The case against the TPPA

– Liew Chin Tong

The Malaysian Insider

26 January 2016

I have written to the Dewan Rakyat secretary Datuk Roosme, with copies to Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin and DAP whip Loke Siew Fook, on my medical leave from the January 26 and 27 sitting.

I am still recovering from Bell’s palsy, a paralysis of the facial nerves.

If I were present, I would have voted against the TPPA, alongside with other DAP and Pakatan Harapan MPs.

I probably would ask for a chance to speak against the deal too.

Much as I regretted my absence at this critical vote, I am comforted by the fact that DAP does have very strong and well-informed speakers for the debate.

Charles Santiago has been a long-time opponent to unfair trade deals.

I just read Dr Ong Kian Ming’s presentation on the TPPA, which he presented to the DAP retreat on January 16 and 17. I am very impressed by the comprehensiveness and his grasp of the subject matter.

I suspect he is one of the very few inside and outside Parliament who have read all the relevant documents.

A woman entrepreneur came to me at the clinic where I undergo acupuncture treatment. She said she was utterly confused about the TPPA.

And that’s the whole trouble. There isn’t genuine and candid debate.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak wants to get it passed because it maintains his standing in the eyes of the US while also extracting all sorts of benefits and deals with China, such as the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) power and land deals.

US President Barack Obama wants to get it done as such deals help US industries to export.

More investment?

International Trade and Industries Minister Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamed’s argument that the TPPA will generate higher investment is fictional.

First, Malaysia’s challenge is not the lack of FDI. Malaysian institutions have so much funds that allow them to participate in property speculations in London or Australia. Something is very wrong here.

The Malaysian private sector has also funds and resources to invest. What they lack is confidence in the future of the Malaysian economy.

Second, the real challenge for the Malaysian economy is to upgrade skills, productivity and wages.

There is no point to attract FDIs that hire only unskilled foreign labour.

The TPPA is not going to help Malaysia to end the low wage, low skill, low productivity vicious cycle.

GDP growth?

And the argument that the GDP will grow through the TPPA is also not true.

Quality growth can only come when Malaysia is competing against Korea for technologies and not competing with Vietnam or Indonesia for cheap labour.

Najib’s argument that if we don’t sign on to the TPPA, Vietnam or others will reap the benefits or fill the vacuum just shows that he doesn’t understand economics.

Sectorial benefits

Yes, some sectors may benefit from the TPPA: textiles, automotive, E&E.

Tell me where our textile industry is. My answer is: a tiny presence in Batu Pahat with the rest of them owned by Malaysians, situated in Vietnam.

In other words, there is hardly any textile industry in Malaysia, anyway.

How about automotive? Worldwide the automotive industry is a sunset industry.

With climate change a serious challenge and with the Paris Agreement slowly coming into implementation, car industry won’t go too far.

And, you think suddenly US consumers would turn to Proton as their car of choice?

The E&E sector may benefit from the deal.

But again, with or without the TPPA, if the E&E sector is competing with Korea and not Vietnam or Indonesia, it really doesn’t matter if you sign on to the TPPA or not.

Transparency?

Some argue that the TPPA promotes transparency domestically.

One must understand the nature of trade deals.

Trade deals are negotiated by governments, each of them has their constituents and lobbyists to deal with.

The TPPA is a wish list of US lobbyists/ corporations plus a wish list of those governments involved.

The jargon is “carve-outs”. There is nothing in a trade deal that promotes “free” trade.

Never expect a foreign trade deal to bring transparency.

I won’t go into the question of cost to Malaysia as many have written excellent analysis on medical cost, governments being sued by corporations, etc.

I urge all to vote against the TPPA. – January 26, 2016.

* Liew Chin Tong is DAP political education director and Kluang MP.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 27 January 2016, 7:37 am and is filed under
Parliament
,
TPPA
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


MH370 tragedy – will relatives of the 239 passengers and crew who perished on 8th March 2014 receive proper compensation for their loss?

Every time MH370 slips out of the newspapers, it is brought sharply back into focus by the emergence of another lead as to its final resting place.

In August 2015, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak assured Malaysians that debris found near the Reunion Islands, in the Indian Ocean, was “conclusively confirmed” to be from MH370.

However, just a few days ago, news reports suggested that debris washed up in Southern Thailand could have come from MH 370.

Will Malaysians and the world ever find out what happened to MH370?

Will the relatives of the 239 passengers and crew on board MH370 on that fateful flight on 8th March 2014 ever receive compensation for their loss?

The second question may be answered more readily than the first.

The law firm of Podhurst Orseck P.A., which is based in Miami, USA and specializes in aviation law, is representing some 50 passengers of MH370 in a suit to be filed shortly in the Malaysian Courts against MAS and the Government of Malaysia, to claim compensation under the Montreal Convention for the families of those 50 passengers.

The Montreal Convention allows higher damages to be awarded, and makes it more difficult, for MAS to limit its liability for the death of these passengers.

This lawsuit must be filed by 1st March 2016.

Only 1 Malaysian passenger’s family is represented in that law suit.

There were other 37 Malaysian passengers and 12 crew members on board MH370, whose families also deserve compensation.

I would urge them to immediately contact Mr. Roy Altman of Messrs Podhurst Orseck S.A at +1 305358 2800 /
[email protected]
 so that they can join in this law suit.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 28 January 2016, 8:56 am and is filed under
MH 370
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Will AG Apandi institute criminal defamation proceeding in  any one of the following five criminal defamation cases against DAP leaders?

Yesterday, the Pandan MP and PKR vice president, Rafizi Rami was found guilty of criminal defamation by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court and fined RM1,800 –  RM200 short of the RM2,000 fine which would have resulted in his disqualification as Member of Parliament and a parliamentary by-election.

In my five decades in Malaysian politics, DAP leaders and I have often been  the target of criminal defamation by our political opponents, particularly from, but not confined to,  UMNO quarters.

I will like to ask the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, whether criminal defamation proceedings would be instituted in any one of the following five cases of criminal defamation against DAP leaders, viz:

1.	Accusation that I had caused the May 13, 1969 racial riots in Kuala Lumpur, leading illegal street processions in Kuala Lumpur with anti-Malay slogans and abuses when I was never in Kuala Lumpur in the relevant period – as I was in Malacca where I was elected as Member of Parliament on May 11 and 12, 1969  and Kota Kinabalu on May 13 to campaign for independent candidates in Sabah as polling in Sabah was a week after Peninsular Malaysia, facts which would still  be in the  police archives.

2.	That DAP was opposed to Article 3 of the Malaysian Constitution and wanted to create a Christian Malaysia, which was a downright lie as the proposal of a Christian Malaysia was never  broached at any party function at any level or by any DAP leader in 50 years of DAP.

3.	That the Israelis offered RM1.2 billion to DAP for the 13th General Election campaign in exchange for DAP agreement for an Israeli naval base in Port Dickson, a complete concoction without any iota of truth.

4.	That the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and the DAP/Pakatan Harapan Penang State Government had approved a casino license, a total lie as the authority to approve casino license was under the jurisdiction and in the hands of the Federal Government and not State Government.

5.	That DAP supported Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) because the Chinese control trade in Malaysia.

DAP and DAP leaders have been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam although DAP had always been a multi-racial and multi-religious political party, with Malays and Muslims as DAP State Assemblymen and Members of Parliament in the five-decade history of the party.

Is there another case in the country’s history where a political leader was prepared to sacrifice his position as Member of Parliament and all his parliamentary pension rights, as well as go to jail, disenfranchised of his constitutional right to stand for elections and even to vote for five years after release from prison – all in  the defence of  the honour, dignity and human rights of an underaged girl of another race and religion as in the case of Lim Guan Eng?

Neither UMNO nor Barisan Nasional could come out with another such an example, but yet UMNO leaders and propagandists  have no qualms in  accusing the DAP of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, without having to face the charge of criminal defamation in the courts!

The decision yesterday by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali  exonerating the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak from any wrongdoing in the two scandals of RM2.6 billion political  “donation” and RM42 million from SRC International transferred into Najib’s personal bank accounts have brought the Rule of Law to its lowest point in the nation’s history.

Just as Najib had been proven wrong when he declared in his 2016 New Year Message that his world-class twin mega scandals, which caused Malaysia to be ranked third in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015”, had been resolved and were no more issues in the country, the Prime Minister cannot be more wrong when he said that the cases of his world-class “twin mega scandals” had been closed and that the country could now  “move on”.

It is no exaggeration to say that public esteem and credibility for the office of the Attorney-General had never fallen so low in the 58-year history of the nation as yesterday.

Apart from his dubious decision to exonerate Najib of any wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal and the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International to his personal bank accounts, Apandi’s announcement that Najib had returned US$620 million to the Saudi royal family who were the alleged original donor raised doubts about  the AG’s credibility to new lows.

