US targets $540m in assets bought with 1MDB funds

David J Lynch in Washington

Financial Times

June 15, 2017

Latest move to recover money allegedly stolen from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund

The US Department of Justice on Thursday moved to seize an additional $540m in assets purchased with funds stolen from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, including a luxury yacht, a Picasso painting, jewellery and rights to the movie Dumb and Dumber.

The suit, which was filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is the latest move in an ambitious US effort to recover money allegedly siphoned from the fund in a sophisticated operation that ran from 2009 until 2015.

The US now estimates that a total of $4.5bn was pilfered by Malaysian public officials and their associates including Jho Low, a well-connected Malaysian businessman who held no formal role in the project.

Including the new lawsuit and earlier civil forfeiture actions, the US government has moved to recover $1.7bn of that amount, according to Kendall Day, acting deputy assistant attorney-general. This represents the largest such US seizure action under a DoJ initiative aimed at recovering money stolen by corrupt foreign officials.

Mr Day said the latest action was aimed at recovering “proceeds of a massive fraud”.

The scheme involved $1.2bn that 1MDB borrowed from Deutsche Bank in 2014, ostensibly to repay options connected with an earlier bond offering, prosecutors say. Of that borrowing, $850m was stolen to fund the lavish lifestyles of individuals including Mr Low and an official identified only as “Malaysian official 1”, a designation that in previous court filings has matched the biography of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, as has Mr Low.

In a statement on Thursday the Malaysian government said it would co-operate with any lawful investigation of the country’s companies or citizens but expressed concern “that again the DoJ has failed to seek such co-operation from the Malaysian government or 1MDB”.

The proceeds from two Deutsche Bank loans also were used to operate a Ponzi scheme designed to show that an earlier 1MDB investment in a joint venture with PetroSaudi International, a private Saudi Arabia-based oil services company, had been profitable.

In reality, none of the fund’s investments, which were to have promoted economic growth and foreign direct investment in Malaysia, paid off, according to Mr Day.

The fund obtained the loans “through material misrepresentations and omissions to Deutsche Bank”, according to the lawsuit. At one point, when bank officials requested documentation verifying key financial details, a 1MDB official replied that the fund had suffered a “server breakdown and all files were lost”, according to court filings.

The fund eventually defaulted on the larger of the two loans.

Several 1MDB officials, along with their relatives and associates, used a global network of shell companies and bank accounts in the US, Singapore, Switzerland, and Luxembourg to pull off the heist, prosecutors say.

Mr Day said the investigation is continuing. The Financial Times reported last year that prosecutors are investigating Goldman Sachs’ handling of the proceeds of $6.5bn in bond offerings it conducted for the fund to determine whether it complied with reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act. The bank has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Among the assets targeted in the civil lawsuit filed on Wednesday was a $261m yacht called “The Equanimity”, which prosecutors said was constructed in 2014 and could hold 25 guests and a crew of 33. The 300 feet long vessel boasted a helicopter pad, a gymnasium, cinema, and plunge pool, prosecutors said.

Jho Low, a businessman with Hollywood ties, is at the centre of an alleged money laundering scheme

The US also moved to seize 2.5m shares of Palantir stock, a Madison Avenue condominium, a framed colour poster for the 1927 silent movie Metropolis, and rights to the movie Daddy’s Home, which starred Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.

The lawsuit also targeted several diamonds, including a nearly 12-carat heart-shaped item, and the painting “Nature Morte au Crane de Taureau” by Picasso.

The Picasso was given in January 2014 as a birthday gift to the actor Leo DiCaprio, who starred in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. The film was produced by Red Granite, which was backed financially by individuals allegedly involved in the scandal, including Riza Aziz, a relative of Mr Najib, and Mr Low.

Through a spokesman, Mr DiCaprio said on Thursday that before the government filed its latest action, he had “initiated return of these items, which were received and accepted by him for the purpose of being included in an annual charity auction to benefit his eponymous foundation”.

The actor also has returned an Oscar originally won by Marlon Brando, which he received as another gift from Red Granite.

The company, which also produced Dumb and Dumber and Daddy’s Home, said it “is actively engaged in discussions with the Justice Department aimed at resolving” the civil litigation.

Last year, the US filed civil forfeiture actions seeking more than $1bn in assets purchased with money allegedly stolen from the 1MDB fund.

The new suit says assets belonging to several individuals or businesses such as Jho Low; Low Taek Szen; JW Hospitality (VHG Intl) Ltd; FFP (Cayman) Ltd; Mubadala Development Company PJSC; Viceroy Hotel Group; and Jynwel Capital Ltd, may be affected by the action.

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1MDB Loot Included Picasso, ‘Dumb and Dumber To,’ U.S. Says

by Greg Farrell

Bloomberg

16 June 2017

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to recover $540 million in assets — including art works, jewelry and film rights — that it says were purchased with funds misappropriated from Malaysia’s 1MDB wealth fund.

