the BBC, Malaysia’s Minister of Urban Well-Being, Housing and Local Government Abdul Rahman Dahlan admitted “Malaysian Official 1” was Mr Najib. Continue reading “1MDB: Malaysian minister names PM Najib Razak as key figure in corruption scandal”

DAP National Publicity Secretary, MP for PJ Utara and member of Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Tony Pua was hauled up by the police for investigation for naming the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as the “Malaysian Official 1” figure in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits for forfeiture of US$1 billion assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland as a result of an international conspiracy of theft, embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of US$3.5 billion 1MDB funds.

Three days ago, the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, told the world in his interview with BBC that “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” is none other than Prime Minister Najib, after saying earlier that “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was” as there was no secret who is Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) mentioned in the DOJ civil lawsuits as everyone who has read the court documents or familiar with the issues would know who is the person being referred to.

Two questions are in order:

Firstly, had the police hauled up or is proposing to haul up Abdul Rahman for police questioning like Tony Pua, and if not, why not? It is the teeming examples of such double standards in upholding law and administering justice in Malaysia which are the surest signs that Malaysia is heading towards a failed state.

Secondly, are the Inspector-General of Police and the Royal Malaysian Police “idiots” that they do not know who is the person “MO1” referred to in the DOJ lawsuits, when according to Abdul Rahman, “everyone who has read the court documents or familiar with the issues would know who is the person referred to”?

Can IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar give answers to these two questions? Continue reading “DAP calls for a special session of Parliament to consider sending an all-party parliamentary delegation to the UN General Assembly session at the end of the month to purge and cleanse Malaysia of international indictment as an overnight global kleptocracy”

The MCA Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong has confirmed my belief that the admission by the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan in his interview with BBC that “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (MO1) referred to in the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s biggest kleptocratic action against 1MDB and Malaysia was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had caught most Cabinet Ministers by surprise.

When asked by reporters today to comment on Abdul Rahman’s admission, Wee said he did not know who is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” and suggested that the press should question Abdul Rahman himself.

I am astonished by Wee’s admission that he did not know who is “MO1” as it was six weeks ago that the US DOJ filed lawsuits which made reference to “MO1” 36 times.

Didn’t Wee think that it was a matter of national importance and even a public duty for him to try to find out who was this “MO1”, especially as he appeared to be the king-pin together with Penang billionaire Jho Low responsible for Malaysia’s international infamy and odium as an overnight global kleptocracy?

Wee’s admission is all the more shocking, especially as Abdul Rahman had gone on public record to say that “only an idiot doesn’t know what that person (i.e. MO1) was” as everyone who has read the court documents or familiar with the issues would know who was the person being referred to.

Is Wee, the MCA Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, an “idiot”? Continue reading “Call on Najib to confirm that he is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” referred to in the US DOJ lawsuits on forfeiture of 1MDB-linked assets in United States, and if not, to explain why not”

Leslie Shaffer
CNBC.com
2.9.2016

A sweeping U.S. investigation into assets allegedly looted from a state fund in Malaysia has raised the heat on Prime Minister Najib Razik, but it wasn’t entirely clear that would dent the two countries’ ties.

Malaysia’s status as a moderate Muslim-majority nation in Southeast Asia has helped the country develop a solid relationship with the U.S., offering a bulwark against extremism. Indeed, last year, during a visit to Malaysia, U.S. President Barak Obama called the country’s voice “critical” on counter-terrorism efforts.

