Posted on

First step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end “global pretence” that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue

The first step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end the “global pretence” that the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal had been resolved and ceased to be an issue.

This was what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had promised more than a year ago.

In his meeting with some 1,000 UMNO divisional leaders and selected representatives of NGOs on 14th June 2015, Najib gave an assurance that the controversy surrounding the state investment arm 1MDB will be resolved by year-end.

In his 2016 New Year message on 31st December 2015, Najib told Malaysians that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong, as illustrated by the decision yesterday of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) ordering Coutts & Co., which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, to surrender 6.5 million francs (RM29.1 million) in illegal profits from transactions linked to 1MDB. Continue reading “First step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end “global pretence” that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue”

Posted on

Coutts ordered to pay back SFr6.5m of profits over 1MDB

Jeevan Vasagar in Singapore
Financial Times
3rd Feb 2017

Swiss financial supervisor sanctions bank over lapses linked to Malaysian fund

Swiss authorities have accused Coutts, the private bank, of repeatedly ignoring internal warnings over its dealings with a businessman who has been linked to a plot to loot billions of dollars from 1MDB, the Malaysian state investment fund.

Numerous “high-risk” transactions were processed through a Coutts account opened by the Malaysian businessman in Zurich, including the use of $35m for visits to casinos and the purchase of luxury services such as chartering yachts, according to the Swiss inquiry.

Finma, the Swiss financial regulator, ordered Coutts to pay back profits of SFr6.5m, which were allegedly generated unlawfully. It is also considering enforcement proceedings against bank employees.

The Swiss action is the latest step in a global regulatory crackdown against banks involved in the 1MDB scandal. Continue reading “Coutts ordered to pay back SFr6.5m of profits over 1MDB”

Posted on

Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary next week best forum for Najib to start process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy

The Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary in Kuala Lumpur next week is the best forum for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy.

This will make the Save Malaysia Roundtable doubly significant, not only on the occasion of the114th birthday anniversary of Bapa Malaysia, but to send out the clear message that the 2017 Chinese New Year of the Fire Rooster will be the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia and that in the next year, the Chinese New Year and other national festivities would not be celebrated under a cloud of global kleptocracy!

Almost everybody is saying that it is impossible that Najib will attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable.

I agree that it appears to be quite inconceivable that Najib would attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, as it would involve Najib’s preparedness – not seen up to now – to open up the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal to national and international scrutiny to prove that it is not a scandal at all, although the 1MDB scandal is making international waves and world headlines almost every other day.

The issue is whether Najib and his Cabinet are prepared to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy, or whether they will go down in history as being responsible for Malaysia’s millstone of global kleptocracy and not prepared to do anything to remove such a millstone. Continue reading “Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary next week best forum for Najib to start process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy”

Posted on

Najib’s Window Dressing Can’t Hide Malaysia’s Woes

By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat
January 31, 2017

The embattled premier’s cosmetic measures cannot conceal economic realities in the country.

The Malaysian economy has been put through the hoops. In spite of reassurances from the country’s beleaguered premier Najib Razak that the current economic turbulence is only a temporary affair caused by offshore factors, the evidence does point to the contrary.

Najib’s government knows this. It has side-stepped long-held promises to win Malaysia recognition as a developed country by 2020. And it has announced a string of statements and measures designed to either distract from these economic realities or aim to address them.

One revenue-raising initiative announced was charging Thai vehicles a fee for simply crossing their land border. That move has angered the Thai transport ministry which is now mulling a reciprocal tax. Continue reading “Najib’s Window Dressing Can’t Hide Malaysia’s Woes”

Posted on

Indonesia has spoken. Why is Najib still silent more than 38 hours after Trump signed the executive order banning 130 million people from seven countries from United States?

Indonesia has spoken. The Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has said that Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, deeply regrets US President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban more than 130 million people from seven countries from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees.

Why is Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who mooted the proposal for a global movement of moderates, still silent about Trump’s executive order which had caused world-wide reverberations, with chaos and confusion in US airports and capital cities all over the world.