It’s the latest attempt by the U.S. government to seize assets linked to the tainted fund, bringing the total sought by the Justice Department to $1.8 billion.

From 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion belonging to 1Malaysia Development Bhd was diverted by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to complaints filed Thursday in the Central District of California.

The items cited in the new lawsuit as subject to seizure include a Park Avenue condominium, diamond jewelry, shares of fitness club operator Fly Wheel Sports Inc., a painting by Pablo Picasso titled “Nature Morte au Crane de Taureau” and rights to the 2014 film “Dumb and Dumber To.”

The government also wants to seize a luxury yacht, the Equanimity, valued at more than $260 million. It holds 26 guests and 33 crew members and features a helicopter pad, gym and cinema. And there’s a stake in the Viceroy Hotel Group valued at $31 million. Both were purchased by Jho Low, a Malaysian financier with ties to the country’s prime minister and a taste for the good life, prosecutors say.

‘Wolf’ Movie

Last year the government sought assets including properties in Hollywood and New York, various art works and rights and royalties for the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The Justice Department alleged a three-part scheme orchestrated Low: Phase one involved the launch of the fund in 2009, and the next two phases involved the sale of bonds arranged by Goldman Sachs in 2012 and 2013.

The U.S. investigation is part of a worldwide effort to track how much of the $6 billion that 1MDB raised for development projects was used to pay for luxury real estate, art, lavish parties and more. Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and Luxembourg are among the countries also investigating the roles played by banks and individuals.

The fund has consistently denied any misconduct. Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, who until last year was the chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board, has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by Malaysia’s attorney general.

Early on Friday, Malaysia’s prime minister and attorney general responded angrily to the U.S. action and suggested a political motivation behind it.

“The Malaysian government will fully cooperate with any lawful investigation of Malaysian companies or citizens in accordance with international protocols,” said Tengku Sariffuddin, the prime minister’s press secretary. “So we are concerned that again the DoJ has failed to seek such cooperation from the Malaysian government or 1MDB.”

He cited the Malaysia investigations in which “no crime was found” and said that the Royal Malaysia Police were still investigating. “If there is evidence of wrongdoing, Malaysia will not hesitate to take action,” he said. “Until then, unproven allegations should not be taken as facts.” He added that “The judicial process is not served by headline seeking.”

Jho Low also issued a statement, saying the latest forfeiture action continues the U.S. government’s “inappropriate efforts to seize assets despite not having proven that any improprieties have occurred.”

“We look forward to the court being presented with the actual facts which demonstrate that the DOJ’s case is completely without foundation,” he said through a representative.

The Hollywood films cited by the Justice Department were produced by Red Granite Pictures, co-founded by Najib’s stepson, Riza Aziz. “Red Granite is actively engaged in discussions with the Justice Department aimed at resolving these civil cases and is fully cooperating,” the company said in a statement.

According to Thursday’s complaint, 1MDB secured two loans from Deutsche Bank in 2014, worth $1.225 billion combined, supposedly to buy back options it had given to a subsidiary of the International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dubai (IPIC) in 2012 in connection with funds raised by Goldman.

Offshore Affiliates

Instead, the government said, $850 million of that money was sent to two offshore affiliates that appeared to be related to IPIC but were in fact controlled by individuals who benefited from the 1MDB fraud in cooperation with Low.

Senior 1MDB managers “made material misrepresentations and omissions” to Deutsche Bank about its affiliates to compel the bank to divert the funds, and some of those funds were then routed through a series of structured transactions to create the appearance that some of 1MDB’s earlier investments were paying off, the government said.

A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

The government said that some of the assets described in the complaints were given away by the conspirators as gifts. They include a $9 million collage by Jean-Michel Basquiat and the $3.3 million Picasso, both given to the “Wolf of Wall Street” actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and a $27 million, 22-carat pink diamond necklace for Najib’s wife, prosecutors said.

DiCaprio has already “initiated return” of those items, “which were received and accepted by him for the purpose of being included in an annual charity auction to benefit his eponymous foundation,” a spokesman for the actor said on Thursday. He also returned an Oscar award won by the late Marlon Brando, given to him by Red Granite during the production of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” the spokesman said.

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Call on the entire Cabinet to collectively resign next Wednesday if Ministers are unable to purge Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of the nation  being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy

Congratulations to the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Razak!

He has hit the international jackpot as no other incident in his seven years as Prime Minister has so dominated world headlines in the last 36 hours as  his brainchild –  the 1MDB monster – after the expanded United States Department of Justice (DOJ) litigation to forfeit another US$540 million of assets it alleged were stolen from 1MDB,  bringing the total 1MDB assets US DOJ wants to be forfeited because of money-laundering  to more than US$4.5 billion.

The latest US DOJ action has laid to rest the hopes of some in the inner Najib circle that the new US President Trump would quash the US DOJ kleptocratic action on 1MDB, as Najib boasts as Trump’s “golfing buddy” and “favourite Prime Minister” with Najib having  a signed photograph of Trump on his desk.