Apandi must produce proof that Najib had returned US$620 million to Saudi royal family and what happened to the remainder of the US$41million in Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation scandal if the Attorney-General wants his version to be believed.

Or has Apandi no proof whatsoever for the above two transactions? If so, the competence and professionalism of Apandi as Attorney-General comes under immediate question!

For over six months after the Wall Street Journal expose on July 2 last year, Najib was criticized, castigated and crucified locally and internationally for the RMRM2.6 billion “donation” into his personal banking accounts.

Why didn’t Najib let it be known that in fact, he had returned RM2.03 billion to the Saudi royal family, two months after the May 2013 general election?

The former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, never knew that RM2.6 billion had been deposited into Najib’s personal banking accounts, and until he was sacked as DPM on 28th July 2015, never knew that Najib had returned R$M2.03 billion to the Saudi royal family.

The new Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi also never knew that Najib had returned RM2.03 billion to the Saudi royal family in August 2013, as he conspicuously omitted such a reference when he said publicly in August last year that he had met the representatives of the “donor from the Middle East”, who told him that the RM2.6 billion donation was “a sign of thanks for Malaysia’s fight against terrorism”.

Something is very wrong with the Malaysian Government when the Prime Minister had no trust in the past and present Deputy Prime Minister as not to let them know that he had returned RM2.03 billion donation as far back as August 2013!

Something is also very wrong with our parliamentary democracy where I could be suspended from Parliament for six months for basically demanding answer from the Prime Minister to a question all Malaysians are asking, “Mana RM2.6 billion?”, while those who must bear responsibility for the twin mega scandals in the country could walk in and out Parliament without any restriction or inhibition whatsoever.

Selayang is the 75th parliamentary constituency that I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22 to feel the pulse of the people on these mega scandals of the Prime Minister. Over the weekend, I had visited the Tebrau, Muar, Bakri, Sri Gading, Parit Sulong, Sekijang and Labis parliamentary constituencies.

What the country needs is a Special Parliament for Najib to give a full and satisfactory accountability for his world-class twin mega scandals and to convince the country and the world his commitment to  integrity and the battle against corruption in high political places.

(Speech at the dialogue organized by Taman Templer DAP constituency centre in Selayang on Wednesday, 27th January 2016 at 8 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 28 January 2016, 11:59 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
DAP
,
Najib Razak
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Does Hadi support Attorney-General Apandi’s decision that Prime Minister Najib has done no wrong in the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals and that the AG has “absolute discretion” on these matters

The one consuming issue in the last three days both in the country and the world about Malaysia  is not the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) rammed through both House of Parliament in a Special Parliament session or the recalibration of the 2016 Budget announced by the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today, but the decision of the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali on Tuesday exonerating Najib of any crime and that no charges would be brought against him in the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals.

Both TPPA and the recalibration of the 2016 Budget were completely overshadowed by the latest scandal emanating from the Attorney-General, which shocked and stunned the nation as to how the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigations and recommendations on the two scandals concerning the RM2.6 billion political donation and RM42 million from SRC International transferred into Najib’s personal bank accounts could be so easily shunted aside by the Attorney-General.

In fact, nobody seemed to have noticed that the TPPA was debated and passed by Dewan Negara today and Najib’s announcement on the recalibration of the 2016 Budget did not receive as much attention as Apandi’s  decision 48 hours ago  to exonerate Najib.

This has resulted in a boiling controversy as to whether the Attorney-General’s decision on Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation scandal and the transfer of  RM42 million from SRC International into Najib’s personal accounts can be legally challenged.

This is the stand taken by Apandi himself, who declared that any questioning of the Attorney-General goes against the Federal Constitution and that it is illegal for any panel or body to be formed for that specific purpose.

Giving Apandi full support are the  sycophantic ministers including the Barisan Nasional strategic communications director, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, former communications and multimedia Minister, Datuk Shabery Cheek who said that the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM42 billion SRC International issues were “clear-cut cases …where laws were not broken” but the worst example of all goes to  the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Azalina Othman who  must take the cake for declaring that Apandi had “absolute discretion and powers” to absolve Najib of any wrongdoing.

But is Apandi’s ruling so completely water-tight and his discretion so absolute that it is constitutionally “impossible” to overturn the Attorney-General’s decision to clear the Prime Minister?

This cannot be the case, or it would make nonsense of the fundamental  legal principle enunciated by Raja Azlan Shah, then acting chief justice of Malaya,  in the 1979 Sri Lempah case, viz:

“Every legal power must have legal limits, otherwise there is dictatorship. In particular, it is a stringent requirement that a discretion should be exercised for a proper purpose, and that it should not be exercised unreasonably. In other words, every discretion cannot be free from legal restraint; where it is wrongly exercised, it becomes the duty of the courts to intervene.”

Is Malaysia going to have two “dictators” – the Prime Minister as a result of the National Security Council bill, and the Attorney-General, claiming “absolute discretion” ala-Apandi?

Apandi plunged Malaysia into murkier waters than the previous six months when the Prime Minister was named as involved in the RM2.6 billion political donation and RM42 million SRC International transferred into Najib’s personal bank accounts scandals – with not only seven foreign countries launching independent probes but the Malaysian Prime Minister the target of investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and US Department of Justice under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010.

Now, it is not  just Malaysia’s system of governance which is dragged into the mud with the Prime Minister implicated in two mega scandals, raising questions about our commitment to the principles of accountability, integrity and good governance, but he justice system and our commitment to the Rule of Law are now under national and international scrutiny with the Attorney-General’s shocking and stunning decision to exonerate the Prime Minister and claim to “absolute discretion”.

Despite Malaysia being embroiled in even murkier waters with our system of governance and now our system of justice coming under national and international microscope, there is still light at the end of the tunnel when  former Federal and  Court of Appeal judges, as well as Malaysia’s foremost jurists and lawyers, are prepared to stand up to challenge  the obnoxious and nefarious doctrine that the Attorney-General has “absolute discretion” to the extent that he could exercise dictatorial powers and not be subject to any check or  review.

As former Bar Council President Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan had said rightly, there is no such thing as an “absolute power in a democracy” as the Attorney-General’s discretion has to be exercised reasonably and after taking into account proper factors.

This is also clearly expounded in the Rosli Dahlan case which is upheld by the Court of Appeal that the Attorney-General’s discretion is not absolute but open to review.

Immediately after the exoneration by the Attorney-General, Najib Razak said that the cases of his mega scandals had  been closed and that its time for Malaysia to “move on”.

Najib cannot be more mistaken.

The events of the last three days have shown that it is impossible for Malaysia to move on unless  and until – apart from the original world-class twin mega scandals – the second conundrum thrown up by Najib’s scandals are also resolved: whether the Attorney-General has “dictatorial powers” to exercise “absolute discretion” to exonerate the Prime Minister of any wrongdoing, regardless of the circumstances.

As the resolution of the latest conundrum would require courageous action by both the political and legal/judicial communities, it would be proper to ask what is the stand of the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang on the issue – whether Hadi supports Attorney-General Apandi’s decision that Prime Minister Najib had done no wrong in the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals and that the AG has “absolute” discretion on these matters.

The question is pertinent and relevant as Hadi is the only Opposition Leader who gives unstinting support to Najib  over the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals, to the extent that Hadi has earned the Prime Minister’s public praise for his support for the Prime Minister  over the RM2.6 billion “donation” and 1MDB-related allegations.

(Speech at the ceramah after launching of the DAP Community Centre in Paya Jaras on Thursday, January 28, 2016 at 9pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 29 January 2016, 11:58 am and is filed under
Constitution
,
Corruption
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The Chosen, Frozen & Beholden Ones!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Friday, 29 January 2016, 10:41 am and is filed under
Financial Scandals
,
Law & Order
,
Martin Jalleh
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The threat Najib poses to Malaysia’s reputation

Financial Times

January 27, 2016

Opaque payments to the PM raise fears over the nation’s body politic

Events this week have done nothing to dispel a growing sense that Najib Razak has been a disastrous prime minister for Malaysia. Just 24 hours after the country’sattorney-general found that Mr Najib had no case to answer over a $680m sum paid into his personal bank account, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission announced it would seek a review of this ruling.

Separately, it emerged that Tim Leissner, a senior Goldman Sachs banker and the driving force behind deals with a troubled Malaysian state investment fund, had taken “personal leave” and returned to the US.

Mr Najib and 1MDB, the state fund with which Goldman Sachs worked, deny they are guilty of any crimes.

But the web of allegations and investigations swirling around the prime minister and his affairs are damaging Malaysia’s international reputation and deepening a public trust deficit at home.

The issue is not just that many Malaysians are dissatisfied with the attorney-general’s statement that there was “no reason given” for the $680m transfer to Mr Najib from the Saudi royal family. It is also Mr Najib’s attitude towards the issue, which he said this week had been an “unnecessary distraction for the country”.