Trump’s seismic ban was enacted with a stroke of a pen at 4.42 pm Friday Washington time. More than 38 hours have elapsed, as it is now past 6.42 a.m. Sunday Washington time. Why is Najib still keep silent?

It is not that Najib and the Foreign Ministry had been overtaken by complete surprise by such an executive order, as Trump had in fact been talking about such an inhumane measure since the GOP primary campaign last year.

Has Najib’s dilatory response anything to do with US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic lawsuit relating to the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal? Continue reading “Indonesia has spoken. Why is Najib still silent more than 38 hours after Trump signed the executive order banning 130 million people from seven countries from United States?”

Posted on

Not surprised in the least that Liow and Mah not prepared to save Malaysia from kleptocracy as their entire political future hinge on not rocking Najib’s boat like raising awkward issues concerning the 1MDB money-laundering scandal

Up till noon today, on the expiry of my 72 hour offer to meet MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and the Gerakan President Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, together or separately, any place any time to discuss how we can co-operate in the larger national interests to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, I have not been contacted, either directly or indirectly, by Liow or Mah.

I regret this although I am not in the least surprised that Liow and Mah are not prepared to save Malaysia from kleptocracy as their entire political future hinge on not rocking Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s boat like raising awkward issues concerning the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal.

I also regret that the PAS President, Datuk Hadi Awang had spurned my offer of co-operation to save Malaysia from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, as there had been complete silence from him in the last six days apart from puerile, ridiculous and malicious responses from his subordinates in PAS.

What the issue in the past six days had shown is that I am prepared to co-operate with Najib, Hadi, Liow, Mah and the other Barisan Nasional leaders in Sabah and Sarawak on an overriding national agenda – to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state – but unfortunately, Najib, Hadi, Liow and Mah are not prepared to reciprocate.

Of course, it will not be easy for them to reciprocate my offer for what does saving Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state mean? Continue reading “Not surprised in the least that Liow and Mah not prepared to save Malaysia from kleptocracy as their entire political future hinge on not rocking Najib’s boat like raising awkward issues concerning the 1MDB money-laundering scandal”

Posted on

A week ago, Google returned 255,000 results in 0.42 seconds on “1MDB” search – today it returned 4.41 million searches in just 0.32 seconds!

I wish to report that in the first 24 hours from 12 noon yesterday till 12 noon today, neither MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai nor the Gerakan President Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong had contacted me in response to my public offer yesterday that I am prepared to meet with them, individually or collectively, any place any time in the ensuing 72 hours to discuss how we can co-operate in the larger national interests to purge and cleanse Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy.

I had asked whether Liow and Mah would have to get UMNO approval before responding. We will wait and see what happens in the rest of the 72-hour offer.

Already, there is a strange political phenomenon. In yesterday’s press, I was the target of massive attacks from all the top MCA and Gerakan leaders for offering during my “Jelajah Desa” at Sungai Gelugor in Penang on Sunday to co-operate with PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to save Malaysia from becoming a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.
Continue reading “A week ago, Google returned 255,000 results in 0.42 seconds on “1MDB” search – today it returned 4.41 million searches in just 0.32 seconds!”

Posted on

Fund-scandal fallout keeps Malaysia on its toes

By Una Galani | HONG KONG
Reuters
Jan 23, 2017

(Reuters Breakingviews) – Malaysia is still struggling to put its sovereign-fund scandal behind it. Prime Minister Najib Razak was not named in lawsuits filed last year by the U.S. Department of Justice after billions disappeared from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, and he has deftly avoided a legal tangle on his home turf. Nonetheless, the fallout is keeping Malaysia’s leader on his toes.

The scandal at the fund Najib championed has left a dark mark on sentiment around the country. Money from the fund found its way into financing the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” and allegedly into Najib’s personal bank account, something he denies. But mud sticks. One recent survey by FT Confidential Research found 71.5 percent of respondents had a negative view of the prime minister. Malaysia must hold an election by August 2018 at latest, but even with the redistricting of constituencies, it will be a slog to win more votes than in 2013 which saw the worst-ever performance for the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition. Continue reading “Fund-scandal fallout keeps Malaysia on its toes”

Posted on

Why is Najib leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14GE unless he feels that this is the only formula to save himself in the next general election?

