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Najib: Dr M behind WSJ report

The Malay Mail Online
Friday July 3, 2015 11:49 PM GMT+8

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak accused Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad of working with foreigners to produce the Wall Street Journal report accusing the former of receiving funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

In arguably the most direct attack against his most vocal critic, Najib said the latest allegation against him was just another in the series of claims made by Dr Mahathir in his campaign to oust the prime minister.

“The latest allegation is that I have taken state-linked funds for personal gain. I believe Tun, working hand in glove with foreign nationals, including the now discredited political attack blog Sarawak Report, is behind this latest lie,” Najib wrote on Facebook today.

“These attacks began when I refused to implement Tun Mahathir’s personal demands. I refused, because I do not believe it is right for Malaysia to be ruled by proxy.”

Pointing out that all the attacks against him and 1MDB were not been backed by evidence, Najib said it was clear that they were part of a concerted campaign to sabotage and remove him as the democratically-elected prime minister of Malaysia. Continue reading “Najib: Dr M behind WSJ report”

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Muhyiddin should ask Najib to go on leave and to let a three-man committee of national elders comprising Tuns Mahathir, Abdullah and Musa to decide whether, and the conditions, for Najib to resume duties as PM before resolution of WSJ allegations

Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should ask for a meeting with Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak not only behalf of the Cabinet, but also of Parliament and the country to ask him to go on leave as Prime Minister following the sensational allegations of the Wall Street Journal against Najib.

The WSJ allegations that Malaysian investigators have traced nearly US$700 million of deposits into what they believe are personal bank accounts of Najib, marking the first time Najib has been directly connected to investigation into the troubled state investment fund, 1MDB.

“The government probe documents what investigators believe to be the movement of cash among government agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB before it ended up in Mr Najib’s personal accounts,” WSJ reports.

“Documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal include bank transfer forms and flow charts put together by government investigators that reflect their understanding of the path of the cash.”

These allegations are most far-reaching in scope and implication, in particular on good governance and public integrity and accountability, plunging the country into an unprecedented crisis which had never been experienced in Malaysia, as no Prime Minister in Malaysia had ever been singled out in the fashion like Najib for Prime Ministerial misconduct. Continue reading “Muhyiddin should ask Najib to go on leave and to let a three-man committee of national elders comprising Tuns Mahathir, Abdullah and Musa to decide whether, and the conditions, for Najib to resume duties as PM before resolution of WSJ allegations”

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Can Najib start by being fair to Malaysians and answer all the questions about the RM42billion 1MDB scandal?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is depressed, complaining that the media had not been fair to him, giving as an example the news reports about Tabung Haji’s purchase of Tun Razak Exchange land from 1MDB on the last day of campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election which affected votes.

Either Najib has a short memory or he has again allowed his highly-paid “P.R. consultants” to mislead him, for the news story of Tabung Haji’s purchase of Tun Razak Exchange land broke too late on the social media on the last day of the Permatang Pauh by-election to have significant impact.

This is why all the post-Permatang Pauh by-election result analysis unanimously omitted reference to the impact of the story of the Tabung Haji purchase of TRX land, or Umno/Barisan Nasional would have lost by a shattering margin, with the PKR candidate Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Ismail winning with a majority ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 votes and not just 8,841 votes in the by-election.

I agree that Najib is entitled to fair treatment by the media but what is he doing to ensure that the Barisan Nasional-owned and controlled media, both print and online, are fair to Opposition leaders? Continue reading “Can Najib start by being fair to Malaysians and answer all the questions about the RM42billion 1MDB scandal?”

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Cabinet Ministers must individually and collectively explain when and why they had approved a further US$4.71 billion (RM17.8 billion) government guarantee for IPIC loans as latest bailout for 1MDB

1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has lost out in the public argument with DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua over whether there is a government guarantee amounting to US$4.71 billion (RM17.8 billion) to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) with regard to IPIC loans in the latest bailout of IMDB.