Far from being a distraction, the questions raised by the transfer and the dealings of 1MDB are pivotal to Malaysia’s future. At stake is whether one of Southeast Asia’s leading nations, and a strategic ally of the US and European powers in the region, can maintain its equilibrium as a prosperous, free-market democracy that blends an adherence to moderate Islam with an internationally recognised legal system.

Without a clear accounting of what transpired between Mr Najib and 1MDB, Kuala Lumpur risks reinforcing an impression that its democracy is being shredded by a self-serving Malay elite. Mr Najib is already vulnerable to such charges. The treatment of Anwar Ibrahim, an opposition leader jailed after he nearly defeated Mr Najib in 2013 elections, has been widely condemned, most recently by a UN human rights group which called his detention “illegal”. The prime minister has also muzzled critics within the ruling party and dismissed Abdul Gani Patail, the former attorney-general who led corruption inquiries into his affairs.

This lurch towards authoritarianism is unsettling investors in Malaysian stocks and bonds while applying extra pressure to the ringgit currency. But a more acute sense of alienation is nursed by the country’s ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, who make up more than one-third of the 29m population.

Long disenfranchised by the fact that UMNO, the ruling party, stipulates that its members must adhere to Islam, the Chinese and Indian minorities have grown increasingly vocal in their dissatisfaction and are swelling a “brain drain” overseas. UMNO’s response — to growing signs of disaffection among young urban Malays — has been to shore up support among its rural Malay bedrock by emphasising its Islamic credentials, further alienating non-Muslims who worry over a growing prominence given to sharia law.

Malaysia’s ruling elite should realise that they stand at a critical juncture. Many may wish for a more accomplished leader, but the problem runs deeper than personalities. UMNO needs to rule equally and democratically on behalf of all Malaysians.

In particular, the practice of providing political patronage to a group of crony Malay business people, which underpins the opacity and favouritism among the UMNO elite, needs to be brought to an end.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 29 January 2016, 8:57 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


“It never rains but it pours”  best describes Najib’s world-class twin mega-scandals and the  serious multi-faceted Malaysian crisis today

Ever since the beginning of the new year, the Prime Minister and his advisers-propagandists have been hard at work to manufacture a mirage for Malaysians, that all is fine in Malaysia and the multitude of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crisis converging in the country are the mere publicity  creations of Opposition politicians and anti-Barisan Nasional NGOs and electronic  media which have no grounding in reality.

Hence the up-beat 2016 New Year Message by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that his world-class twin mega scandals have been resolved and no more issues in the country, which is supposed to be solidified by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali’s exoneration of Najib  earlier this week of any crime or wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals.

But Najib’s “house of cards” that everything is fine in Malaysia started to tumble down immediately when the response to the Attorney-General’s exoneration of Najib, both locally and internationally, was one of shock, outrage and rejection resulting in an ongoing controversy as to whether Malaysia’s parliamentary democracy and constitution permitted an  Attorney-General to act like a dictator with no regard to the fundamental precept of the Rule of Law that “every legal power must have legal limits”.

In the past 24 hours, the saying “It never rains but it pours” seems to best describe Najib’s world-class twin mega scandals and  the serious multi-faceted Malaysian crisis today.

There was firstly the incisive commentary by CNBC entitled
“Why Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal is denting growth”
which led off with the poser: “Thought the long-running political scandal over Malaysia’s deeply indebted sovereign fund was over?” and the ominous answer from Oxford Economics, one of the world’s foremost independent global economic think-tanks: “It isn’t and the festering scandal is likely to weigh on the economy and may eventually spur a ratings downgrade.”

Christine Shields, lead economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note yesterday:

“Just as it appeared that the long-running scandal over state investment company 1MDB had been satisfactorily resolved, the issue has reignited with an appeal against the ruling exonerating the prime minister.  The issue is a real worry as it is eroding confidence and contributing to risk aversion about the country.”

This sombre and worrying development is followed by a Reuter report entitled
“Swiss AG suspects US$4 billion (RM16.6 billion) misappropriated, seeks Malaysia’s help”
, which states:

“Switzerland’s chief prosecutor said yesterday he has formally asked Malaysia for help with his probe into possible violations of Swiss law by the state-owned fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), saying suspected misappropriations amounted to about US$4 billion (RM16.6 billion).

“The office of Swiss attorney-general Michael Lauber said the request pertained to possible violations of Swiss laws related to bribery of foreign officials, misconduct in public office, money-laundering and criminal mismanagement at 1MDB.”

The
Reuter
 report continued:

“The Swiss statement said Lauber’s investigation had already ‘revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies.’

“Those funds ‘would have been earmarked for investment in economic and social development projects in Malaysia,’ the Swiss official said.

“The Swiss prosecutor said the misappropriated amount was suspected to be around US$4 billion.

“He said a small portion of the money had been transferred to accounts held in Switzerland by former Malaysian public officials and current and former public officials from the United Arab Emirates.

“The statement said the prosecutor wanted legal assistance from Malaysian companies involved to try to find out whether ‘losses on this scale have been sustained.’

“The Swiss attorney-general’s office opened criminal proceedings last August against two former 1MDB officials as well as ‘persons unknown.’

“The statement yesterday said Lauber had discussed the case with his Malaysian counterpart at a meeting in Zurich in September.

“Sources familiar with the September discussion between the two law enforcement officials said that the Malaysian official strongly urged Lauber to abandon his 1MDB-related investigation.”

A prompt official response from the Malaysian government to the request by the  Swiss prosecutor and the Swiss statement is warranted, in particular whether the Malaysian Government would extend fullest co-operation with the Swiss Prosecutor’s Office and whether it is true that Malaysian officials had tried to persuade the Swiss Attorney-General Michael Lauber  to abandon his 1MDB-related investigation.

If so, who was this Malaysian official who tried to persuade the Swiss Attorney-General to drop investigations into 1MDB.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 30 January 2016, 11:11 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Why Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal is denting growth

Leslie Shaffer

CNBC

29th January 2016

Thought the long-running political scandal over Malaysia’s deeply indebted sovereign fund was over?

It isn’t and the festering scandal is likely to weigh on the economy and may eventually spur a ratings downgrade, Oxford Economics says.

That’s bad news for Malaysia, which is already suffering from a slide in the price of commodities, an important chunk of the economy and a key source of revenue for the government. The currency has tumbled and the government’s debt levels have climbed, fueling investor concerns.

“Just as it appeared that the long-running scandal over state investment company 1MDB had been satisfactorily resolved, the issue has reignited with an appeal against the ruling exonerating the prime minister,” Christine Shields, lead economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note Friday. “The issue is a real worry as it is eroding confidence and contributing to risk aversion about the country.”

Shields noted that both the currency and the stock market have dropped over the past year and capital outflows have picked up.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz in the Oval Office of the White House September 4, 2015.

King Abdullah OK’d $681M gift for Malaysian PM: BBC

Oxford expects Malaysia’s economic growth will slow to 4.2 percent in 2016 from 4.7 percent in 2015. That would be the slowest growth rate since 2009, during the Global Financial Crisis, when Malaysia’s economy fell into a recession.

Earlier this week, Malaysia’s Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali told an unscheduled press conference that Saudi Arabia’s royal family gave Prime Minister Najib Razak a $681 million gift, in an effort to end months of speculation about the source of the huge personal donation that landed in Najib’s personal bank account. Apandi said that no criminal offense had been committed, in a move that appeared to mark the end of the matter, at least within the country.

But on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency wants to review the decision to drop the investigation.

Malaysia’s political establishment has been shaken by the 1MDB developments, which have been at the center of one of the country’s worst political scandals.

In July, the WSJ reported that almost $700 million in funds had flowed from 1MDB to Najib’s personal bank account and then in December, it reported that the funds in question may have been channeled to politicians and projects to help Najib’s UMNO party win 2013 elections.

Although asset sales have helped reduce 1MDB’s debt by about $9.4 billion, according to a December announcement by Najib, the fund still faces investigations in Switzerland, Hong Kong and the U.S., according to reports.

The political scandal has come as Malaysia’s economy is already struggling with the more than 50 percent drop in oil prices over the past two years.

“Of most concern is the narrow tax base: almost a third of government revenue came from oil and gas in 2014, though this proportion will have fallen since with the new GST,” or goods and services tax, which was introduced last year, noted Shields.

Although the budget deficit is still manageable at 3.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), public debt will likely rise to 56 percent of GDP this year, its highest level since 1992, stymying plans to cut the debt toward 50 percent, she said.

“While the IMF has commended the authorities for their prudent financial management and maintenance of economic stability, the challenges for the government are substantial and growing,” Shields said. “Maintaining economic stability is key to maintaining the political status quo. And deterioration in either may ultimately mean a ratings downgrade.”