Nobody knows whether Trump’s signed photograph would now be removed, but Trump is fighting for his political life, with the  fastest  worsening presidential approving rating falling below 40 per cent in the  history of US Presidents and facing possible impeachment proceedings following investigation for obstruction of justice to have much time and thought for Najib and the 1MDB scandal. There is in fact a large betting market in the US as to whether Trump could finish his first term of office.

I said yesterday that the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali cannot be more wrong when he suggested that there was nothing new in the expanded DOJ kleptocratic suit on 1MDB money-laundering, as there are many new information as a result of almost a year of continued investigations into 1MDB money-laundering all over the  world – except in Malaysia – such as the following:

•	The US DOJ expanding its total of 1MDB-linked assets it sought to forfeit in less than a year from US$1 billion to US$1.7 billion with the total money-laundering involved increasing from US$3.5 billion to US$4.5 billion;

•	The “criminal conduct” in “four principal phases” over approximately five-year period from 2009 to 2014, where “multiple individuals, including public officials and their associates, conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB through various means, including by defrauding foreign banks and by sending them foreign wire communications in furtherance of the scheme, and thereafter, to launder the proceeds of that criminal conduct, including in and through U.S. financial institutions”; where the funds diverted from 1MDB were “used for the personal benefit of the co-conspirators and their relatives and associates including to purchase luxury real estate in the United States and overseas, pay gambling expenses at Las Vegas  casinos, acquire more than US$200 million in artwork, purchase lavish gifts for family members and associates, invest in a major New York real estate development project, and fund the production of major Hollywood films”.

The original DOJ suit in July 2016 referred to only “three principal phases” – the “Good Star” Phase, the “Aabar-BVI” Phase and the  “Tanore” Phase. There is now a fourth “Options Buy-Back” Phase, (covering 27 pages and 90 paragraphs)  where some US$850 million in 1MDB funds was misappropriated under the guise of paying Aabar to relinquish certain options it had been given in consideration of IPIC’s guarantee of the 2012 bonds. 1MDB borrowed US$1.22 billion from a syndicate of banks led by Deutsche Bank in Singapore to fund these payments of Aabar, but US$850 million were diverted to Aabar-BVI and Aabar-Seychelles, that “appeared to be, but were not affiliated with IPIC and Aabar”.

•	The revelation that after the idea for the PetroSaudi and 1MDB  joint venture was discussed in the summer of 2009 at a meeting arranged by Jho Low “ between MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1 and co-founders of PetroSaudi abroad a yacht off the coast of Manaco” (which was the single event which initiated the monstrous 1MDB scam), Low emailed his parents, brothers and sister on or about September 7, 2009: “Just closed the deal with petrosaudi. Looks like we may have hit a goldmin[e].”   Jho Low had indeed struck a “goldmine”, but one which had to paid by 30 million Malaysians and future generations!

•	A longer list of 1MDB-linked assets acquired from stolen 1MDB funds, including:

* The Equanimity yacht;

* 2.5 million shares of Series D Preferred Stock in Palantir Technologies, a software company;

* All rights and interests in the Electrum Group, an investment manager company;

* Rights to the film “Dumb and Dumber” produced by Red Granite Pictures;

* Rights to the film “Daddy’s Home” produced by Red Granite Pictures;

* A single frame 3-sheet colour lithograph poster by German artist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm for the 1927 silent film “Metropolis”;

* All rights and interests in Fly Wheel Sports, a fitness club chain;

* One 11.72-carat heart-shaped diamond;

* One 8.88-carat fancy intense pink diamond pendant surrounded by 11-carat fancy intense pink diamonds;

* One 18-carat white gold diamond jewellery set, including a diamond necklace, diamond earring, diamond bracelet, and diamond ring;

* One pair of diamond earrings and matching diamond ring, consisting a 7.53-carat flawless type 2A diamond, a 3.05-carat flawless type 2A diamond and a 3.08-carat flawless type 2A diamond;

* A painting entitled “Nature Morte au Crane de Taureau” by Pablo Picasso;

* A collage entitled “Redman One” by Jean-Michel Basquiat;

* A photograph entitled “Boy with the Toy Hand Grenade” by Diane Arbus.

•	More information about the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal as a result of criminal and regulatory investigations and actions in some 10 countries and jurisdictions since US DOJ action in July 2016, except in Malaysia.

Attorney-General Apandi complained that the Malaysian government had not received any request from the US DOJ to obtain any information or evidence.

Only the DOJ can respond to the Attorney-General, but Malaysians still remember the caustic statement by the Swiss Attorney-General Michael Lauber in April that he was confident that the 1MDB money-laundering probe would bear fruits despite the Malaysian authorities’ refusal to co-operate.

The Minister for Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak may not realise how correct he was to raise the issue of treason in connection with the US DOJ kleptocratic action.