This is also the judgment of the founding editor of KiniBiz, P. Gunasegaram who, in his article “A new RM17.8 bil twist in 1MDB ‘guarantee’” on Monday, concluded:

“On all accounts, Pua is right and 1MDB is wrong – it is 1MDB which is misleading the people, not Pua.”

Gunasegaram fully agreed with Pua that IPIC’s statement to London Stock Exchange on 10th June meant that the Ministry of Finance now also assumes the obligation together with 1MDB to transfer assets totalling US$4.71 billion, which means “the MOF is effectively undertaking to fulfil the obligation, not just 1MDB”.

Even Gunasegaram asked: “Why was such an important point not disclosed?” Continue reading “Cabinet Ministers must individually and collectively explain when and why they had approved a further US$4.71 billion (RM17.8 billion) government guarantee for IPIC loans as latest bailout for 1MDB”

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Is it the Prime Minister’s idea to direct the Auditor-General to audit the 1MDB accounts accompanied by a secret directive to the AG not to make the interim report public?

Is it the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s idea to direct the Auditor-General to audit the debt-laden 1MDB accounts, accompanied by a secret directive to the Auditor-General not to make the report public?

Such an arrangement defeats the very purpose and principles of an open, accountable and transparent governance which have “Nothing2Hide” as far the controversial 1MDB’s affairs are concerned as well as destroys the original rationale of asking the Auditor-General to vet 1MDB’s finances to demonstrate that the Prime Minister and his Government are prepared to withstand the most intense scrutiny.

Earlier Auditor General, Tan Sri Ambrin Buang has said that the interim report of the audit of the 1MDB would be ready in June.

This is 1st July and the interim report of the Auditor-General on the 1MDB is still being awaited.

The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad has said that the Auditor-General’s interim report on the 1MDB would not be made public, but only to be distributed to the PAC members.

This is unsatisfactory and unacceptable. Continue reading “Is it the Prime Minister’s idea to direct the Auditor-General to audit the 1MDB accounts accompanied by a secret directive to the AG not to make the interim report public?”

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Annuar Musa should be sacked as MARA Chairman as he had failed the MARA Vision for MARA to be “an outstanding organization of trust, upholding the nation’s pride” and spearhead new breakthroughs for Bumiputeras

The AGE report last Tuesday (23 June) on the MARA Inc. property scams, particularly over the Dudley International House apartment block in Melbourne, which was acquired with A$22.5 million (RM65.4 million) MARA funds, but involving a bribe of A$4.75 million (RM13.8 million), as well as investigations into MARA Inc’s other Australian properties, has opened up a can of worms of abuses of power, criminal breach of trust and corruption in MARA.

I had earlier asked whether Datuk Seri Annuar Musa would resign as MARA Chairman to take responsibility for MARA’s international corruption scandal and to pioneer a culture of responsibility for government leaders and captains of statutory boards and corporations.

In his response on Saturday, Annuar said there was no need for him to quit over the allegations of corruption of MARA’s property purchases in Australia, as his term as MARA chairperson would expire in two weeks’ time.

True, Annuar’s tenure as MARA Chairman ends on July 18, but the events of the past eight days since The Age expose last Tuesday seem to point inexorably to one conclusion: that Annuar should be sacked as MARA Chairman as he has failed the mission entrusted to him to fulfil the MARA Vision to ensure that under his chairmanship, MARA is an “outstanding organization of trust, upholding the nation’s pride” and spearhead new breakthroughs for bumiputeras in the fields of entrepreneurship, education and investment.

The abuses, malpractices and criminal offences in the MARA property scams in Australia are gross violations of the MARA Vision to be “an outstanding organization of trust, upholding the nation’s pride” – as under Annuar‘s chairmanship, MARA has degenerated into a “disgraceful organisation in criminal breach of trust, representing the nation’s shame” not only in Malaysia but in the international arena!

Even worse, the MARA property corruption scandal has dragged into the international mud not only the reputation of MARA, but also the good name of Malaysia and the Federal Government, as well as the professionalism and integrity of the nation’s anti-corruption agency, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Continue reading “Annuar Musa should be sacked as MARA Chairman as he had failed the MARA Vision for MARA to be “an outstanding organization of trust, upholding the nation’s pride” and spearhead new breakthroughs for Bumiputeras”

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What WILL break the camel’s back?