Earlier this month, Moody’s revised the outlook on Malaysia’s sovereign rating to stable, from positive, but kept its overall rating at A3, the third highest rating possible. Moody’s said the revision was due to deteriorating economic growth, risks from high system-wide leverage and expectations there would only be limited improvement in the public debt burden.

The central bank also doesn’t have much room to boost growth, Oxford noted, as interest rate cuts would leave the ringgit vulnerable to capital outflows. At the same time, the already weaker ringgit means underlying inflation will likely remain high, it added.

Although asset sales have helped reduce 1MDB’s debt by about $9.4 billion, according to a December announcement by Najib, the fund still faces investigations in Switzerland, Hong Kong and the U.S., according to reports.

Concerns about the 1MDB scandal likely impacted Malaysia’s ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, released this week. The country’s ranking dropped to 54 out of 168 countries from 50 in 2014.

Shields isn’t the only one who sees further trouble ahead for Malaysia’s economy.

This week, the country announced plans to revise its budget to account for the drop in oil price, but analysts noted Najib was light on the details of the “prudent measures” to cut government spending. Najib did say what wouldn’t be cut: civil servant pay, about a third of government spending.

Some infrastructure projects may be delayed, but “most of the projects focused on the politically important rural areas and Eastern Malaysia states will be the sacred cows,” noted Wellian Wiranto, an economist at OCBC, in a note Thursday. He cut his GDP growth forecast to 4.4 percent from 4.7 percent this year. The government’s official forecast was cut to 4-4.5 percent from 4.-5 percent previously.

Others are also concerned about growing debt levels.

“We remain concerned about the risks from a widening consolidated public sector deficit and growing leverage of non-financial public corporations which are undertaking the many infrastructure projects,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note Thursday. “Government guarantees have been steadily rising since 2008 under Prime Minister Najib’s helm and now stands at 174 billion ringgit (15.2 percent of GDP), bringing the quasi-public debt to about 70 percent of GDP.”

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 30 January 2016, 9:43 am and is filed under
Economics
,
Finance
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Call for Royal Commission of Inquiry into Najib’s world-class twin mega scandals as nobody expects the truth to be revealed if the matters are left solely to normal  government investigations or even the PAC

The Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohd Apandi Ali’s rejection of the investigations and recommendations of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and exoneration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak of any crime or wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals have convinced the overwhelming majority of Malaysians that they cannot get to the bottom of the Najib scandals from the ordinary government investigation and enforcement agencies and processes.

After the “purges” at the end of July last year, where Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Senior Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail were sacked; arrest or immediate transfer of key officers in major investigative agencies like the Attorney-General’s Chambers,  Bank Negara, the MACC and the Police  associated with demands that there should be full and fearless investigation into the twin mega scandals; and the four-month derailment of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigations into 1MDB and the subsequent appointment of a “cari makan” Chairman for the PAC, many entertained doubts that the truths about the Najib twin mega scandals could be uncovered by  normal investigative and enforcement agencies and processes.

The last nail in the coffin of those who still harboured “hope against hopes” that the normal investigative and enforcement agencies could produce results in the probes into Najib’s twin mega scandals was the Attorney-General’s decision to reject MACC’s recommendations and to exonerate Najib of any wrongdoing by deciding that no charges would be  brought against the Prime Minister.

 Apandi’s decision shocked not only Malaysians, but also the international legal and juridical community, with the Swiss Attorney-General openly expressing his dismay at his Malaysian counterpart’s decision.

Those who had tenuous hopes and expectations that full discovery about Najib’s twin mega scandals have come to the end of the road, and it is no exaggeration to say that the Attorney-General’s decision has opened the eyes of those who had thought that the Rule of Law would be fully respected by the Attorney-General and the ordinary justice system in the country.

In the circumstances, the time has come for the next stage for the demand for full accountability of Najib’s twin mega scandals, viz call for  a Royal Commission of Inquiry to conduct a public inquiry as nobody expects the truth to be revealed if the matters are left solely to normal  government investigations or even the PAC.

(Speech at the DAP Malacca “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah kopitiam  in Bukit Rambai, Malacca on Sunday, 31st January 2016 at 11 am)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 31 January 2016, 4:01 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Najib Razak
,
Parliament
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib proven wrong that his twin mega scandals  are no more issues as they have become even  bigger than in the past and gone fully international

The Sembrong Parliamentary constituency which covers the two State Assembly seats of Kahang and Paloh is the 75th parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament on 22nd October last year because the Najib administration refused to give full and satisfactory accountability for his two world-class mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion donation and the RM55 billion 1MDB scandals.

Wherever I went, regardless of whether they are Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans, Malaysians are united in their demand that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib  Razak should come full and clean on his two world-class mega scandals.

Ever since the beginning of the new year, Najib had been declaring that his twin mega-scandals were no more issues as they had been resolved, but the opposite was the case  – as Najib’s twin mega scandals have become even bigger than in the past and gone fully international.

Najib’s RM2.6 billion and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals were the reasons why Malaysia was placed as the No. 3 in the world in the “worst corruption scandals in 2015”.

They were also the chief reason why Malaysia had dropped another four notches in the latest Transparency International  2015 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking compared to the previous year, announced a few days ago.

Malaysia  was ranked 50th among 175 countries in 2014 but dropped to 54th among 168 countries in 2015.

In fact, Malaysia’s ranking in the TI CPI 2015 could have been lower, as five countries, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Puerto Rico and St Vincent – which had been ranked higher than Malaysia – were excluded due to not meeting three minimum secondary sources for research.

If these five countries which rank higher than Malaysia had been included, Malaysia’s ranking in 2015 would be between 59 to 60 instead of 54.

Furthermore, if the TI CPI 2015 ranking had taken into consideration the shocking announcement by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali rejecting the recommendations of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and exonerating Najib from any wrongdoing or crime for the RM2.6 billion donation scandal, Malaysia would have fallen to the lowest ranking in the TI CPI history and be consigned to between No. 65 – 70 in the TI CPI ranking!

This has been a bad week for Malaysia for our international reputation after the Attorney-General’s rejection of the MACC investigations and recommendations with the  shocking exoneration of the Prime Minister – as it caused shock-waves not only in the country but world-wide.

The Swiss Attorney-General Michael Laubersaid’s announcement well after office hours on Friday that it suspects about US$4 billion (RM16.6 billion) from 1MDB had been misappropriated and that it will formally ask the Malaysian authorities for mutual assistance in the next few days is seen as a rejection of Apandi’s exoneration of  the Prime Minister.

Switzerland is only one of the seven countries which had launched independent probes into Najib’s twin mega scandals.

In fact, Najib is  also the target of the probe by Federal Bureau of Investigations and the US Department of Justice under the US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010, the first time a top Malaysian official had been investigated by the US authorities as to whether he is a kleptocrat.

Instead of continuing to cause shame  to Malaysia in international circles over the twin mega scandals, it is time that Najib place national interests above personal interests and give to Parliament a full and satisfactory accounting of his role in the two world-class mega scandals.

(Speech at the DAP Kahang Branch Chinese New Year dinner held in Kahang, Johor on Saturday, 30th January 2016 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 31 January 2016, 7:02 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The Companies Switzerland Says Are Linked to Malaysia’s 1MDB Scandal

By TOM WRIGHT and  BRADLEY HOPE

Wall Street Journal

Jan. 30, 2016

Swiss attorney general’s office is examining allegations of criminal activity from 2009 to 2013

The Swiss attorney general’s announcement that $4 billion may have been misappropriated from Malaysian state-owned companies opened a new front in the troubles facing 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, the state-investment fund set up by Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009.

Switzerland’s top prosecutor on Friday named a number of firms in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in relation to the matter, but gave no details of their roles, if any.

The attorney general’s office said it is examining allegations of criminal activity from 2009 to 2013 relating to PetroSaudi International Ltd., a Saudi oil company; SRC International Sdn Bhd, a unit of Malaysia’s Finance Ministry; Malaysian companies Genting Group and Tanjong PLC; and a joint venture between 1MDB and an Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund called the Abu Dhabi Malaysia Investment Company.

The investigation is one of a series of global probes into 1MDB. A Malaysian government investigation last year found that almost $700 million entered Mr. Najib’s alleged bank accounts via agencies, companies and banks linked to 1MDB ahead of a close election in 2013.

On Tuesday, Malaysian Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said the largest chunk of money transferred to Mr. Najib’s account was a legal donation from Saudi Arabia’s royal family and cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing.

But a Saudi official said the country’s finance and foreign ministries had no knowledge of the donation. The Swiss attorney general on Friday raised concerns that Mr. Apandi’s decision to clear Mr. Najib would hamper its own investigation.

In a statement Saturday, Mr. Apandi said he was ready to cooperate with the Swiss probe. He added that a number of Malaysian entities are still probing 1MDB, including the police and Malaysia’s auditor general.

