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Malaysia Seeks Closure for 1MDB Scandal as Report Blames Ex-CEO

by Shamim Adam & Pooi Koon Chong
Bloomberg
April 7, 2016

Malaysian lawmakers sought to draw a line under the corruption allegations surrounding state investment company 1MDB, pinning the blame for financial lapses on its former chief executive and absolving his political bosses of responsibility for a scandal that’s roiled markets and sparked worldwide graft probes.

A bipartisan parliament committee identified at least $4.2 billion of unauthorized or unverified transactions at 1Malaysia Development Bhd., in a report published on Thursday. It recommended that former CEO Shahrol Halmi and other managers should be investigated, and a group of advisers headed by Prime Minister Najib Razak — who wasn’t otherwise mentioned in the 106-page document — be disbanded. The board of directors offered to resign.

Malaysia wants to shut down a scandal that has rocked the Southeast Asian country for more than a year, weakening its bonds and currency and threatening Najib’s grasp on power. Political instability came hand-in-hand with an economic squeeze, as the oil-price slump eroded revenue for the region’s only net crude exporter.

Silencing the speculation around 1MDB may no longer be entirely in Malaysia’s hands. Authorities from the U.S. to Switzerland are trying to piece together evidence to determine if some of the billions of dollars that the state company raised were siphoned out of its coffers and into the personal accounts of politically-connected individuals. Continue reading “Malaysia Seeks Closure for 1MDB Scandal as Report Blames Ex-CEO”

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Why have I suddenly become an “undesirable character” to be banned from Sarawak after campaigning in seven parliamentary and nine state general elections in Sarawak in the last 38 years?

It was reported yesterday that the Sarawak Chief Minister is mulling over the banning of DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, myself as well as Parliamentary Opposition Leader and PKR President Datuk Seri Azizah Wan Ismail, from entering Sarawak for campaigning in the 11th Sarawak State Elections.

Why have I suddenly become an “undesirable character” to be banned from Sarawak after campaigning in seven parliamentary and nine state general elections in Sarawak in the last 38 years, going back to the late seventies?

In fact, what could be the honest and honourable reason for banning the long list of Members of Parliament from entry into Sarawak, including DAP National Vice Chairman Teresa Kok, National Publicity Secretary Tony Pua, Deputy National Publicity Secretary Teo Nie Ching, PKR National Vice Chairmen Nurul Izzah, Chua Tian Chang and Rafizi Ramli, Parti Amanah Negara President Mohamad Sabu, and even the DAP mascot designer Ooi Leng Hah, except for a gross abuse of power as the law is very clear that no one should be barred from entry into Sabah for legitimate political activities – although Sarawak state government enjoys full autonomy on immigration matters.

Sarawakians and Malaysians hope to see Sarawak as the vanguard for full and genuine democracy in Malaysia, and not the other way round, where democracy is given a fatal blow by gross abuses and excesses of power. Continue reading “Why have I suddenly become an “undesirable character” to be banned from Sarawak after campaigning in seven parliamentary and nine state general elections in Sarawak in the last 38 years?”

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Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh challenged to televise live the forum next Wednesday in Shah Alam featuring PAC Chairman Hasan Arifin and PAC member Tony Pua on “Has the PAC Report on 1MDP exonerated Prime Minister Najib from wrongdoings in RM50 billion 1MDB scandal?”

Tasek Gelugor is the 102nd parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension on Oct. 22 last year basically for demanding that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should be accountable and responsible to Parliament for his RM42 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

Although I have not been able to attend the recent month-long parliamentary meeting, my visit to over 100 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor has given me an unique insight into the thinking of Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or politics – that they want answers to simple questions as to where the monies from the twin mega scandals had come from and where the monies had gone to.

In the past six months, such answers had not been forthcoming, although the twin mega scandals have become even greater – as we are now talking about RM50 billion 1MDB scandal and not RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, and RM4.2 billion Najib’s “donation” scandal and no more RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal.