Hussein Hamid
30/06/2015

Scandal after scandal but still the ruling party and its leaders continue to hold control over us. What make Malaysians wake up to the rot that is now all around them?

Last week saw the Mara Dudley House corruption story break in Melbourne and the arrest of Xavier Justo Andre in Bangkok. As in all things Malaysian, however tenuous and fragile the link, all things lead back to the Prime Minister Najib Razak – and rightly so.

The troubles that beset Najib’s administration are self inflicted. They are not caused by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, not by Lim Kit Siang or by Hadi Awang. Nor were the Chinese or the Christians responsible.

The state of the global economy can be labelled a contributing factor only because in good times corruption and bad governance by inept politicians can be ignored or simply papered over as the rakyat’s attention can be distracted by the feel good spending by the government on projects that seemingly benefit the public.

But at a time when money is a premium and the lack of it is already being felt by those most in need of it – the millions being lost through capers such as the Mara Dudley House purchase and the 1MDB stretches the ability of the rakyat to tolerate anymore what Barisan Nasional is doing in the name of government.

The question is without doubt more pressing when the ailing opposition Pakatan Rakyat is in no position to offer a credible alternative. Continue reading “What WILL break the camel’s back?”

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Is Shabery prepared to have a debate with Tony Pua on TV on 1MDB to gauge whether Pua has popular support for his sterling role in demanding accountability and transparency in the 1MDB scandal?

The UMNO/Barisan Nasional agenda to remove DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua from Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearings on the 1MDB scandal is still on stream and seeking to gather greater support, enlisting Ministerial endorsement after the campaign opener by Prime Minister’s choice lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and former Cabinet Minister and PAC Chairman Datuk Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad.

This is why the Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Shabery Cheek has waded into the 1MDB/PAC controversy to spearhead the UMNO/BN guerrilla campaign and tactics demanding that Pua be removed from the PAC hearings on the 1MDB scandal.

Shabery claimed that by his outspokenness on the 1MDB scandal, Pua had “not only shamed the PAC, but also the parliamentary system itself and was no longer qualified to sit in the PAC”.

Shabery was quite hysterical when he charged: “He (Pua) makes biased statements, he should be ashamed, his party should be ashamed, his supporters and those associated with him should also feel ashamed.”

Shabery has indeed made a sorry spectacle of himself.

It is Shabery who should be thoroughly ashamed, and UMNO/BN and the Cabinet who should feel ashamed, for his hysteria and spearheading the UMNO/BN guerrilla campaign and tactics to remove Pua from PAC hearings on 1MDB scandal. Continue reading “Is Shabery prepared to have a debate with Tony Pua on TV on 1MDB to gauge whether Pua has popular support for his sterling role in demanding accountability and transparency in the 1MDB scandal?”

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MACC should do soul-searching why its credibility on war against corruption in high political places is zero and explain why it has failed to land a single shark in the past six years

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should come out of its cushy air-conditioned offices and go to the ground and do a soul-searching why its credibility on the war against corruption in high political places is zero, whether the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, the MARA property corruption scandal blowing up in Melbourne or the recent Wall Street Journal expose that 1MDB funds were used to bankroll Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s campaign in the 13th general elections.

It is a reflection of the MACC’s utter lack of credibility and impotence as far as fighting corruption in high political places is concerned that 10 days after the Wall Street Journal report (June 19) on electoral abuses and corruption in the 13th General Elections, several NGOs, led by Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0), Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) and Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) had to gather at the MACC to demand action by the anti-corruption agency yesterday.

What have the MACC officials been doing in the past 10 days over the WSJ report?

Just twiddling thumbs?

Have MACC officers called in the officers and personnel from 1MDB, Genting Plantations and Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia (YRIM) in the past 10 days to begin investigations arising from the Wall Street Journal report?

Has the MACC opened a file to investigate whether Najib as Prime Minister had misused his position and channel funds from 1MDB to bankroll his 13GE campaign?