PetroSaudi said in a statement that it wasn’t the subject of any investigation and hadn’t been accused of criminal conduct. The company denies any wrongdoing, it said.

Attempts Saturday to reach SRC International and Tanjong were unsuccessful. A spokeswoman for Genting declined to comment.

The office of Mr. Najib, who also heads the Finance Ministry, didn’t respond to requests for comment, but he has previously denied wrongdoing or taking money for personal gain. 1MDB on Saturday said it hasn’t been contacted by any foreign investigative agency and stands ready to cooperate with any investigations. It also has denied wrongdoing.

Here’s what we know so far about these companies and their alleged connection to the 1MDB scandal, based on a six-month examination by The Wall Street Journal.

PetroSaudi International

The 1MDB fund set up a joint venture in 2009 with PetroSaudi. An investigation by Malaysia’s auditor general last year found that $700 million of 1MDB cash meant for the joint venture was instead sent to a Seychelles-based firm called Good Star Ltd. Two 1MDB board members resigned over the matter, according to a copy of the auditor general’s draft report, which was viewed by the Journal. The company that received the money was set up by Jho Low, a young Malaysian businessman who helped set up 1MDB, according to a person familiar with the matter.

PetroSaudi has called its joint venture with 1MDB as profitable for the Malaysian company. 1MDB also said it made profit from the venture.

Singapore police last year told Malaysian authorities in a letter—a copy of which was reviewed by the Journal—about more than $500 million in transfers from the Swiss bank account of Good Star into a business bank account in Singapore controlled by Mr. Low. The Singapore account was held at a branch of Swiss bank BSI SA, the letter said. The transfers occurred between 2011 and 2013, it added. 1MDB also has acknowledged it holds an account at BSI in Singapore. BSI has declined to comment on the matter.

SRC International

This unit of Malaysia’s Finance Ministry allegedly sent about $14 million into Mr. Najib’s accounts in 2014 and early 2015 via a company that carries out corporate social-responsibility work for 1MDB, according to a Malaysian government investigation into the fund carried out last year.

Mr. Apandi, the attorney general, said this week that Mr. Najib wasn’t aware of, and had not approved, the transfer of money from SRC that went into his accounts.

At a news conference, Mr. Apandi held up documents from an investigation by Malaysia’s antigraft agency that appeared to show a further $10 million in transfers between SRC and Mr. Najib’s accounts that had not previously been made public. About $1 million of this cash was apparently spent via credit cards attached to the accounts, according to the documents Mr. Apandi held up.

SRC was a former unit of 1MDB. Its former head, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, was 1MDB’s head of investments. He also had power of attorney over Mr. Najib’s accounts, according to documents that were part of the earlier Malaysian government investigation. Attempts to reach Mr. Nik Faisal weren’t successful.

Genting Group and Tanjong

A Journal examination in June last year showed how 1MDB had paid what appeared to be an inflated price for a power plant owned by Genting, a conglomerate with interests in gambling and plantations. A unit of Genting then donated millions of dollars to a foundation chaired by Mr. Najib that was spent on schools and other projects that Mr. Najib was able to tout as he campaigned for elections in 2013.

A spokeswoman for Genting declined to comment on the allegations, and Mr. Najib declined to address them.

The 1MDB fund denied overpaying for the assets. It said its decisions were based on what was best for the business and not political considerations.

The 1MDB fund also paid what appeared to be an inflated price for power assets from Tanjong, which is controlled by Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan.

The fund’s financial reports show it wrote down the value of the plants it bought from Genting and Tanjong only months after purchasing them.

Mr. Krishnan hasn’t commented on the asset purchases.

Abu Dhabi Malaysia Investment Co.

The 1MDB fund set up this joint venture with Aabar Investments PJS, an Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund, to develop a new financial center for Kuala Lumpur. 1MDB raised $3 billion through a bond in 2013 to fund the venture. About half the money was put into offshore portfolio investments, according to 1MDB’s financial statements, and the development of the land made little progress. 1MDB is now in the process of selling off its land and power plants.

The Journal reported last year that 1MDB sent at least $850 million to an entity set up to appear that it was owned by Aabar, which is held by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC. Investigators at IPIC and Aabar concluded that neither firm had ever received the money, which was sent to “Aabar Investments PJS Ltd.,” according to two people familiar with the matter. 1MDB, in a statement after the Journal article was published, said “The Wall Street Journal continues its campaign to malign 1MDB,” but didn’t address the allegations.

IPIC and Aabar haven’t made any statements about their relationship with 1MDB or the missing money. IPIC’s former managing director, Khadem Al Qubaisi, was dismissed in April by presidential decree. A reason wasn’t given.

The new management team of IPIC has been scrutinizing Mr. Al Qubaisi’s activity at the fund, according to the people familiar with the matter. In December last year, a London-based representative of Mr. Al Qubaisi said he declined to comment.

IPIC also controls Falcon Private Bank AG, a Swiss private lender. An anonymous British Virgin Islands-based company with an account at Falcon was the source for the bulk of the almost $700 million that was deposited into Mr. Najib’s accounts, according to the Malaysian government investigation carried out last year. Falcon hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing and declined to comment.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 31 January 2016, 1:40 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib is notching up a great shame and infamy for Malaysia when we are overtaken by China and even Indonesia in both TI CPI ranking and score within a decade

Durian Tunggal is in the Alor Gajah parliamentary seat, which is the fourth parliamentary constituency I am visiting Malacca today and the 79th parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22. The other parliamentary constituencies I visited today are Masjid Tanah, Tangga Batu and Bukit Katil.

I have been suspended from Parliament  not because I had committed any crime or wrongdoing like theft, robbery, murder or corruption, but because I wanted the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to give full and satisfactory accountability for the  world-class RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.

It is because of the refusal of the Najib administration to live up to the principles and precepts of accountability, integrity and good governance that Malaysia had been named third in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015” by the Foreign Policy website and the reason why Malaysia fell four places in the latest Transparency International (TI) 2015 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking released on Wednesday  compared to the previous year – now ranked No. 54 with a CPI score of 50/100.

Malaysia was ranked 50th among 175 countries in 2014 but dropped to 54th among 168 countries in 2015.

Malaysia’s ranking in the TI CPI 2015 could have been lower, as five countries, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Puerto Rico and St Vincent – which had been ranked higher than Malaysia – were excluded due to technical reasons like  not meeting three minimum secondary sources for research.

In the TI CPI 2004, Bahamas was ranked No. 24, Barbados No. 17, Dominica No. 39, Puerto Rico No. 31 and St Vincent No. 29.

If these five countries which rank higher than Malaysia had been included, Malaysia’s ranking in 2015 would be between 59 to 60 instead of 54.

Furthermore, if the TI CPI 2015 ranking had taken into consideration the shocking announcement by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali rejecting the recommendations of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and exonerating Najib from any wrongdoing or crime for the RM2.6 billion donation scandal, Malaysia would have fallen to an even  lower ranking in the TI CPI, probably Malaysia’s lowest ranking in TI CPI history since 1995 and be consigned to between No. 65 – 70 in the TI CPI ranking!

This why I had demanded for full accountability in Parliament for Najib’s world-class twin mega scandals, but instead I have been suspended for six months from Parliament.

But this is little price, compared to the sacking of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Tan Sri Gani Patail as Attorney-General, and the arrests, immediate transfers or other threats experienced key officials of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara and the Police for scrupulously discharging their national duties to carry out a “without fear or favour” investigation into Najib’s twin mega scandals.

At the rate the UMNO/BN government  is abandoning its  National Transformation Programme objectives to fight corruption and uphold the principles of accountability, integrity and good governance, Najib is notching up a great shame and infamy for Malaysia when we are overtaken by China and even Indonesia in both TI CPI ranking and score within a decade.

The Najib government had been boasting about its target for Malaysia to be in the top 30 countries in the TI CPI by 2020, but this is nothing but a pipe-dream.

Studying the TI CPI  ranking and score for the 177 countries and the 21-year series of TI CPI from 1995-2015, there is no reason or ground for anyone to believe that the target of Malaysia being ranked in the top 30 of TI CPI in 2020 is a realistic or achievable one.

In fact, within a decade, Malaysia faces the risk of being overtaken by China and even Indonesia in both TI CPI ranking and score, when in the first TI CPI in 1995, Malaysia was ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries with a score of 5.28 out of 10, while China and Indonesia were ranked as the last two bottom countries with CPI score of 2.16 and 1.94 out of 10 respectively (i.e. hovering in the lowest 90 percentile of the CPI score).

If Malaysia is to occupy the top 30 percentile of the CPI index in 2020, we must achieve at least the top 38 percentile of the CPI score and not just 50/100, as the scores of the five countries ranked from 27th to 30th in the TI CPI 2015 index are Bhutan 65/100, Botswana and Portugal 63/100, Poland and Taiwan 62/100.