I am surprised by the speech by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Kedah on Tuesday night that regardless of whether DAP has the top government post, the party will still “call the shots” and run the show if UMNO/BN is defeated in the 14th General Election.

Najib said: “Democracy and politics are a game of numbers. Who has the most seats, wins. Even if the top post of the government is not given to it, the party with the most seats will effectively rule.”

My surprise at Najib personally leading the charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14th General Election is for two reasons:

Firstly, has Najib such poor strategists among his election and propaganda advisers that he is personally leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14th General Election instead of leaving such “dirty work” to his subordinates, which will give him leeway for deniability of personal approval or even knowledge as Prime Minister and UMNO/BN President for such “gutter politics”, which are most unworthy of the Prime Minister of the nation?

Secondly, has Najib become so desperate that he might lose the 14th General Election requiring him to move out of Putrajaya to the Opposition benches in Parliament, that he has now thrown scruples to the winds by leading the charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in a last-ditch effort to save his political office in Putrajaya so as to pack the maximum amount of explosives into such wild and baseless charges?

The ordinary laymen and women in Malaysia can see through Najib’s gambit as evident from the following typical reactions to the Prime Minister’s speech in Kedah: Continue reading “Why is Najib leading the UMNO/BN charge and campaign of fear, hatred and lies in the run-up to the 14GE unless he feels that this is the only formula to save himself in the next general election?”

Posted on

Jet, mansions figure in $232 million foreign trust case to be heard in Auckland court

Matt Nippert, business investigations journalist.
New Zealand Herald
Jan 18, 2017

An Auckland courtroom will on Friday become a battleground over Manhattan penthouses and a private jet amid allegations that they are the proceeds of a globe-spanning mega-fraud.

The High Court at Auckland is set down to hear a request from relatives of controversial Malaysian financier Jho Low who oppose the seizure of assets worth $230 million alleged by the United States Department of Justice to be the proceeds of crime.

US court filings said the relatives are beneficiaries of a number of New Zealand trusts that are claimed to directly own a number assets caught up the probe of a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known as 1MDB.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in July when the DoJ first filed its seizure claims that $5 billion had been misappropriated from the Malaysian state with payments by 1MDB diverted into private Swiss bank accounts and then laundered into artwork, Hollywood films and real estate.

“We are seeking to forfeit and recover funds that were intended to grow the Malaysian economy and support the Malaysian people. Instead, they were stolen, laundered through American financial institutions and used to enrich a few officials and their associates,” she said.

Financier Low is one of three individuals named in the DoJ action as receiving the proceeds of the alleged fraud. The others are a Hollywood producer and step-son of Malaysia’s current Prime Minister, and a former government official from the United Arab Emirates. Continue reading “Jet, mansions figure in $232 million foreign trust case to be heard in Auckland court”

Posted on

Mustapha not speaking the truth or in his true self when he said Malaysia must “move on” from 1MDB scandal when the law in Malaysia is neither taking its course nor the authorities in Malaysia allowed to go after those responsible for creating the international money-laundering scandal

The Minister for International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad had discovered that wherever he went, even at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he would be pursued, hounded and haunted by the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal which would not leave him in peace.

Mustapha is as wrong as the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who declared in his 2016 New Year Message on Dec. 31, 2015 that his RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues when the International Trade and Industry Minister said Malaysia must “move on” from the 1MDB scandal.

AFP quoted Mustapha saying “We’ve learned many lessons and we are moving forward” from the scandal, and said:

“Essentially we have to move on and we have confidence that a number of issues that came to limelight as a result of 1MDB will at some point, be behind us.

“We have the authorities to go after those responsible for creating the mess. The law is taking its course.”

Mustapha is not speaking his true self as he should know more than anybody else that it is not true that the Najib government had “learnt many lessons” from the 1MDB scandal and that “the law is taking its course” and that the “authorities” are going after “those responsible for creating the mess”.