No loyal and patriotic Malaysian can read the  updated 251-page USA DOJ kleptocratic suit to forfeit US$1.7 billion MDB-linked assets arising from US$4.5 billion 1MDB  money-laundering without consternation and  horror and only those who are prepared to commit treason will be unaffected, unmoved and  untouched by the US DOJ action.

What is kleptocracy?  The US DOJ kleptocratic action on the 1MDB assets is a classic lesson not only to Malaysians, but to the world, as to what constitutes kleptocracy.

The expanded  251-page US DOJ kleptocratic action is the greatest shame to Malaysia in our 60-year history.

Unless we can disprove the kleptocratic allegations in the US DOJ action, without having to wait for the US court proceedings to take their course in the US courts, Malaysia deserves the international infamy and ignominy of a “global kleptocracy”.

The expanded 251-page US DOJ kleptocracy suit on 1MDB is a “must read” for all Ministers, Members of Parliament and loyal and patriotic Malaysians who love and care about Malaysia’s good name and reputation in the world.

I call on the 36 Ministers to place the subject of the expanded  251-page US DOJ kleptocratic suit on top of the Cabinet agenda next Wednesday, and decide on how to cleanse and purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”.

If the Cabinet is unable as matter of national priority clear or cleanse  Malaysia’ infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”, I call on the entire Cabinet to  collectively resign of Wednesday for failing to defend Malaysia’s good name and reputation in the world.

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Malaysia rejects US claims over assets said stolen from 1MDB

By Eileen Ng | AP

Washington Post

June 16 2017

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian sovereign wealth fund has rejected U.S. Justice Department allegations over money laundering and alleged theft of a treasure trove of assets including diamonds, a yacht and private jet and penthouse apartments.

The Malaysian government-controlled fund known informally as 1MDB and other officials in Kuala Lumpur insisted Friday that there was no proof linking the fund to such crimes.

On Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil case seeking recovery of $540 million in assets that it says were stolen from 1MDB, a fund intended to promote economic development projects. Overall, the Justice Department alleges that more than $4.5 billion has been stolen from the fund.

In a 250-page filing for the U.S. District Court in Central California, the Justice Department outlined in detail the allegations of a complex money laundering scheme intended to enrich top-level officials of the fund, including some close to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The 1MDB case is the largest single action the Justice Department has taken under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which seeks to recover foreign bribery proceeds and embezzled funds. Several other countries including Singapore and Switzerland are conducting probes.

Last summer, prosecutors moved to recover more than $1 billion diverted from the fund to pay for properties in New York and California, a $35 million jet, art by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet and other wealth used to help finance the movies, “Dumb and Dumber To” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which was produced by Red Granite Pictures, a studio co-founded by Najib’s stepson.

The Justice Department filing drew vehement objections from Malaysia, where Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said there was no evidence that money was misappropriated from 1MDB.

Apandi also expressed “strong concerns” over suggestions Najib, who has not been named in civil cases related to 1MDB, engaged in criminal acts. The attorney general said Malaysia will uphold the “rule of law” and take action if there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

1MDB likewise said there was no documentary proof or witnesses’ statements to support the Justice Department’s claim.

“1MDB highlights that it is not a party to the civil lawsuit nor has it been contacted by the DOJ in relation to this matter,” the fund said in a statement.

Najib’s press secretary Tengku Sariffuddin separately voiced concern that the Justice Department didn’t seek cooperation from the Malaysian government or 1MDB.

“We are also concerned by the unnecessary and gratuitous naming of certain matters and individuals that are only relevant to domestic political manipulation and interference. This suggests a motivation that goes beyond the objective of seizing assets,” he said, without elaborating.

The Justice Department’s court filing shows much of the wealth in question was moved through offshore dealings and bank accounts in Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the U.S. The evidence cited includes details of wire transfers of hundreds of millions of dollars.

It says the wife of an unnamed person identified as “Malaysian Official 1,” who has been widely inferred to be Najib, received a 22-carat pink diamond necklace worth $27.3 million in 2014 purchased with from funds stolen from 1MDB.

Other assets included diamonds given to Australian model Miranda Kerr, movie posters and artwork given to Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as rights to the movies “Dumber and Dumber To” and “Daddy’s Home” from Red Granite.

Some of the items at issue were provided to the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation for a charity auction. A DiCaprio spokesperson said that those items and an Academy Award won by Marlon Brando which was given to Mr. DiCaprio as a set gift by Red Granite to thank him for his work on ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’” were voluntarily returned.

Red Granite released a statement saying it is trying to resolve the case and is fully cooperating with the Justice Department.

In announcing the Justice Department’s filing, Sandra R. Brown, acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said the wealth alleged to have been stolen “should have been used to help the people of Malaysia, but instead was used by a small number of individuals to fuel their astonishing greed.”