However, in the last 21 years, Malaysia achieved the dubious distinction as one of the few countries which had been downgraded both in TI CPI ranking and score, but had lost out to countries which had lower CPI ranking and score in 1995 and is also now at risk of being overtaken by countries including China and Indonesia which had been at the bottom of TI CPI in 1995.

For instance, Malaysia ranked No. 23 with CPI score of 5.28/10 in 1995, was ahead of Taiwan (Rank 25 Score 5.08), Spain (R 26 Sc 4.35), South Korea (R 27 Score 4.29) and Hungary (R 28 Score 4.12) but in the 2015 TI CPI have lost out to Taiwan (R 30 Score 62), Spain (R 36 Score 58), South Korea (R 37 Score 56) and Hungary (R 50 Sc 51).

Unlike Malaysia, which has achieved a lower percentile score in the past 21 years, i.e. 5.28/10 in 1995 to 50/100 in 2015, all other countries in Asia have improved on their percentile score in the past 21 years from 1995 to 2015, eg. Thailand from 2.79/10 to 38/100; India from 2.78/10 to 38/100; Philippines from 2.77/10 to 35/100; Pakistan from 2.25/10 to 30/100; China from 2.16/10 to 37/100 and Indonesia from 1.94/10 to 36/100.

What should concern all Malaysians is that from these trends, Malaysia runs the risk of being overtaken by both Indonesia and China within a decade  in the annual TI CPI both in ranking and score unless Malaysia quickly bucks up and show its seriousness on the anti-corruption front.

The start to the reversal of the trend of Malaysia being overtaken by other countries particularly in Asia in the fight against corruption in high public places must start with the Prime Minister’s full and satisfactory accountability on his world-class twin mega scandals.

The Attorney-General’s  rejection of the MACC  investigations and recommendations and exoneration of Najib of any crime or wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals have convinced the overwhelming majority of Malaysians that they cannot get to the bottom of the Najib scandals from the ordinary government investigation and enforcement agencies and processes.

Apandi’s decision shocked not only Malaysians, but also the international legal and juridical community, with the Swiss Attorney-General openly expressing his dismay at his Malaysian counterpart’s decision.

There is only one option left, barring a change of government in Putrajaya – a Royal Commission of Inquiry to conduct a public inquiry into Najib’s world class twin mega scandals as nobody expects the truth to be revealed if the matters are left solely to normal government investigation and enforcement agencies,  or even to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee under a “cari makan” chairman.

The time has therefore come for a national campaign to demand an independent  RCI into Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.

(Speech at the DAP Malacca “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah kopitiam in Durian Tunggal  on Sunday, 31st January 2016 at 3 pm)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 1 February 2016, 8:20 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
,
Parliament
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Swiss wreck efforts by Malaysia to contain 1MDB scandal

Michael Peel in Bangkok and Jeevan Vasagar in Singapore

Financial Times

January 31, 2016

Malaysia’s leaders are battling the most severe international pressure yet over alleged large-scale corruption after Switzerland torpedoed efforts to contain the growing scandal around the 1MDB investment fund.

Kuala Lumpur’s attempts to play down an affair that has rocked the country and embroiled Najib Razak, the prime minister, have been derailed by a Swiss criminal investigation that said on Friday it found “serious indications“ that about $4bn was misappropriated.

Switzerland’s unusually aggressive intervention reflects international concern that the Malaysian authorities may have been trying to bury the story. Earlier in the week Mohamed Apandi Ali, Malaysia’s attorney-general, cleared Mr Najib of any wrongdoing over payments of $680m into his bank account. Critics alleged the transfers were linked to 1MDB, which the fund and the prime minister deny.

John Pang, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the Swiss statement undermined Mr Apandi’s claim that the funds paid into Mr Najib’s account were a donation from the Saudi royal family. “This makes it very difficult for the attorney-general to simply close off the investigation,” Mr Pang said. “It makes the attorney-general’s statement difficult to credit.”

After the Swiss move, Mr Apandi said his office intended to “take all possible steps to follow up and collaborate with our Swiss counterparts”, adding that investigations into 1MDB were continuing. He described the now-closed investigation into the donations to Mr Najib — which the country’s anti-corruption commission is seeking to reopen —as “entirely separate”.

Mr Najib has consistently denied claims of misappropriation of more than $1bn at 1MDB, a debt-laden state investment fund set up at his behest and whose advisory board he chairs. 1MDB has also been dismissive of critics who have alleged criminal wrongdoing, branding allegations against it “spurious”. But Swiss authorities said a criminal investigation had “revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies”, adding that the $4bn at stake had been intended for economic and social development projects.

The investigation follows a case opened last August against two unnamed former 1MDB officials on charges including bribery. The Swiss attorney-general said there were “allegations of criminal conduct” in four cases involving 1MDB, in a period spanning 2009 to 2013. A spokesman for the Swiss attorney general’s office said at the weekend that Mr Najib himself was not a suspect in their investigation.

The Swiss authorities said the four cases involved a “systematic course of action carried out by means of complex financial structures”. They added the cases related to five companies: PetroSaudi, a Saudi Arabia-based oil group with offices in the UK and Switzerland; SRC, a former subsidiary of 1MDB; Genting and Tanjong, two Malaysian conglomerates involved in leisure and property; and ADMIC, a joint venture between 1MDB and Aabar Investments, which is controlled by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (known as Ipic).

Support from Abu Dhabi and Ipic has been highly important for 1MDB’s business activities. The partnership with Abu Dhabi involved raising debt intended to finance the development of the Tun Razak Exchange, a new financial centre in the Malaysian capital named after Mr Najib’s father.

The Swiss authorities did not say if the companies that they named were themselves under investigation. PetroSaudi said it was not the subject of any probe and had not been accused of any criminal conduct. It denied any wrongdoing and said it would cooperate fully with authorities, adding that its relationship with 1MDB had ceased in 2012.

Genting and Tanjong did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ipic and ADMIC could not be reached for comment. 1MDB declined to comment on Sunday, referring to a statement the day before pledging to cooperate “with any lawful authority and investigation”. Arul Kanda, 1MDB’s president, said: “We have nothing further to add at this point.”

Questions about 1MDB’s business activities and its debt pile have consumed Malaysian politics for months and corroded public trust in Malaysia’s government, prompting large street protests last year. But Malaysia has also become increasingly important as a moderate Muslim state in the fight against extremist terrorists. Western countries are bolstering ties with Kuala Lumpur: last year, Barack Obama became the first serving US president to visit the country since 1966.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 1 February 2016, 1:06 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


What would have happened to me if I had RM2.6 billion in my bank account deposited from foreign sources?

The Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali has rejected the investigations and recommendations of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and exonerated Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of any wrongdoing or crime in the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals, deciding that no charges would be brought against Najib and even instructing MACC to close all investigations on the matters with regard to Najib.

The immediate reaction of shock and outrage by the MACC special operations director Bahri Mohd Zin to the Attorney-General’s decisions and his comment that the MACC would “most likely” to appeal against the AG decision as the cases were so “straightforward” was a mere understatement considering the firestorm the AG’s decision sparked both inside the country and world-wide.

For the past six days, Malaysia was the “bad boy” of the international media, flayed as a country where the Rule of Law is treated as a joke because of the AG’s decision –  a sober reminder to the Najib government that Malaysia operates in an open international society and borderless world  where everyone of its decisions and actions must be able to stand up to international scrutiny.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamid did his image as the No. 2 in the country no favours when he tried to stop the conflagration of the the firestorm over the Attorney-General’s decision when he said a few hours after the AG’s announcement that “no one should question the competence or independence of Malaysia’s institutions or our legal process” – for Zahid  was acting like Canute trying to stop the tide.

What would have happened to me if I had RM2.6 billion in my bank account deposited from foreign sources?

Would the Attorney-General exonerate me and declare that I am not guilty of any wrongdoing and that no charges would be preferred against me if I had said that I did not know who had deposited that gargantuan sum of money into my account, that two months later I had returned 78% if the deposits, i.e. RM2.03 billion out of the RM2.6 billion,  to the donor without saying what I have done to the balance of the RM570 million – or would I be pilloried in the UMNO/BN-owned or controlled media, print, electronic and social, as a traitor and faced a battery of charges in court as  a corrupt person  who received funds from foreign sources to interfere in domestic affairs of the country?

(Speech at the DAP Malacca “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” dinner at Machap Umboo in the last of his one-day six-stop visit to Malacca on Sunday, 31st January 2016 at 8 pm)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 1 February 2016, 6:31 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


A simple and straightforward answer of “Yes” or “No” from Apandi whether he tried to persuade Swiss Attorney-General to drop 1MDB-related investigations last September

The Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali should give a simple and straightforward answer of “Yes” or “No”  whether he had tried to persuade the Swiss Attorney-General Michael Lauber to drop 1MDB-related investigations, and if so, the reasons for his request and whether he had the sanction of the Prime Minister or the Cabinet for such a request to his Swiss counterpart.