Yesterday, during my 100th parliamentary constituency visit in Bukit Gelugor, I challenged the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin to a forum in Shah Alam next Wednesday on “Has the PAC Report on 1MDP exonerated Prime Minister Najib from wrongdoings in RM50 billion 1MDB scandal?”, as Hasan has claimed that the PAC Report on 1MDB exonerated Najib from any wrongdoing or abuse of power in the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal. Continue reading “Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh challenged to televise live the forum next Wednesday in Shah Alam featuring PAC Chairman Hasan Arifin and PAC member Tony Pua on “Has the PAC Report on 1MDP exonerated Prime Minister Najib from wrongdoings in RM50 billion 1MDB scandal?””

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Malaysia Parliament Group Slams State Fund Board for 1MDB Scandal

by Reuters
Fortune
APRIL 7, 2016

But it stopped short of implicating Prime Minister Najib Razak.

A Malaysian parliamentary inquiry on Thursday slammed the board of state fund 1MDB for being irresponsible and urged a probe into its former chief, but stopped short of implicating Prime Minister Najib Razak who was an advisor for the troubled firm.

Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said senior management at 1Malaysia Development Bhd withheld crucial information from the board and made transactions without its knowledge or approval.

The bipartisan PAC is the first Malaysian entity to level allegations against 1MDB, which is at the center of corruption and money-laundering investigations in the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg. Continue reading “Malaysia Parliament Group Slams State Fund Board for 1MDB Scandal”

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DAP has temporarily weathered the three-week political typhoon to eliminate Lim Guan Eng as DAP Penang Chief Minister with the allegation of corruption to distract attention from Malaysia’s first global corruption scandal with the PAC report on 1MDB on Thursday

DAP has temporarily weathered the three-week political typhoon to eliminate the DAP Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng with the allegation of corruption to distract attention from Malaysia’s first global corruption scandal with the presentation of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1MDB on Thursday.

This reminds me of the sudden tempest during the last general elections when there was a powerful and highly-financed operation to defeat Guan Eng in the Air Puteh state assembly seat, where money flowed like water in the constituency, with reported RM40 million spent to buy Guan Eng’s defeat in the 13,848-voter constituency and remove him as Penang Chief Minister.

Those people who were responsible for the gala time for Air Puteh voters – free food, drinks, lucky draw, generous angpows and even entertainment activities provided for FREE – are now back in operation, this time to remove Guan Eng as Penang Chief Minister on the ground of corruption in the RM2.8 million purchase of his bungalow. Continue reading “DAP has temporarily weathered the three-week political typhoon to eliminate Lim Guan Eng as DAP Penang Chief Minister with the allegation of corruption to distract attention from Malaysia’s first global corruption scandal with the PAC report on 1MDB on Thursday”

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Tony Pua was over-generous to give 80 marks to PAC Report on 1MDB as I would give it at most 60 marks

DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua is over-generous to give 80 marks to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report on 1MDB as I would give it at most 60 marks.

1MDB was so vexed by Tony’s remark that he was 80 per cent satisfied with the PAC Report that it lost it sense of rationality and propriety and hit out with a media statement entitled: ‘You can’t be 80% pregnant, Pua”.

Among the most incisive of the mountain of adverse comments to 1MDB’s “80% pregnant” statement was the one which said that the “rhetoric coming from a very ‘professional’ company shows its childishness and makes you wonder how such people can be entrusted to run multi-billion company”!
There are many reasons why I would give the PAC Report on 1MDB at most 60 marks.

Firstly, for giving the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and UMNO/BN leaders and propagandists the opportunity to distort its findings by claiming that the PAC Report on 1MDB had exonerated the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of wrongdoings and abuses of power in the first global scandal in the nation’s history.

The latest person to distort the finding of the PAC Report on 1MDB is none other than the UMNO Secretary-General and Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who said yesterday that the PAC Report proved that Najib had been the victim of various slanders for the past two years.