Or has absolutely nothing been done on the Wall Street Journal report in the past 10 days? Continue reading “MACC should do soul-searching why its credibility on war against corruption in high political places is zero and explain why it has failed to land a single shark in the past six years”

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Malaysians owe debt of eternal gratitude to Wan Junaidi who resolved week-long mystery about allegations of Justo’s 1MDB “tampered emails” – no evidence whatsoever but just “logical assumption”!

Malaysians owe the Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar a debt of eternal gratitude for he has resolved a mystery which had vexed thinking Malaysians for a week – the allegations of about 1MDB “tampered emails” which surfaced after the arrest of Swiss national and former PetroSaudi International (PSI) IT executive, Xavier Andre Justo at a house in Koh Samui, Thailand the previous Monday (June 22).

Type in “1MDB tampered email” in Google search and there will be scores of news report about the allegations about “tampered emails” associated with the 1MDB scandal – all a week-old vintage after Justo’s arrest.

For months and years since the surfacing of the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, nobody had ever raised the issue of “tampered emails”.

Even after shocking expose four months ago when the whistleblower website Sarawak Report in its article “Heist of the Century” of Feb. 28 announced that together with London Sunday Times, they have completed an in-depth investigation into “thousands of documents and emails” relating to the transactions by 1MDB, including its initial joint venture with the little-known oil company PetroSaudi International from 2009, nobody had breathed a word about “tampered emails”.

Even the police report lodged in the United Kingdom at the London Police’s National Fraud and Cyber Crime Report Centre by PSI on March 1 was not about “tampered emails” but about confidential emails and servers had been hacked into and the contents made public.

Why did the issue of “tampered emails” burst into the public domain and only after the arrest of Justo, but only in Malaysia but not elsewhere in the world and not even in Thailand where Justo was arrested for blackmail – with one Minister after another assuming that it is Gospel truth and threatening action against the media and all and sundry who spoke up on the 1MDB scandal? Continue reading “Malaysians owe debt of eternal gratitude to Wan Junaidi who resolved week-long mystery about allegations of Justo’s 1MDB “tampered emails” – no evidence whatsoever but just “logical assumption”!”

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A new RM17.8 bil twist in 1MDB ‘guarantee’

P. GUNASEGARAM
KiniBiz
JUNE 29, 2015

TIGERTALK

Tony Pua and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) are in dispute over whether there’s a government guarantee or not over US$4.71 bil (RM17.8 bil) IPIC loans to the latter. But taking off the semantics and just maintaining the meaning shows Pua is clearly right.

Latest developments at self-styled strategic development company 1MDB indicates yet again that it is not fully forthcoming on the problems that are affecting it, in this case a loan and guarantee arrangement between 1MDB and Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS involving US$4.5 billion (RM17 billion).

MP Tony Pua first highlighted this referring to a London Stock Exchange (LSE) statement by IPIC on changes to its debt settlement arrangements with IPIC. Presumably, since IPIC is an international borrower whose debts are listed on the LSE, it had to make those disclosures to the exchange.

That IPIC statement clearly sets out obligations under the debt settlement agreement. Essentially, the terms covered were as follows:

*on 4 June 2015, IPIC provided US$1 billion to 1MDB for it to immediately settle some liabilities. On the same day IPIC assumed obligations to pay (on an interim basis) all interest due under two IPIC guaranteed 1MDB financings amounting to US$3.5 billion.

*by 30 June 2016, about a year from now, IPIC is to have received a transfer of assets representing the RM1 billion cash payment, the US$3.5 billion debt and any debt forgiveness.

*Upon the completion of the transfer of assets, IPIC will directly assume liability for all payment obligations under the US$3.5 billion debt and forgive certain financial obligations of the 1MDB Group to the IPIC Group.

*Finally, 1MDB and MOF (Ministry of Finance) have agreed to perform the obligations in the binding term sheet and to indemnify IPIC and Aabar for any non-performance, and vice versa. IPIC has met the US1 billion cash payment and will meet the interim interest payments under the US$3.5 billion debt from existing liquidity available.