The attempt by the Malaysian authorities to get the Swiss Attorney-General’s Office to drop 1MDB-related investigations came to light in the Reuters report entitled “Swiss AG suspects US$4 billion (RM16.6 billion) misappropriated, seeks Malaysia’s help” last Friday which referred to a meeting in Zurich in September last year where Lauber had discussed the 1MDB case with his Malaysian counterpart.

The Reuters report stated:

“Sources familiar with the September discussion between the two law enforcement officials said that the Malaysian official strongly urged Lauber to abandon his 1MDB-related investigation.”

If Apandi had tried to persuade the Swiss authorities to drop its 1MDB-related investigations, then his recent statement that he will co-operate with his Swiss counterparts regarding 1MDB-related investigations will have to be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

At the DAP Malacca “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” dinner at Machap Umboo on Sunday night, I had asked what would have happened to me if I had RM2.6 billion in my bank account deposited from foreign sources, whether the Attorney-General would exonerate me and declare that I am not guilty of any wrongdoing and that no charges would be preferred against me if I had said that I did not know who had deposited that gargantuan sum of money into my account, that two months later I had returned 78% of the deposits, i.e. RM2.03 billion out of the RM2.6 billion,  to the donor without saying what I have done to the balance of the RM570 million?

This is some of the responses to my query  on my  Blog, Twitter and Facebook:

•	You would be fried and grilled until you vomit out the RM2.6 billion.

•	RM2.6billion? I dare say even if there was only a few thousand RM of foreign money, they would have been investigated and made sure someone said it was on behalf of the Jews.

•	You’d be history!

•	you will be charged for at least three offences with the most serious one being treason and sentence to death!

•	you would be DSAI’s cellmate.

•	They will lock u up and throw away the key. Haha

•	You would have been termed a traitor and jailed under ISA. Najib is still a free man and none of the cases could stick. What a shame. We have a justice system which breaks all the rules.

•	Lifetime in prison…

May be, Apandi would like to explain why Malaysians are convinced that  there are such double standards in the application of laws in Malaysia with him as Attorney-General?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 11:34 am and is filed under
Constitution
,
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Foreign governments pile pressure on Malaysia over financial scandals

The Malaysian Insider

2 February 2016

Malaysia may have absolved its prime minister in a huge corruption scandal, but foreign authorities investigating suspicious global fund flows are making clear the affair is far from over and that the net may be tightening.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali last week cleared Datuk Seri Najib Razak of wrongdoing in accepting a mysterious US$681 million payment (RM2.6 billion) from overseas, sparking accusations of a cover-up in a case that has shaken Najib’s government to its core.

But within days, authorities in Switzerland and Singapore upped the pressure, pointedly responding that investigations into an array of Malaysian money movements were forging ahead and releasing new information.

The Swiss attorney-general’s office on Saturday revealed that it believed US$4 billion had been pilfered from Malaysian state companies, and on Monday Singapore announced it had seized a “large number of bank accounts” as part of investigations into a company closely linked to Najib, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Observers said the timing and tone of the Swiss and Singaporean statements appeared to indicate concern that Malaysia may seek to bury the issue.

“The Swiss and Singaporeans are obviously worried that (clearing Najib) looks detrimental to their ongoing investigations,” said Cynthia Gabriel, head of C4, a Malaysian anti-graft NGO.

“But this is definitely far from over and looks like the noose is tightening on Najib,” she added, referring to the new details announced by the Swiss and Singaporeans.

Malaysia has been rocked for more than a year by allegations that huge sums of money were diverted from 1MDB, an investment company, and the revelation last July of the US$681 million payment to Najib.

While he is not yet known to be directly implicated in any overseas investigation, Najib launched 1MDB and still chairs its advisory board.

He and 1MDB strongly deny the widely-held public suspicion that the US$681 million came from the now debt-strapped investment company.

Apandi last week called the payment a legal “personal donation” from the Saudi royal family. The explanation has been ridiculed in Malaysia as an implausible cover story.

Since last year, Najib’s government has arrested whistleblowers and moved to muzzle media outlets who reported on the scandals, including shutting down one newspaper for three months.

He also purged his leadership of critics and sacked a previous attorney-general who was investigating.

That has left the threat of foreign action – authorities in the United States and Hong Kong also said to be investigating – as Najib’s primary concern.

Last week, Apandi declared there was no need for Malaysia to cooperate with foreign authorities on Najib’s “donation”.

John Malott, a former US ambassador to Malaysia, called that a “very unfortunate statement” that likely caused anger overseas.

“Basically he was telling the rest of the world to drop dead, and the Swiss and Singaporeans have replied that ‘maybe you think its the end, but we don’t’. The timing of their responses was just too close,” he said.

Malott said Najib now “must really be sweating” over whether US authorities – reported by US media to be investigating – will make an announcement, which they usually withhold until a solid case is built.

However, the recent Swiss and Singaporean announcements are already seen as raising the pressure.

Switzerland had announced last year that “tens of millions of dollars” in suspicious assets had been frozen, and that it had opened criminal proceedings against two former 1MDB officials and “persons unknown” suspected of bribery, money-laundering and other crimes.

On Saturday, the Swiss attorney-general’s office revealed that up to US$4 billion may have been stolen from Malaysian state firms, with a “small portion” transferred into Swiss accounts held by current and former Malaysian and United Arab Emirates officials.

Requesting Kuala Lumpur’s help, it added that the Malaysian companies concerned have oddly made no comment on their alleged massive losses.

Apandi pledged Saturday to cooperate.

Singapore said Monday it was “actively” probing allegations of money-laundering related to 1MDB and was communicating with Malaysian, Swiss and US officials.

A joint statement by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and police said, “Singapore does not tolerate the use of its financial system as a refuge or conduit for illicit funds”. – AFP, February 2, 2016.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 5:06 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


In Bolehland whether its a crime or not, depends on who did it!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 9:38 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Court
,
Crime
,
Law & Order
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Malaysia stifles dissent as public unrest grows

Jeevan Vasagar and Michael Peel

Financial Times

February 2, 2016

Malaysia’s government has been battered by international allegations of corruption on a grand scale — yet at home prime minister Najib Razak appears as secure as ever.

While Kuala Lumpur is under pressure from global regulators, with both Switzerland and Singapore shining a light on alleged misconduct, the prime minister’s tightened grip on power has raised concern about growing authoritarianism.

Over the past six months, as controversy raged over $680m transfers into his bank account, Mr Najib has replaced the country’s attorney-general and sacked a critical deputy prime minister. Meanwhile, his administration has imposed travel bans on opponents and rushed through legislation Malaysia’s bar council describes as a “lurch towards an authoritarian government”.

The new attorney-general ruled last week that Mr Najib had no case to answer over the funds transferred into his bank account. The country’s anti-corruption commission says it will appeal against the decision.

But for the prime minister’s most famous predecessor, the latest events are part of the same pattern.

“I think the attorney-general is under the control of the subject of the investigation, the prime minister,” Mahathir Mohamad, Mr Najib’s patron-turned-enemy, told the Financial Times.

Mr Mahathir dismissed the attorney-general’s explanation that the funds transferred came from Saudi royals as “a lot of nonsense” and vowed to “continue to expose the wrong things that he [the prime minister] has done”.

Mr Najib’s supporters and some independent observers, however, question Mr Mahathir’s credentials as an anti-corruption campaigner, saying the patronage networks now being exposed flourished under his rule.

Mr Najib appointed Mohamed Apandi Ali attorney-general in July, soon after reports of the transfers emerged, when Gani Patail, the previous occupant of the post, was suddenly retired on grounds of ill-health.

Mr Apandi subsequently declined to prosecute 1MDB, the state investment fund Mr Najib’s opponents allege is linked to the mysterious transfers, saying there was no case to answer.

In response to that move, Malaysia’s central bank made clear it had recommended criminal charges over 1MDB’s allegedly inaccurate or incomplete disclosures relating to more than $1.8bn in assets held in the Cayman Islands. 1MDB denied wrongdoing.

But there are further links between the 1MDB controversy and what critics see as Mr Najib’s bid to seize ever more levers of power.

Mr Najib replaced Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister who had been one of his most prominent critics over the 1MDB affair, at the same time as he removed Mr Patail.

The government has also slapped travel bans on opposition MPs who investigated 1MDB, as well as temporarily shutting The Edge, a news organisation that has led domestic reporting of 1MDB.

Khairuddin Abu Hassan, a former official in Mr Najib’s ruling United Malays National Organisation, was banned from travel and then detained in September just before he was about to leave for the US to brief the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the 1MDB affair and its alleged US links.