He even said that the PAC Vice Chairman, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw, who is also DAP MP for Kepong, had “admitted” that the Prime Minister was not involved at all in what had transpired in the 1MDB.

Tengku Adnan is trying to put words into Seng Giaw’s mouth, for Seng Giaw told me that he never said that Najib was not involved in any wrongdoing in 1MDB. Continue reading “Tony Pua was over-generous to give 80 marks to PAC Report on 1MDB as I would give it at most 60 marks”

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Malaysia’s leader is a friend Mr. Obama should lose

By Editorial Board
Washington Post
April 7

BACK IN January, Malaysia’s autocratic-minded prime minister, Najib Razak, tried to decree the end to a scandal involving the appearance of $681 million in his personal bank accounts. After an attorney general he installed reported that the money was a donation from the Saudi royal family, and did not involve wrongdoing, Mr. Najib declared: “The matter has been comprehensively put to rest.” Malaysians who argued otherwise, officials suggested, risked prosecution under the country’s draconian sedition law.

Fortunately for the rule of law in Malaysia, the strongman’s gambit failed. Revelations about alleged misappropriation of funds from a Malaysian state investment fund set up by Mr. Najib continue to pour forth, and investigations in half a dozen nations appear to be gathering momentum. Malaysia’s scandal appears likely to implicate financiers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United States as well as some big Western banks. Perhaps most important, the chances that Mr. Najib will himself face legal and political consequences are steadily growing. Continue reading “Malaysia’s leader is a friend Mr. Obama should lose”

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Challenge to PAC Chairman Hasan Arifin to public forum on “Has the PAC Report on 1MDB exonerated Prime Minister Najib from wrongdoings in RM50 billion 1MDB scandal?” in KL/PJ next Wednesday

Is the “cari makan” Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin sick or well – whether it is “political sickness” or otherwise?

On the eve of the release of the long-awaited PAC Report on 1MDB on Thursday, the PAC Secretariat sent a text message to PAC members that Hasan would only answer media queries on the “anticipated” PAC report on 1MDB in the next Dewan Rakyat meeting, which is more than a month away from May 16 to May 26.

The PAC Secretariat informed PAC members that Hasan was ill and that he would not be holding a press conference on Thursday after the tabling of the PAC Report on 1MDB in Parliament, although he had “prepared a press statement to be distributed to the media tomorrow”.

The text message continued:

“YB Datuk Chairman is also asking for assistance to inform journalists that if they have any questions or want further explanations regarding the report, he will explain it in the coming Parliament session.”

Apparently, the PAC Chairman had been struck down by a yet-undisclosed sickness which, after his prepared media statement for the media on Thursday, will incapacitate him from answering media questions about the PAC Report on the 1MDB, until the next Parliamentary meeting starting on May 16.

This is indeed a strange sickness which Hasan had anticipated will last for some 40 days or seven weeks until the next Parliamentary meeting, and I must confess that I was uncharitable at the time in wondering whether this was more a “political disease” rather than a genuine sickness. Continue reading “Challenge to PAC Chairman Hasan Arifin to public forum on “Has the PAC Report on 1MDB exonerated Prime Minister Najib from wrongdoings in RM50 billion 1MDB scandal?” in KL/PJ next Wednesday”

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Call for four-day emergency Parliament on the PAC report on 1MDB end April or early May to debate Malaysia’s first global scandal in history

I have not been able to attend the month-long meeting of Parliament from March 7 to April 7 because I was suspended from Parliament for six months from October 22 last year insisting that the “truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” about Malaysia’s two global scandals – Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM50 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega scandals – should be told in Parliament.

I strongly objected not only to Najib’s twin mega scandals, but the undermining of the independence, credibility and professionalism of national institutions and the doctrine of the separation of powers which are important basis for Malaysian democracy in order to enable Najib to avoid full responsibility and accountability for the twin mega scandals.