“We simply will not allow the United States to be a place where corrupt individuals can expect to hide assets and lavishly spend money that should be used for the benefit of citizens of other nations,” she said.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 17 June 2017, 6:32 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s 1MDB Fund Spawns Worldwide Probes: QuickTake Q&A

by Shamim Adam  and Laurence Arnold

Bloomberg

16th June 2017

Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund, 1MDB, was supposed to attract foreign investment. Instead, it has spurred criminal and regulatory investigations around the world that have cast an unflattering spotlight on financial deal-making, election spending and political patronage under Prime Minister Najib Razak. A Malaysian parliamentary committee identified at least $4.2 billion in irregular transactions.

1. What is 1MDB?

It’s a government investment company — full name, 1Malaysia Development Berhad — that took shape in 2009 under Najib, who went on to lead its advisory board. Its early initiatives included buying privately owned power plants and planning a new financial district in Kuala Lumpur. The fund proved better at borrowing — it accumulated $12 billion in debt — than at luring large-scale investment.

2. What’s the issue?

Investigators have been trying to trace whether money flowed through and around 1MDB and illegally into personal accounts. Some of the money is alleged to have ended up with Najib and his family. That includes $681 million that landed in the prime minister’s personal bank account, according to U.S. prosecutors. Malaysia’s attorney general, backed by Saudi authorities, said the $681 million was a donation from the Saudi Arabian royal family, much of which was returned. The U.S. Justice Department says the money instead came from, and was returned to, an offshore entity called Tanore Finance Corp. Another $700 million in 1MDB funds meant for a joint venture with a company known as PetroSaudi International was found to have landed in an unrelated offshore account. Najib has denied wrongdoing.

3. Who is investigating?

There are probes related to 1MDB in at least 10 countries, focused on possible embezzlement or money laundering. At home, investigations have been less pointed. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to seize about $1.8 billion in assets that it says were illegally acquired through money diverted from 1MDB, including real estate, art and proceeds from the film “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Singapore and Switzerland have imposed financial penalties on several banks for lapses in anti-money laundering controls related to funds allegedly from 1MDB.

4. Who is involved?

Though not all have been accused of doing anything wrong, financiers and financial companies have found themselves part of the 1MDB saga:

Low Taek Jho
, a bon vivant who did consulting work for 1MDB, is portrayed by U.S. prosecutors as a central figure who set up shell companies to collect proceeds from the fund and arranged the withdrawal of tens of millions of dollars to pay Malaysian government officials and for his own lavish spending. He is a “key person of interest” in Singapore investigations and the Wall Street Journal says U.S. authorities could file criminal charges against him. Efforts to reach Low, who had previously denied wrongdoing, have been unsuccessful.

Falcon Private Bank Ltd.
, a Zurich-based bank linked to $3.8 billion of 1MDB fund flows, was ordered to cease operations in Singapore while Switzerland threatened to withdraw its license if there were any further breaches of money-laundering regulations.

BSI SA
, a 143-year-old Swiss bank that worked with 1MDB, lost its license to do business in Singapore for breaches of money laundering rules.

Goldman Sachs
 made $593 million working on three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013, dwarfing what banks typically make from government deals. It said in 2015 that fees and commissions “reflected the underwriting risks” it had assumed. New York’s bank regulator has asked the firm for a summary of its 1MDB work.

Tim Leissner
, Goldman Sachs’ Southeast Asia chairman, wrote an unauthorized reference letter for Low on the bank’s letterhead. He resigned in February 2016 and hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing. Singapore banned him from the securities industry for 10 years.

UBS Group AG, DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG, United Overseas Bank Ltd. and Standard Chartered Plc
 are among those who have also drawn penalties from the Singapore central bank for anti-money laundering lapses. They said they will strengthen controls in their businesses.

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The US government wants a court to hand over millions of Palantir shares allegedly used in a money-laundering scheme

JULIE BORT

Business Insider

JUN. 17, 2017

The US government has filed a lawsuit asking to take ownership of 2.5 million shares of preferred Palantir stock that were allegedly caught up in Malaysia’s massive 1MDB scandal.

On Thursday, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to nab a huge assortment of assets, including some of Palantir’s stock. The government says these items were bought with allegedly stolen money from Malaysia 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund (1MDB).

The 1MDB fund was set up by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to promote economic development. However, US authorities allege that between 2009 and 2014, billions of dollars were stolen from the fund by multiple people and then used to buy all sorts of things.

This money was allegedly used “to purchase luxury real estate in the United States and overseas, pay gambling expenses at Las Vegas casinos, acquire more than $200 million in artwork, purchase lavish gifts for family members and associates, invest in a major New York real estate development project, and fund the production of major Hollywood films,” the complaint says.

On Thursday, the Justice Department released a list of specific items it is asking the court to turn over to the government. This includes 2.5 million shares of Palantir, originally purchased for $2 million, according to the court filings. The stock was part of Palantir’s $90 million series D venture capital investment back in June 2010, and was purchased at 80 cents a share, the documents said.