From the fourth condition, it emerged clearly that the MOF now also assumes liability together with 1MDB for transferring the necessary assets to IPIC. Continue reading “A new RM17.8 bil twist in 1MDB ‘guarantee’”

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National and international shame that Malaysia’s anti-corruption ranking so low when MACC sets world record with the greatest superstructure with the most number of bodies monitoring it to uphold integrity and accountability

It is no use the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board coming out with a sanctimonious statement that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be given room to conduct a full and thorough investigation into the MARA property corruption scandal in Australia, and urging “all parties, including politicians” to refrain from making statements which could jeopardise the image of MACC.

Both the MACC and its Advisory Board should know that it is its own record and performance as an anti-corruption fighter which is the most powerful determinant of its image whether it is a fearless and feared anti-corruption fighter or just a “toothless tiger” as far as the corrupt among the “high and mighty” in the political world is concerned.

Next month is the sixth death anniversary of innocent DAP aide, Teoh Beng Hock, who lost his life in the very sanctum of MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on 16th July 2009, and up to now, no MACC officer has yet been penalised for Teoh’s death.

If MACC cannot even ensure that is officers uphold integrity and accountability in the death of Teoh Beng Hock, is it any wonder that public confidence in the MACC’s commitment to wage an all-out war against corruption and to upold integrity in high political places is virtually non-existent?

The MARA property corruption scandal in Australia will be an acid test whether the MACC is going to start showing that it has teeth and claws as far as fighting the corrupt among the high and mighty in the political world is concerned, or that MACC is only capable of abusing the powers as in the deaths of Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbani Mohamad in April 2011. Continue reading “National and international shame that Malaysia’s anti-corruption ranking so low when MACC sets world record with the greatest superstructure with the most number of bodies monitoring it to uphold integrity and accountability”

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MACC may be guilty of gross incompetence and inefficiency if after tip-off in March, it still have to sent officer to Melbourne to investigate MARA Inc property corruption as if fresh from scratch

I could not believe my eyes when I read the Bernama report in The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

Entitled “Mara Inc to open doors to Melbourne property deal probe”, the report quoted the MARA Inc Chairman Datuk Mohammad Lan Allani and the MARA Inc Chief Executive Officer Datuk Abdul Halim Rahim in a joint statement as saying:

“We welcome any investigation or inquiry in respect to our investment, locally and internationally.

“We will pledge our full cooperation and assistance to the relevant authorities for a fair and transparent investigation on the matter or any other matters in respect of MARA Incorporated Sdn Bhd”.

What impertinence! What impudence! Continue reading “MACC may be guilty of gross incompetence and inefficiency if after tip-off in March, it still have to sent officer to Melbourne to investigate MARA Inc property corruption as if fresh from scratch”

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Empire Strikes Back (Part IV) – is the script for 1MDB executives Arul and Shahrol to walk out of PAC hearings, probably escorted by Shafee as their counsel, and boycott of PAC proceedings on 1MDB on the ground that Tony Pua has not stepped down as PAC member?

The highly-paid Public Relations Consultants of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and 1MDB (as Najib is both in law and fact the final approving authority of 1MDB) have gone into an overdrive of offensives since the arrest of former PetroSaudi International (PSI) IT executive, Xavier Andre Justo in Thailand six days ago for attempting to blackmail his former employer on leaked information.

One can already discern four chapters in “The Empire Strikes Back” offensives overdrive:

Chapter 1 – the arrest of the 49-year-old Justo, a Swiss national and former PSI IT executive at around 3 pm on Monday (June 22) at a house in Koh Samui, Thailand with computers, hard drives and other data storage devices.

Chapter 2 – Campaign of demonisation and character-assassination of Justo led by UMNO media like the New Straits Times portraying Justo as a “hedonistic” and “greedy” blackmailer with a photograph of him covered in tattoos on its front-page.

Chapter 3 – Vague and unsubstantiated allegations by Malaysian Cabinet Ministers of tampered leaked information about the 1MDB scandal and threats by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi against the media under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) for reporting “tampered” and inaccurate facts about the 1MDB scandal, again without any substantiation of these allegations.