Mustapha’s statement in Davos needs an important qualification as the law in Malaysia is not taking its course, and the authorities in Malaysia are not going after “those creating the mess”. Continue reading “Mustapha not speaking the truth or in his true self when he said Malaysia must “move on” from 1MDB scandal when the law in Malaysia is neither taking its course nor the authorities in Malaysia allowed to go after those responsible for creating the international money-laundering scandal”

Posted on

Generation of “false news” and “big lies” about DAP by UMNO leaders and cybertroopers an index of their growing desperation about loss of credibility and public support because of rampant corruption, economic crisis and worsening racial and religious polarisation

It is ironic but true – the generation of “false news” and “big lies” about the DAP by UMNO leaders and cybertroopers are not a reflection of confidence and hope, but the contrary, an index of their growing desperation about loss of credibility and public support because of rampant corruption, economic crisis and worsening racial and religious polarization – particularly among the Malays in the country.

Just before I came to this dialogue, I was reading about the latest UMNO cybertrooper attack on me – ridiculing the statement by the Deputy Amanah Youth Leader Faiz Fadzil “yang berkata DAP yang hanya bertanding di 51 daripada 222 kerusi Parlimen tidak mampu menerajui kepimpinan negara jika pembangkang menang dalam pilihan raya umum ke 14” by twisting what I said on 31st December that “I expect DAP to double the number of Parliamentary and State Assembly constituencies to be contested in the 14GE as compared to 13GE”.

Yes I did say about expecting the DAP to “double” the number of parliamentary and state assembly seats to be contested in the 14GE, but I was not talking about Malaysia as a whole but specifically about Sabah state, where DAP contested in four parliamentary and eight state assembly seats in the 13GE.

A person who is honest, sincere, pious and God-fearing would not have twisted what I said, for it was very clear that I was referring to doubling the seats contested in Sabah and not Malaysia-wide, unless the UMNP cybertrooper has a very low IQ – but this is the quality of UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers attacking the DAP who have to be liars to tell downright lies and falsehoods about DAP leaders which cannot stand scrutiny or challenge at all! Continue reading “Generation of “false news” and “big lies” about DAP by UMNO leaders and cybertroopers an index of their growing desperation about loss of credibility and public support because of rampant corruption, economic crisis and worsening racial and religious polarisation”

Posted on

One of the first things a new Federal Government in Putrajaya replacing the UMNO/BN will do after the 14GE will be to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to “chase down every penny from 1MDB”

At the official launch of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in Shah Alam last night, PPBM Chairman Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said PPBM would “chase down every penny from 1MDB”.

I have no doubt that one of the first things a new Federal Government in Putrajaya replacing the UMNO/BN will do after the 14th General Election will be to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to “chase down every penny from 1MDB”.

In fact, if we have a Cabinet which is patriotic and protective of the good name of Malaysia, the top priority of the agenda of the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday should be on how to purge and clear the country of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy”.

I said in Parliament that a kleptocracy is a government of 3Ps – Pencuri, Perompak and Penyamun.

I do not believe that any patriotic and proud Malaysian would stand idly by and do nothing when the country is defamed worldwide as a “global kleptocracy”!

I also do not believe that the first four Prime Ministers of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein and Tun Mahathir would have stood idly by and done nothing if Malaysia had been defamed and regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy during their premiership.

Even the fifth Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah would also have acted to defend the honour and reputation of Malaysia if the country is defamed world-wide as a global kleptocracy!

Why then has the Cabinet done nothing in the past three years to put the ghost of 1MDB scandal to rest, instead allowing the country to be battered, haunted and hounded by the issue, which has aggravated the host of political, economic and nation-building crisis of confidence confronting the country? Continue reading “One of the first things a new Federal Government in Putrajaya replacing the UMNO/BN will do after the 14GE will be to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to “chase down every penny from 1MDB””

Posted on

The entire mega Cabinet of 36 Ministers should resign collectively on Wednesday if it is not prepared to come to grips with the roiling international 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal and appoint a Royal Commission of Inquiry on 1MDB scandal

In his 2016 New Year message more than a year ago on 31st December 2015, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told Malaysians that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong as the Malaysian government and people continue to be haunted and hounded by the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal.