The sudden sacking of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, the dissolution of the Special Task Force on the 1MDB scandal comprising the Attorney-General, the Inspector-General of Police, Bank Negara Governor and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner, the four-month sabotage of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigations into 1MDB until the appointment of “cari makan” PAC Chairman Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin were the backdrop to my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22.

Bagan is the 99th parliamentary constituency I am visiting during my six-month suspension from Parliament, for my visits to close to 100 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johore in the past five months have reinforced my conviction that what the Najib government is doing is akin to trying to “wrap fire with paper” in trying to sweep the two global scandals in the nation’s history under the carpet. Continue reading “Call for four-day emergency Parliament on the PAC report on 1MDB end April or early May to debate Malaysia’s first global scandal in history”

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Critical 1MDB Report Spares Malaysia’s Najib Razak

Tom Wright
Wall Street Journal
April 7, 2016

Board offers to resign; some allege an attempt to shield leader from damage in corruption scandal at fund he set up

By TOM WRIGHT

A Malaysian state development fund’s board of directors offered to resign after a report that found billions of dollars went missing from the fund but which made no mention of Prime Minister Najib Razak, prompting critics to accuse officials of shielding him.

The findings of the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, released Thursday, mark the first time a Malaysian investigating body has leveled allegations of fraud connected to 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, which is the focus of corruption probes in Malaysia and at least six other nations.

Still, the report appeared to take pressure off Mr. Najib, who founded 1MDB in 2009, heads its separate board of advisers and has been the target of criticism over the scandal. Critics suggested the committee’s findings against 1MDB management, the absence of Mr. Najib’s name, and the directors’ offer to resign were orchestrated moves designed to protect the prime minister.

“It’s all planned that way; so we could attribute blame on [the board] but exonerate the prime minister. It means nothing,” said Zaid Ibrahim, a former cabinet minister and leader in an alliance opposed to Mr. Najib. Continue reading “Critical 1MDB Report Spares Malaysia’s Najib Razak”

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How could the PAC exonerate the Prime Minister of any criminal wrongdoing in the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal when it had not even summoned Najib to appear as a witness?

UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders, media and cybertroopers have gone to town after the tabling of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report on 1MDB in Parliament yesterday, declaring as one UMNO/BN media has blared from its front-page today: “No criminal wrongdoing on the part of PM”.

How could the PAC exonerate the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of any criminal wrongdoing in the RM50 million 1MDB scandal, when it had not even summoned Najib to appear as a witness?

It is noteworthy that these propagandists had also blissfully ignored the suppression of the Auditor-General’s final audit report on the 1MDB, which would normally be appended to the PAC report on 1MDB.

I have read through the 106-page PAC report on the 1MDB and I cannot find any exoneration of the Prime Minister in the 1MDB scandal.

May be Ministers and UMNO/BN leaders and propagandists who are going to town on this claim would like to point out and share the parts or paragraphs in the PAC report which had exonerated Najib of any wrongdoing! Continue reading “How could the PAC exonerate the Prime Minister of any criminal wrongdoing in the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal when it had not even summoned Najib to appear as a witness?”

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Can Pandikar explain how he could ban the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB from being presented to Parliament on the ground that it is a classified document when the same report had been presented to PAC earlier?

The Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia is reported to have told Parliament that the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB could not be tabled in Parliament because the document had not been declassified.

He said: “I cannot allow a classified document to be tabled in the House. I will be violating the Official Secrets Act 1972 if I allow it.”

Can Pandikar explain how he could ban the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB from being presented to Parliament on the ground that it is a classified document when the same report had earlier been presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is a committee of Parliament, and should have been appended to the PAC Report on 1MDB which was tabled in Parliament yesterday?

Is Pandikar going to report the PAC Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin as well as all the PAC members to the police for having committed breaches of the Official Secrets Act when they had access to the Auditor-General’s final audit report on the 1MDB?

This is a most ludicrous situation, where a report had beenj presented to a parliamentary select or standing committee, but not to Parliament.

In fact, Pandikar is probably the only Speaker in the world who is barring the presentation of a report in Parliament on the ground that it is a classified document and official secret?