Palantir is a high-profile Valley startup valued at more than $20 billion. It makes software used by companies and governments to sift through massive amounts of data. It was cofounded by billionaire tech VC Peter Thiel and others and is still a private company, meaning the stock isn’t openly available for anyone to buy.

Palantir is not being accused of any wrongdoing in this suit and it’s not the only stock named. The US government also alleges that, through the creation of shell companies, the money was invested in various private equity funds as well as used to buy stock in indoor cycling company Flywheel Studios.

But most of the assets the government is seeking to nab in this lawsuit sounds like the catalog of a billionaire’s life:

*A yacht

*Interests in a hotel chain

*Movie rights (including interests in “Dumb and Dumber,” “Daddy’s Home,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” )

*A poster created by the German artist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm for the 1927 silent film “Metropolis”

*Real estate apartments and mansions in New York, LA, and Beverly Hills

*Enormous diamonds

*A Picasso

*A Monet that was allegedly bought as a birthday present for “Wolf of Wall Street” star Leo DiCaprio.

If the court agrees that the property should be forfeited, including the Palantir stock, the government will own it, at least at first, says Thom Mrozek, a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office, Central District of California

“We are seeking to forfeit the assets identified in the lawsuit (this is different from “seizing” property). The forfeiture lawsuits allege that the various assets were purchased with funds that had been laundered, and most of those funds originally were misappropriated from 1MDB. If the government prevails in the forfeiture lawsuits, the United States essentially becomes the owner of the property. We would then do whatever is appropriate and possible to return them to benefit the people who were harmed in the first place.”

Palantir did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Who killed Thaqif, Zulfarhan and Nhaveen? Not just the murderers but a society which allows bullies to take law into their own hands and moderates allow extremists to incite intolerance, distrust, hate  and violence

In April, 11-year old Mohamad Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi, a student who was beaten and abused at his tahfiz religious boarding school, died from his injuries. But not before he had both his legs amputated, was put into an induced coma and almost had to have his arm amputated as well.

It is alleged that Thaqif was beaten with a rubber hose repeatedly. His beatings caused him to get a serious bacterial infection.

On June 1, Zulfarhan Osman, 21, a third year electrical engineering student, died at the Serdang Hospital after suffering bruises and burns on his body, allegedly due to torture by his university mates.

In Penang, T. Nhaveen, 18, a teenager who was bashed up brutally by a group of teenagers using helmets as well as tortured with a sharp object penetrated into his anus, died at the Penang Hospital on Thursday after a five-day coma, was buried in tearful funeral yesterday.

What went wrong?

Are we bringing up a generation  of murderers?

Who killed  Thaqif, Zulfarhan and Nhaveen? Not just the murderers who must pay the price under the law, but we must bear responsibility as a society which allows bullies to take law into their own hands,  and  moderates must assume responsibility for allowing extremists to incite intolerance, distrust,  hate and violence.

Such extremism to incite intolerance, distrust, hate and violence are taking root in our society.

DAP and DAP leaders are victims of such extremism.

DAP is a Malaysian political party,  promoting the rights and interests of all races and religions in the country, and we have within our ranks Malaysians from all races and religions, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans and Orang Asli; whether Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs or Taoists.

DAP is not  anti-Malay and anti-Islam as demonstrated by the record of the nine-year  DAP-led Penang State Government, serving interests of all Malaysians in Penang, regardless of race, religion or socio-economic background.

We cannot be anti-Malay or anti-Islam for this will be anti-Malaysian, which comprise the diverse races and religions in the country.

Why then are there  people who insist on creating the scare that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam when they know that these outrageous charges are fake news and false information?

The answer is very simple – these are the real enemies of a peaceful, harmonious united, progressive and prosperous  multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural Malaysia who want to create disunity, division and discord by setting race against race and religion against religion because this is their only way to hold on to political power.

We are living in a very troubled world, where the voices of extremism and fanaticism want to hijack public discourse and mainstream space by preaching  hate, distrust, suspicion, intolerance and conflict.

Malaysians do not want to see in the country the bombings and killings of innocent people, including children, as happened in Manchester, London, Paris, Jakarta, Mindanao or most recently in Teheran, whether by Islamic State or other extremist and fanatical elements.

It is time for Malaysians to wake up and realise that moderates of whatever race, religion or politics will lose out  by default to the extremists and fanatics, if they are not prepared to stand up to defend and fight for moderation in the country and refuse to cede any ground in public discourse or mainstream space by professing  zero tolerance for extremism and fanaticism.

History tells us of the heavy price moderates have to pay when they failed to stand up against extremism or fanaticism of any form.

Nazi Germany is a good example. A victim of Nazi Germany admitted that very few people were true Nazis but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care.

The majority just sat back and let it all happen, and before they  knew it, they  had lost control and the Nazis were in command of everything.

It  was the same with the Japanese. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet.

Same with  Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving’?