In the past 12 months, Malaysia went from the third “worst corruption scandal of 2015” by international website foreignpolicy.com in the last week of 2015, to second worst example of global corruption by Time magazine in March last year, second place in the index of crony capitalism by the Economist’s ranking in May, and full-blown “global kleptocracy” when in July, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed the largest kleptocratic lawsuits to forfeit US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from US$3.5 billion international 1MDB kleptocratic embezzlement and money-laundering scandal.

There has been no let-up of the incessant international battery and assault of Malaysia’s credibility and reputation in the new year of 2017. Continue reading “The entire mega Cabinet of 36 Ministers should resign collectively on Wednesday if it is not prepared to come to grips with the roiling international 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal and appoint a Royal Commission of Inquiry on 1MDB scandal”

Posted on

Cabinet’s greatest tribute to Adenan legacy is to uphold both word and spirit of Malaysian Constitution, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Rukunegara principles of an incorruptible, secular and harmonious multi-racial and multi-religious nation

The greatest tribute that the Federal Cabinet could pay to the Adenan Satem legacy is to uphold both the word and spirit of the Malaysian Constitution, the Malaysian Agreement 1963 and the Rukunegara principles of an incorruptible, secular and harmonious multi-racial and multi-religious nation.

I call on the Cabinet at its meeting next Wednesday to take concrete steps to uphold both the word and spirit of the Malaysian Constitution, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Rukunegara principles to establish an incorruptible, secular and harmonious multi-racial and multi-religious nation, for it is precisely because we have deviated from the bedrock principles enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Rukunegara that the country has lost its way and entrapped in a swamp of political, economic and nation-building scandals.

Instead of building greater unity among the diverse races, religions, languages and cultures which have made Malaysia their home, we have allowed irresponsible and reckless people to create even greater disunity by aggravating racial and religious polarisation in the country. Continue reading “Cabinet’s greatest tribute to Adenan legacy is to uphold both word and spirit of Malaysian Constitution, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and Rukunegara principles of an incorruptible, secular and harmonious multi-racial and multi-religious nation”

Posted on

Should Malaysia emulate China and have an Operation Fox-hunt and Sky-net to bring economic or corruption fugitives like Jho Low and others back to justice in Malaysia?

The new year has been a bumpy one for Malaysia, with the international multi billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal continuing to make waves and headlines worldwide.

The Australian Federal Police has announced that they are working with international law enforcement agencies to investigate companies associated with the 1MDB scandal – joining at least half a dozen countries, including Switzerland, Singapore and the United States, which have initiated criminal or legal actions concerning the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

In Singapore, the fourth banker had been convicted by Singaporean courts in relation to 1MDB-related accounts – Jens Fred Sturzenegger, a Swiss national and branch manager of the Falcon Private Bank in Singapore who pleaded guilty to six charges related to Singapore’s probe on 1MDB.

Sturzeneggar was sentenced to 28 weeks jail and fined S$128,000.

Falcon Private Bank is owned by Abu Dhabi’s International Investment Company (Ipic) and its Singapore operations was shut down by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in October last year for failing to fulfil anti-money laundering controls and improper conduct by the bank’s senior management.

Singaporean prosecutors had told the court Malaysian businessman Jho Low had control over four accounts with the bank.

According to Channel News Asia, Sturzenegger pleaded guilty to charges of failing to report potentially criminal transactions involving billions of dollars and for lying to authorities to protect Low’s financial interest.

He was also charged for lying to MAS officers to distract them from probing bank accounts controlled by Low by claiming that the accounts were “beneficially owned” by Eric Tan Kim Loong, a known associate of Low’s.

Sturzenegger was said to have lied to investigators about never having made contact with Low. Continue reading “Should Malaysia emulate China and have an Operation Fox-hunt and Sky-net to bring economic or corruption fugitives like Jho Low and others back to justice in Malaysia?”

Posted on

Swiss Banker Latest Conviction in Singapore’s 1MDB-Linked Cases

by Andrea Tan
Bloomberg
January 11, 2017

Sturzenegger is first foreigner charged in Singapore’s probe
Former Falcon Bank branch manager charged with 16 counts

Jens Sturzenegger, a former branch manager at Falcon Private Bank Ltd. in Singapore, became the first foreigner convicted in the city’s probes linked to a Malaysian state investment fund.