He had already reported his concerns to authorities in the UK, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

Matthias Chang, Mr Khairuddin’s lawyer and a former political secretary to Mr Mahathir, was also detained. Both have since been released.

The prime minister’s allies deny he is seeking to stifle investigations into 1MDB, but say he has seen off what they describe as politically motivated attempts to topple him.

The ousting of critics comes as the government faces public pressure both over the 1MDB allegations and economic troubles that have sent oil revenues and the value of the Malaysian ringgit plunging.

New national security legislation, rushed through parliament in December, gives Mr Najib authority to declare a state of emergency without the consent of Malaysia’s king, removing what critics describe as a “basic check” on government power.

The government insists the act was a response to growing security and terrorist threats.

The prime minister has repeatedly emphasised the need to focus on counter-terrorism, particularly in the wake of bomb attacks in Jakarta last month and the arrest a day later of a Malaysian man said to be planning a suicide bombing in Kuala Lumpur.

However, many critics see the legislation as part of a crackdown on dissent following massive anti-government street protests in Kuala Lumpur last year.

The government knows that it is facing strong economic headwinds and therefore it has to step up its security,” says James Chin, director of the Asia institute at the University of Tasmania. “After the Arab Spring, governments know that street protests can lead to much bigger things.”

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 5:18 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


More images of ‘clown-faced’ Najib emerge online

Malaysiakini

Feb 2, 2016

Graphic artists are fighting back against the police warning issued to artist Fahmi Reza, by posting their own version of his sketch of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak with a clown face.

Fahmi received the warning that he is under police surveillance, after he posted a sketch of Najib, with the face looking like a clown, for an anti-Sedition Act campaign.

This warning from the police prompted other graphic artists in the collective Grafik Rebel Untuk Protes dan Aktivisme (Grupa), to post their versions of what is now called the ‘Kita Semua Penghasut (We are all seditious)’ poster.

“When one rebel graphic artist falls, 100 other rebel graphic artists will rise!” one artwork is captioned.

The artwork features an overlay of caricatures of Najib’s face with the traditional clown make-up, with the words ‘Kita semua penghasut!’.

Another artwork uses an older picture of Najib holding a cat by its neck. In this artwork, Najib’s picture is overlaid with a bright red nose, exaggerated red lips and a jester’s hat.

It also features the words: “So he’s choking us because we are all seditious.”

One artwork featuring Najib with a rainbow-coloured afro cites a quotation by ancient Rome historian Tacitus: “The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.”

According to American Institute of Graphic Artists (Aiga) blog Eye for Design, Grupa is a “hastily formed design collective” behind the many posters spotted at the Bersih rally last August.

The group released 110 posters online for activists to print and carry at the rally, which called for good governance and clean elections.

When contacted by Malaysiakini, Grupa members said they wanted to remain anonymous, but not out of fear.

“This project is not about us as individual designers, but about the causes we are highlighting, and the movement we are trying to build as a collective through Grupa,” one of the members, speaking for the group, said.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 12:19 pm and is filed under
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib Razak puts Malaysia’s reputation at risk over mind-boggling donations scandal

EDITORIAL

Sydney Morning Herald

February 2, 2016

It’s almost a year since Malaysia’s highest court upheld the five-year jail sentence of former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on a dubious charge of sodomy.

So, from the spartan jail cell with a squat toilet and a thin foam mattress on the floor as described by his lawyers, Mr Anwar is not in a position to comment on the deteriorating state of democracy in his country.

We can’t know whether he shares the dismay and despair of many ordinary Malaysians at the wave of repression that has occurred since his jailing. We don’t know what he thinks about the government’s attempts to keep a lid on the mind-boggling scandal in which a $US681 million no-strings-attached gift attributed to the Saudi royal family found its way into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank account. But we could guess.

This week Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali issued a “move along, nothing to see” order to anyone worried about the donation of such a princely sum to a sitting Prime Minister’s personal bank account in a country claiming to be a representative democracy.

Mr Apandi said he had ordered the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to close its investigation into the affair. He said he was “satisfied that there was no evidence to show that the donation was a form of gratification given corruptly”, and no laws had been broken.

Perhaps not surprisingly Mr Najib welcomed the Attorney-General’s findings, saying the matter “has been comprehensively put to rest”.

But the unpalatable fact is, the Attorney-General’s decision fits with the concerted campaign by Mr Najib and his government to comprehensively put to rest all criticism and opposition.

Mr Apandi was appointed last year after his predecessor was abruptly removed in a flurry of sackings and transfers of people who had either been critical of the Prime Minister or were involved in investigations into the sovereign wealth fund he chairs, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

1MDB is embroiled in controversy over multibillion dollar debts and murky transactions involving offshore tax havens. Malaysia’s central bank recommended criminal charges be laid against the fund but in October Mr Apandi refused.

This week Mr Apandi also said Mr Najib had no knowledge of a further $10 million transferred into his account from SRC, a Finance Ministry company. SRC’s role is politically explosive because it received a $US930 million loan, approved by Mr Najib’s cabinet, from the government fund that manages the retirement savings of Malaysia’s public servants. The attorney-general said Mr Najib had believed the $10 million, too, had come from the Saudis.

Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2016 accuses Mr Najib of trampling on citizens’ rights to suppress corruption allegations and maintain his grip on power with a succession of punitive new legislative measures, scores of arrests, the suspension of newspapers and the blocking of websites.

During 2015 dozens of people, including seven opposition members of parliament, were arrested under the Sedition Act for making remarks critical of the government, the judiciary and Malaysia’s sultans. The Act was strengthened in April in a major reversal from Mr Najib who had promised to repeal it. Dozens of people have also been arrested for participating in peaceful protests over the 1MDB.

So far Najib has survived both large street protests and an energetic campaign to unseat him by his erstwhile mentor, former prime minister and senior statesman with his ruling United Malays National Organisation party, Mahathir Mohamad. “I am scared too. In Malaysia today laws and rules no longer protect the people, Mr Mahathir wrote in a blog post. He also posed a series of questions about the scandal, including how $620 million of the original $681 million came to be repaid to the Saudis. Attorney-General Apandi said it was returned in 2013 “because the sum was not utilised”. But he provided no information on why the Saudis would send Mr Najib such a large sum in the first place, or what happened to the $US61 million that was not sent back.

How much longer can Malaysia be regarded as a modern, moderate nation in charge of its destiny? Its strategic importance as a moderate Muslim nation in the Asian region in a time of terror has so far spared it much international condemnation, but its reputation is sinking. Requests for assistance on the weekend from Swiss prosecutors investigating allegations of criminal conduct and 1MDB have not helped.  It needs to step back from the brink.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 9:57 am and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
,
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Swiss 1MDB probe holds fat tail risks for Malaysia

By Una Galani

Reuters Breakingviews

February 1, 2016

It’s hard to bury a big scandal. That is the awkward lesson that Najib Razak is learning. The Malaysian prime minister is attempting to draw a line under a multi-pronged financial controversy that almost toppled him. But initial findings from Switzerland’s attorney general that around $4 billion may have been misappropriated from Malaysian state firms is a sharp reminder of the lingering threat posed by foreign investigations.

Even by the standards of Malaysian politics, it has been an extraordinary few days. On Jan. 26, the country’s chief prosecutor concluded that $681 million that was transferred into the Prime Minister’s personal account in 2013 was a donation from the royal family in Saudi Arabia, not money from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, an indebted fund he championed. Najib was cleared of graft. Three days later, however, Swiss authorities published preliminary conclusions from its own probe into 1MDB which found that billions may have been squirreled away between 2009 and 2013.

The Swiss findings implicate former Malaysian officials and current and former ones in the United Arab Emirates. Four companies are in the frame: PetroSaudi, a privately-held Saudi oil company; former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International; Malaysian conglomerate Genting, and ADMIC, a joint venture with Aabar Investments – which is ultimately backed by Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The findings are also uncomfortable for Goldman Sachs as the Wall Street bank, which helped raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB, was closely involved with two of these entities.

However, Najib himself does not appear to be the focus of the inquiry. It is highly doubtful that any of the four ongoing Malaysian probes into 1MDB will result in any outcome that hurts the prime minister. After all, the present attorney general’s predecessor was axed by Najib at the height of the funding furore.

The happiest outcome for Najib would be for the investigations in Switzerland and elsewhere to also fizzle out. Malaysia says it will cooperate with its Swiss counterparts. Yet foreign investigators’ dependence on domestic help has helped to stymie past inquiries, including a more than decade-long probe into alleged money laundering by former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and his late wife former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto – both of whom always denied the charges.

Najib still has the domestic support he needs to stay on top. But the foreign probes into 1MDB are a continued embarrassment at best. At worst, further revelations could prove a fat tail risk for the prime minister – and for Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, 5:29 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.