What type of a parliamentary reform is Malaysia pioneering in the world of Parliaments? Continue reading “Can Pandikar explain how he could ban the Auditor-General’s final audit report on 1MDB from being presented to Parliament on the ground that it is a classified document when the same report had been presented to PAC earlier?”

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PAC report into RM50 billion 1MDB scandal is only tip of the iceberg

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report into the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal is only the tip of the iceberg.

Anyone who have read the 106-page PAC report cannot help getting the feeling that the PAC report is wrestling with larger forces than those it has named and identified, which is why the PAC has attracted not only national, but international, interest and attention and why Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM50 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion twin mega scandals have catapulted Malaysia among the top ten nations in the world infamous for global corruption.

Has the PAC report succeeded in laying to rest or rebutting in any manner international perceptions that Malaysia is now one of the world’s top nations in global corruption

The sad answer is in the negative. In fact, the PAC report will only confirm these international perceptions and doubts, which is why the 1MDB scandal is the subject of separate investigations by half a dozen countries, including the subject of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) under the US Kleptocracy Assets Recovery Initiative, and none of them will halt investigations because of the PAC Report. Continue reading “PAC report into RM50 billion 1MDB scandal is only tip of the iceberg”

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Three basic flaws of the long-awaited Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1MDB

Two important events happened this morning which would have far-reaching consequences on the development of democratic governance in Malaysia.

The first was the unprecedented march by scores of Members of Parliament from Parliament House to Bukit Aman to protest the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s utter contempt of Parliament in the police arrest of PKR Secretary-General and MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli despite a long-standing parliamentary motion instructing the Inspector-General of Police to take all necessary measures to ensure that there is no obstruction to MPs travelling to and fro parliamentary meetings.

The second item was the tabling of the long-awaited Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1MDB.

I have not read the PAC report but clearly the PAC report is guilty of major failings even without having to refer to it.

There are at least three basic flaws in the PAC report on 1MDB. Continue reading “Three basic flaws of the long-awaited Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1MDB”

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Fed Warned Goldman on Malaysia Bond Deals

by Justin Baer and Bradley Hope
Wall Street Journal
April 6, 2016

Regulator raised concerns about risk to firm’s reputation from work on 1MDB transactions

Regulators at the Federal Reserve have raised concerns with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that deals it helped put together for a controversial Malaysian government investment fund could have put the firm’s reputation at risk, according to people familiar with the matter.

Those deals are increasingly under a brighter spotlight, as additional details emerge about the alleged actions of the firm’s former Southeast Asia head who handled transactions for the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd. or 1MDB.

People familiar with the matter said the partner, Tim Leissner, was suspended from the firm for writing a letter vouching for a financier with ties to that fund. Mr. Leissner was suspended and later quit early this year after a review of his email found he had allegedly written an unauthorized reference letter on behalf of Jho Low, a Malaysian investor who helped found 1MDB and was involved in some transactions done by the fund, people familiar with the matter said.

When it disclosed Mr. Leissner’s suspension, Goldman didn’t name Mr. Low. The fact that Mr. Leissner wrote a letter of reference to another financial institution for someone involved in 1MDB puts the firm deeper into the controversy surrounding the fund, lawyers say.

People familiar with the matter said Mr. Leissner’s letter had included details on Mr. Low’s finances, while overstating the extent to which Goldman had done due diligence on him. Continue reading “Fed Warned Goldman on Malaysia Bond Deals”

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Lets work for a Three Wins result in the 11th Sarawak State General Election – victories for Pakatan Harapan, Sarawak and Malaysia

The Battle for Sarawak in the 11th Sarawak State General Election with the dissolution of the Sarawak State Assembly on April 11 is the Battle for Malaysia for future generations, in Sarawak as well as rest of the country.