Sturzenegger, 42, pleaded guilty to six charges, including failing to report suspicious transactions, and was sentenced to 28 weeks in jail and fined S$128,000 ($89,000). Prosecutors had sought a jail term of as long as 32 weeks. His lawyer Tan Hee Joek said in court that Sturzenegger is remorseful and didn’t gain financially from the offenses. Tan said after the hearing his client won’t appeal the sentence. Continue reading “Swiss Banker Latest Conviction in Singapore’s 1MDB-Linked Cases”

Posted on

Falcon Bank’s Former Singapore Manager Sent to Prison in 1MDB Probe

By P.R. VENKAT
Wall Street Journal
Jan. 11, 2017

The former branch manager is the fourth person to go to prison in the city-state’s probe of a Malaysian state investment fund

A Singapore court Wednesday sentenced a former branch manager of Switzerland’s Falcon Private Bank AG to prison for crimes connected to the alleged multibillion-dollar misappropriation at Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.

Jens Sturzenegger, 42, a Swiss national who managed Falcon’s Singapore unit, was charged last week with 16 offenses under various laws, including one that requires banks and their officers to enact due-diligence checks on clients to prevent money laundering.

The court Wednesday handed a 28-week prison sentence and a fine of 128,000 Singapore dollars (US$89,000) to Mr. Sturzenegger after he pleaded guilty to six offenses. These include three counts of providing false information to police and central bank authorities, and three counts of failing to report suspicious transactions. The remaining charges were taken into consideration in his sentencing but won’t be pursued separately by the prosecution.

While the charges didn’t directly link Mr. Sturzenegger to fund flows at 1Malaysia Development Bhd., Singapore’s central bank and regulator had said in October that the branch manager had been arrested that month in connection with the city-state’s probe into the alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars from the Malaysian fund. Prosecutors have called the investigation Singapore’s largest-ever probe of alleged money laundering. Continue reading “Falcon Bank’s Former Singapore Manager Sent to Prison in 1MDB Probe”

Posted on

Will Malaysia slide down to its lowest ranking and score in 22 years in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2016 which will be released in a fortnight’s time?

Will Malaysia slide down to its lowest ranking and score in 22 years in Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2016 which will be released in a fortnight’s time?

I do dread the TI CPI 2016 release, as the past year had been one of the worst years on the corruption front for Malaysia.

Malaysia which dropped four places in the TI CPI 2016, falling from No. 50 to No. 54, and the CPI score slipped from 52 in 2014 to 50 in 2015, would have fallen lower in ranking in TI CPI 2015 if five countries, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Puerto Rico and St Vincent – which had been ranked higher than Malaysia – had not been excluded due to technical reasons like not meeting three minimum secondary sources for research.

The TI CPI 2015 had not taken into account the last bad news on the Malaysian corruption front on the last few days of the 2015, when Malaysia was rated third in international website, foreignpolicy.com’s “worst corruption scandal in 2015”. Continue reading “Will Malaysia slide down to its lowest ranking and score in 22 years in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2016 which will be released in a fortnight’s time?”

Posted on

1MDB scandal: Federal Police assisting probes into Malaysia’s wealth fund

ABC News
10th January 2017

1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, is the subject of money laundering investigations in at least six other countries including Switzerland, Singapore and the United States.

Civil lawsuits filed by the US Department of Justice allege more than $US3.5 billion ($4.76 billion) was misappropriated from the fund.

The lawsuits seek to seize $US1 billion ($1.36 billion) in assets allegedly siphoned off from 1MDB and diverted into luxury real estate in New York, Beverly Hills and London, valuable paintings, and a private jet.

Mr Najib, who also chaired 1MDB’s advisory board, has denied wrongdoing and said Malaysia would cooperate with international investigations.

“The AFP is aware of allegations relating to companies associated with 1MDB and have assisted our foreign law enforcement partners with their investigations in relation to a number of these matters,” the AFP told Reuters. Continue reading “1MDB scandal: Federal Police assisting probes into Malaysia’s wealth fund”