Are we now in Chapter 4 of “The Empire Strikes Back”, featuring Najib’s choice prosecutor Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who accomplished the mission to ensure that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is now incarcerated in Sungai Buloh prison as a result of Anwar’s Sodomy II trial. Continue reading “Empire Strikes Back (Part IV) – is the script for 1MDB executives Arul and Shahrol to walk out of PAC hearings, probably escorted by Shafee as their counsel, and boycott of PAC proceedings on 1MDB on the ground that Tony Pua has not stepped down as PAC member?”

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Emails are not the cause of 1MDB’s financial troubles, but we will defer to the home minister

BY THE EDGE MALAYSIA
The Malaysian Insider
27 June 2015

There are now allegations that emails published by The Edge in recent months about certain dealings between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International were doctored and forged.

This follows the arrest of a former top PetroSaudi executive in Thailand on accusations that he extorted his ex-employer.

Certain media have also quoted unnamed security experts as saying the emails were tampered with or forged.

As a consequence, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has issued a warning that The Edge could be suspended. Continue reading “Emails are not the cause of 1MDB’s financial troubles, but we will defer to the home minister”

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Both Annuar Musa and MACC should explain whether MARA and MACC have received earlier tip-off about corruption of MARA Inc property purchase in Melbourne, and if so, why no action until The Age expose on Tuesday

The Najib administration continues to tie itself in knots, in one scandal after another.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday that MARA officials named in Australian newspaper The Age’s report on the Melbourne property scandal are innocent until proven guilty.

He said no action can be taken against them based on a “trial by media” as they must be thoroughly investigated first.
“No action has been taken against them yet. Investigation must be done to determine whether they broke the law,” Najib told a press conference after chairing Umno’s supreme council meeting.

“We cannot take action based on suspicion or a trial by media or social media. It must be based on the rule of law. You are deemed innocent until proven guilty.”

He said the government would remain transparent over the case and assured that the scandal would be thoroughly investigated.

This is very different from the tenor of the statement made by the MARA Chairman, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday to submit several documents relating to the purchase of properties in Australia by MARA Inc. Continue reading “Both Annuar Musa and MACC should explain whether MARA and MACC have received earlier tip-off about corruption of MARA Inc property purchase in Melbourne, and if so, why no action until The Age expose on Tuesday”

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1MDB Scandal – The Empire Strikes Back after four months

Since the arrest of the former PetroSaudi International (PSI) IT executive in Koh Samui, Thailand at around 3 pm on Monday (June 22) for attempting to blackmail his former employer on leaked information, we have seen “The Empire Strikes Back” on the six-year 1MDB scandal in Malaysia.

Suddenly, some Ministers have becoming quite articulate on the 1MDB scandal, with the Home Minister Datuk Zahid Hamidi claiming ominously that the former PSI executive Xavier Andre Justo in his interrogation by Thai police had implicated several Malaysians who had asked him to manipulate the leaked information which was passed to whistleblower site Sarawak Report.

He even said Putrajaya was prepared to extradite these individuals if there is request from Bangkok.

Zahid also threatened to act against local media that used the leaked information which had been the source of unremitting embarrassment to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak since the end of February when the Sarawak Report website and London’s Sunday Times newspaper reported in-depth investigations into the trail of the missing 1MDB missing billions after gaining 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.

PSI’s leaked information included communications with 1MDB that had embroiled the latter in controversy as it highlighted questionable transfer of funds to a company controlled by Malaysian billionaire Jho Low, who is close to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s family.

PSI and 1MDB have yet to deny these allegations but both insisted that it is based on “tampered” evidence.

Zahid appears to be unfazed when a police source from Thailand’s crime suppression division, which arrested Justo, told Malaysiakini that Interpol and the Malaysian authorities were not involved in the investigation. Continue reading “1MDB Scandal – The Empire Strikes Back after four months”

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Why did Annuar make the U-turn in 48 hours from National Economic Council chaired by Najib approving the Melbourne Dudley Street property deal by Mara Inc to Najib opposing the Melbourne purchase?