Malaysians must learn from these precious lessons of history, that peace-loving moderates, of whatever race, religion or nation should not be made irrelevant by their silence.

It is pointless Malaysia preaching the Wasatiyyah principles of moderation, justice, fair play, balance and excellence on the global level, if we allow and cede extremism and fanaticism room in public discourse and mainstream space.

The  holy month of Ramadan should not be defiled by lies and falsehoods, intolerance, hatred and violence, an inability to different right from wrong or the loss of all capacity to  feel shame.

Let Ramadan be a month not only for Malaysians to be good Muslims, but also good Buddhists, good Christians, good Hindus, good Sikhs and good Taoists so that we can all become good Malaysians.

(Speech at the Majlis breaking of fast co-orgnanised by Sekdem and Roketkini in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, June 17 at 6 pm)

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Alleged assets bought using stolen funds

Straits Times

17th June 2017

These are some of the alleged assets bought using stolen funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), as well as new pieces of information, detailed in the third filing by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in its 251-page civil lawsuit.

“This money financed the lavish lifestyles of the alleged co-conspirators at the expense and detriment of the Malaysian people,” US Acting Assistant Attorney-General Kenneth Blanco said in a statement on Thursday.

The DOJ wants to seize the items as part of its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

•The items include a rare 22-carat pink diamond set in a necklace costing US$27.3 million (S$38 million) that was given to the wife of “Malaysian Official 1” by businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, who has said he was an unofficial adviser to 1MDB in its early days. A Malaysian minister has said “Malaysian Official 1” refers to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

•Mr Low spent at least US$9.9 million on jewellery for Australian model Miranda Kerr, as well as for his own mother.

• Mr Low has a Malaysian passport and a passport for the West Indies island of St Kitts and Nevis.

•The DOJ wants to seize Mr Low’s luxury yacht Equanimity, valued at over US$260 million. It can hold 26 guests and 33 crew members, and has a helicopter pad.

• Mr Low gave actor Leonardo DiCaprio a US$9 million artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat and a US$3.2 million Picasso painting as gifts. The actor’s spokesman said he has begun proceedings to transfer ownership of the Picasso painting to the US government, Reuters reported.

•The DOJ wants to seize rights to the films Dumb And Dumber and Daddy’s Home, produced by Red Granite Pictures, which was founded by Datuk Seri Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz.

•The DOJ alleges that Mr Low amassed more than US$1 billion in real estate using funds diverted from 1MDB. Three of these homes were sold to Mr Riza for a profit.

•The DOJ revealed how US$850 million out of US$1.225 billion in loans that 1MDB took from Deutsche Bank were allegedly siphoned off.

•The US agency said 1MDB’s subsidiary Brazen Sky claimed to have US$2.318 billion worth of “fund units” in Bridge Global Absolute Return Fund. The DOJ showed how the scheme was allegedly carried out, and said these so-called fund units are “relatively worthless”.

In two previous lawsuits, the DOJ had sought to seize, among others:

•Mr Low’s Bombardier jet.

•Artwork by Van Gogh and Claude Monet owned by him.

•Royalties from the 2013 film, The Wolf Of Wall Street, whose production was financed by Red Granite. Starring DiCaprio, the movie was about Wall Street corruption and greed.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 June 2017, 6:22 am and is filed under
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Call for a nation-wide people’s campaign for collective resignation of Cabinet if 36 Ministers cannot do anything to purge Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy

No loyal and patriotic Malaysian can read the  updated 251-page USA Department of Justice (DOJ) kleptocratic suit to forfeit US$1.7 billion MDB-linked assets arising from US$4.5 billion 1MDB  money-laundering scandal without intense shame, consternation and  horror and only those who are prepared to commit treason will be unaffected, unmoved and  untouched by the US DOJ action.

This year is the 60th National Day anniversary from the attainment of Merdeka on August 31, 1957, and it is sad and tragic that we have this year the expanded  251-page US DOJ kleptocratic action – which represents the nation’s  greatest   shame in our 60-year history.

Anyone who wants to understand the meaning of kleptocracy just need to read the 251-page DOJ’s kleptocratic action to forfeit the 1MDB-linked assets, which lays out in shocking detail the  results of ongoing  meticulous and exhaustive investigations into 1MDB by the US DOJ, which should have been done by the Malaysian authorities!

I call  for a nation-wide people’s campaign for the collective resignation of Cabinet if the 36 Ministers cannot do anything at its meeting on Wednesday, 21st June,  to purge Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy.

Ministers  who have not read the updated DOJ’s 251-page kleptocratic action against 1MDB by Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting should identify themselves, for clearly they are not fit to be in the Cabinet, bereft of a minimum sense of responsibility to protect the good name and reputation of Malaysia in the global arena – and should resign in disgrace even before Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting or be sacked from the Cabinet.