But the long-running scandal over billions of dollars missing from the Malaysia state fund 1MDB came to roost in the U.S. Continue reading “What’s a few missing billions among friends: Why Malaysia 1MDB scandal might not dent US ties”

By Bradley Hope, Tyler Paige, Will Welch, Maryanne Murray and Chris Canipe
Wall Street Journal
Sept. 1, 2016

Investigators say at least $3.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB. Here’s how they believe $1 billion ended up in the bank accounts of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Every time Malaysian government investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd, or 1MDB, borrowed money, large amounts of the cash were quickly misappropriated, according to investigators. The money followed a circuitous path among private banks, offshore companies and funds, bank records show, and roughly $1 billion landed in the private bank accounts of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

That cash is part of $3.5 billion that was embezzled from 1MDB, according to a U.S. Justice department complaint. Investigators from seven countries are trying to figure out what happened to the money and the U.S. moved to seize $1 billion in property in July, including luxury real estate in New York and Beverly Hills, a private jet and art allegedly purchased with 1MDB money. Singapore has charged a banker with money laundering in relation to 1MDB and Abu Dhabi has arrested and frozen the assets of a top official who was deeply involved with the fund. The banker and the official haven’t commented.

This interactive graphic tracks the route that investigators believe the money took from the time it was raised by 1MDB until it landed in the private bank accounts of Mr. Najib at AmBank Bhd., a Malaysian bank, between 2011 and 2015.

The money was raised on three separate occasions and took three separate paths, sometimes flowing directly, while in other cases it split and took different routes, only to be reunited in the AmBank accounts according to the Justice Department complaint. The cash flowed through Singapore, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the Seychelles, the British Virgin Islands and Curaçao. Other funds disappear, often into accounts controlled by other players in the scandal, the complaint said.

This description is based on bank-transfer documents, investigative files from two countries, people familiar with transactions and the 136-page Justice Department complaint, which is seeking to seize assets bought with funds misappropriated from 1MDB. Continue reading “MALAYSIA’S 1MDB SCANDAL – How $1 Billion Made Its Way to the Prime Minister”

Was the admission by the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan in his interview with BBC that “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” referred to in the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s biggest kleptocratic action against 1MDB and Malaysia was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak a deliberate and intentional act, made with the knowledge, authority and approval of Najib himself and the Cabinet Ministers, or was it unauthorized, unintended and a sheer act of “hubris” infecting government leaders that they have become “untouchable” and could do no wrong or even if they are wrong, they enjoy immunity and impunity as there is nothing the Malaysian people could do about them?

The very fact that Abdul Rahman had to come out with an explanatory statement last evening on his BBC interview would indicate that his admission that “MO1” is none other than Najib had caught the government leadership and the Cabinet, by surprise – although there is no way to ascertain whether Abdul Rahman’s admission had caught Prime Minister himself by surprise.

This is one of the rare occasions where a Minister’s interview through the electronic media had to be followed by a written explanatory statement.

While hewing to the line and admission that the “MO1” is none other than Najib and that “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was” (how many “idiots” are there in the Cabinet and was Datuk Paul Low, the Minister for “integrity” one of the “idiots”), Abdul Rahman was forced to proclaim his loyalty and fealty to Najib by declaring that “the difference between being named as the subject of a civil lawsuit and merely being referred to in an investigation, is black and white”.

Abdul Rahman cannot be wrong in claiming that the difference between being named as the subject of a civil lawsuit and merely being referred to an investigation is “black and white”, when the difference is more mundane – between a civil action “in rem” from an action “in personam”. Continue reading “Now that the government has finally admitted “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” is Najib, what next to protect the good name and reputation of the country and Prime Minister?”

Edward Helmore in New York
Guardian
31 August 2016

Wolf of Wall Street may have been backed by donations linked to an international money laundering scandal, says the Swiss-based charity

The actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio is being urged to repay donations connected to the Malaysian fund that backed his hit film The Wolf of Wall Street and is now subject to a US justice department investigation and asset seizure effort.

The calls come from the Bruno Manser Funds, a Swiss-based charity focused on protecting the Malaysian rainforest. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the organization accused the star of “double standards” for accepting donations linked to an international money laundering scandal.

The charity claims that while DiCaprio has been engaged in an effort to protect the last remaining tracts of rainforest in Sumatra, the scandal-plagued 1MDB fund, which participated in a fundraising Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation auction at Christie’s in 2013, is connected to Malaysian deforestation less than 500 miles away. Continue reading “Leonardo DiCaprio urged to repay donations to Malaysian rainforest fund”