Never before have the Sarawak state general election been so important in the 53-year history of Sarawak, for what happens on Sarawak polling day is not just about Sarawak, about how big a majority Chief Minister Datuk Adenan Satem will have in the new State Assembly, but even more important, how it will affect Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s tenure as sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia and his ability to deflect or to continue to disregard the national and international furore over his RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

In fact it is no exaggeration to say that the forthcoming Sarawak State General Elections is even more important to Najib than to Adenan in determining the fate of the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia. Continue reading “Lets work for a Three Wins result in the 11th Sarawak State General Election – victories for Pakatan Harapan, Sarawak and Malaysia”

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Child marriage is another form of modern day slavery

Syerleena Abdul Rashid
April 7, 2016

Pasir Putih MP Nik Mazian Nik Mohamad made a mockery of our institution today, by opposing the ban of child marriages by justifying that “If we restrict them from getting married, (their) lust will remain, and they will be exposed to premarital casual sex”. Not only is this justification sexist, it is a huge blow to social justice and human rights in our country.

Child marriage is catastrophic. Common sense dictates that it is immoral and the response given by Nik Mazian, indicate the distressing deterioration of reason and logic in our present day society. According to UNICEF, approximately over ‘700 million women alive today were married as children’ and similar reports by the UN, estimate that between 2011 and 2020, over 140 million children – mostly, girls, will become child brides.

Although in Malaysia, the legal minimum age for marriage under civil law for both genders is 18, girls can marry at 16 under Islamic law – and sometimes even younger with the consent of the Syariah court. In 2014, the Malaysian Syariah Judiciary Department received roughly 600 marriage applications for couples below the age of consent and approximately 446 of these applications have been approved by the department. Continue reading “Child marriage is another form of modern day slavery”

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How Muslim Governments Impose Ignorance

Mustafa Akyol
New York Times
MARCH 16, 2016

ISTANBUL — I recently spent a few days in Malaysia, where I was promoting the publication of the Malay edition of my book, “Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.” The publisher, a progressive Muslim organization called the Islamic Renaissance Front, had set up several talks for me in Kuala Lumpur. As any author would be, I was happy to learn that the team was enthusiastic about my book and had been getting good feedback from audiences and readers. But I was troubled by something else that I suspect many Muslim authors have experienced: My publisher was worried about censorship.

The risk, I was told, was that the Department of Islamic Development, a government body that “was formed to protect the purity of faith,” could ban the book if it was viewed as violating traditional Islamic doctrine.

So far, the Malaysian government has not banned my book. But if it did I wouldn’t be surprised. The department has already outlawed more than a thousand books translated into Malay. Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” was banned because, according to the home minister, it “goes against Islamic teachings,” and even “endangers public harmony” — whatever that means. “Islam: A Short History,” a fairly sympathetic study by the best-selling author Karen Armstrong, was similarly banned for being “incompatible with peace and social harmony.” Continue reading “How Muslim Governments Impose Ignorance”

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The Panama Papers’ Sprawling Web of Corruption

by The Editorial Board
New York Times
APRIL 5, 2016

The first reaction to the leaked documents dubbed the Panama Papers is simply awe at the scope of the trove and the ingenuity of the anonymous source who provided the press with 11.5 million documents — 2.6 terabytes of data — revealing in extraordinary detail how offshore bank accounts and tax havens are used by the world’s rich and powerful to conceal their wealth or avoid taxes.

Then comes the disgust. With more than 14,000 clients around the world and more than 214,000 offshore entities involved, Mossack Fonseca, the Panama-based law firm whose internal documents were exposed, piously insists it violated no laws or ethics. But the questions remain: How did all these politicians, dictators, criminals, billionaires and celebrities amass vast wealth and then benefit from elaborate webs of shell companies to disguise their identities and their assets? Would there have been no reckoning had the leak not occurred?

And then the core question: After these revelations, will anything change? Many formal denials and pledges of official investigations have been made. But to what degree do the law and public shaming still have dominion over this global elite? A public scarred by repeated revelations of corruption in government, sports and finance will demand to know. Continue reading “The Panama Papers’ Sprawling Web of Corruption”