MARA Chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa should explain why he made the U-turn in 48 hours from saying at his media conference on Wednesday that the National Economic Council chaired by the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had approved the Melbourne Dudley Street property deal by MARA Inc. to his statement today that Najib had actually opposed the Melbourne purchase?

Annuar should know that this is the 21st century and Information Age and he cannot just behave like monarchs of olden days when information could be controlled and manipulated for him to wilfully and arbitrarily insist that he had never said what he had actually uttered, or that he had been misunderstood or his statements had been twisted when what he said was crystal-clear.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Annuar could complain that the latter’s statement had been “twisted” by news portals like Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider to mean that Najib had personally approved the purchase, when the decision to buy Dudley House in Melbourne was made by the National Economic Council by consensus.

Or in the subsequent words of Annuar in his Facebook: ‘There is no question of approval by any individual, including the prime minister. As I said, it was approved by the National Economic Council and done according to procedure. I hope this is clear.”

Najib and Annuar were only trying to quibble that it is wrong to say that Najib had given approval for the Dudley House purchase when it was decided by the National Economic Council by consensus although chaired by Najib. Continue reading “Why did Annuar make the U-turn in 48 hours from National Economic Council chaired by Najib approving the Melbourne Dudley Street property deal by Mara Inc to Najib opposing the Melbourne purchase?”

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Call on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to review the decision not to investigate serious allegation of 1MDB’s indirect funding of BN’s 13GE campaign

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) should review its decision not to investigate the serious allegation of 1MDB’s indirect funding of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) 13th General Election campaign with public funds.

It is surprising that the PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed has decided that the PAC would not investigate into the 1MDB’s indirect funding of BN’s 13th General Election campaign, telling Malay Mail Online that it was premature to claim wrongdoing in Genting Plantations’ US$10 million donation to a Barisan Nasional-linked charity, Yayasan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (YR1M) which used the funds for the 13GE campaigning.

After the Wall Street Journal expose, “Fund Controversy Threatens Malaysia’s Leader” last Friday that Genting Plantations contributed US$10 million to YR1M after its parent sold a power plant to 1MDB five times its actual value for RM23 billion when the plant was only worth RM400 million, it was naïve for Jazlan to say that Genting Plantations could have made the donation for a variety of reasons, including CSR (corporate social responsibility).

Although Jazlan said there is nothing wrong with corporates making CSR contributions, the PAC will be seriously remiss and negligent of its parliamentary duties to uphold probity and integrity in the handling public funds if it ignores the prima facie case that grave impropriety in expenditure of public funds had been committed in 1MDB’s indirect funding of BN’s 13th General Election campaign.

PAC must get to the bottom of the Wall Street Journal report that 1MDB paid inflated prices for energy assets from Genting Group whose subsidiary later contributed to YR1M that is linked to BN and which featured during the campaign for the 13GE. Continue reading “Call on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to review the decision not to investigate serious allegation of 1MDB’s indirect funding of BN’s 13GE campaign”

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Will 1MDB fallout push Najib out?

By P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
Jun 18, 2015

QUESTION TIME 1MDB’s impact on the financial markets is more than just worry about whether potential defaults will impact the banking system and whether the government’s finances will be adversely affected when it stands by to honour 1MDB’s many obligations.

These questions have been largely answered – the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, has already said that 1MDB does not pose a systemic risk to the domestic banking sector, although it may depress the profits of some banks.

Various analysts believe that the federal government, which owns all of 1MDB through Minister of Finance Inc, has the capacity to take care of 1MDB’s obligations, which amount to RM42 billion.

So why is the ringgit more depressed than it should be and what is really the concern about the situation in the country? The problem is not directly related to the economy but politics. An increasing number of people are considering how the overall political situation in the country will change if Najib Abdul Razak, for whatever reason, decides to step down.

It is more than likely that it is the political situation which is causing the ringgit to be even more volatile than the currencies of other countries that have yo-yoed against the US dollar, but generally trended downwards against the greenback. That the US dollar is strengthening is indisputable, the roots being the strong possibility of upward increases in US interest rates some time later this year. Continue reading “Will 1MDB fallout push Najib out?”