The 36 Ministers must  place the kleptocratic scandal of the expanded  251-page US DOJ kleptocratic suit against 1MDB assets on top of the Cabinet agenda next Wednesday, and decide on how to cleanse and purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy” – failing which, the Cabinet should collectively resign for failing or unable to defend Malaysia’s good name and reputation in the world.

The updated 251-page US DOJ kleptocratic action against 1MDB is really a “shocker”, or to be more correct “a Shocker of Shockers”, for it reveals not only the complex web of deceit and treachery in stealing billions of ringgit of 1MDB funds for personal and private use and aggrandizement, but the depths of depravity some Malaysians had been prepared to   descend to steal and lavish on themselves billions of ringgit of public  funds from the 1MDB scam.

The Defence Minister, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein said two days ago that the latest US DOJ filing would divert attention from a bigger agenda.

Hishamuddin could not be more wrong, for there can be no bigger agenda in Malaysia than to ensure that democracy in Malaysia does not mutate into a kleptocracy, and the national imperative to uphold  integrity in public life.

Hishammuddin’s father, Tun Hussein Onn, the third Prime Minister, would have  fully agreed with me.

When Hussein passed away in San Francisco on May 29, 1990 while undergoing medical treatment, I paid him a tribute and said:

“Hussein Onn will shine out in Malaysian history for his impeccable personal integrity and abhorrence of corruption, and is leadership is particularly missed at a time when abuses of power, corruption, financial and moral scandals have become commonplace in the corridors of power.”

I have no doubt that if Malaysia had been accused of being “global kleptocracy” when Hussein  was Prime Minister, he would have made the clearing of Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy as a “global kleptocracy” his top personal and government agenda and would have no hesitation in tendering his resignation as Prime Minister if he is unable to clear or cleanse the nation of such international infamy and ignominy.

Does Hishammuddin agree with me, or am I wrong in attributing such qualities of uncompromising commitment to public integrity to his father – the third Prime Minister of Malaysia?

Are there any modern-day Hussein Onns in the present-day Najib Cabinet?

Malaysians will know soon enough whether there are any patriotic Ministers who are prepared to make a principled stand to quit the Cabinet if is unable or unprepared to respond honourably to the expanded DOJ kleptocratic action against the international maze of 1MDB money-laundering and to clear or cleanse Malaysia’s ignominy and infamy for being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy”.

(Speech at the Cheras DAP General Election Preparations Dinner held in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 17th June 2017 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 June 2017, 8:12 am and is filed under
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Did Apandi ask “wife of MO1” whether the account in updated DOJ kleptocratic suit to forfeit 1MDB-linked assets  (Para 847 – 863) about Jho Low’s gift of a US$27.3 million 22-carat pink diamond necklace” to “wife of MO1”  was true version of what happened in 2013/14 and where is now the 22-carat pink diamond necklace?

Plans by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in the Ramadan month for a rescue and re-make of his image in readiness for the 14th General Election were blown apart by Najib’s and the country’s two largest financial scandals – the RM50 billion 1MDB international  money-laundering scandal and the RM13 billion Felda Group Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) scandal.

As a result, the possibility of general elections being held after the SEA Games from August 19 – 30 and the 60th National Day celebrations on August 31, 2017 have dimmed, while the chances of  the 14th General Elections being held next year have increased although I would not completely rule out the possibility of polls at the end of this year.

The FGV and 1MDB twin scandals have spoiled Najib’s carefully choreographed strategy to present himself as a “statesman” Prime Minister, respected by the nation and the world, and who deserve to win the next general elections with a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

They are indeed the latest living examples of the saying, “Man Proposes, God Disposes”.

The updated and expanded 251-page United States Department of Justice (DOJ) kleptocratic suit to forfeit some US$1.7 billion of 1MDB-linked assets arising from some US$4.5 billion 1MDB money-laundering and embezzlement has done irreparable damage to the reputation of both the Prime Minister and the nation.

Two days ago, I asked the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali whether he had read the ten “killer paragraghs” in US DOJ’s updated and expanded kleptocratic brief against 1MDB about Najib’s infamous RM2.6 billion donation in his personal Ambank accounts   before he dismissed the updated DOJ suit as nothing new and expressed his regret about  “insinuations” against the Prime Minister – as the DOJ suit clearly linked Najib to the 1MDB international laundering scandal.

In fact, the updated and expanded DOJ suit smashed into smithereens the lengthy Najib pretence  that the RM2.6 billion donations into his personal Ambank accounts were from a Saudi Arabia royal family, for the entire  trail of money of the RM2.6 billion donations were  uncovered and traced, from:

(a)  the misappropriation and fraudulent diversion of US$1.26 billion to TANORE account in Singapore  in proceeds from the  third US$3 billion bond offering arranged by Goldman Sachs on March 19, 2013;

(b)  the transfer of US$681 million (or RM2.6 billion) to the Ambank account of MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1 on March 21, 2013 and March 25, 2013;

(c)   The return of US$620 million from another Najib’s Ambank account to TANORE on August 26, 2013; and

(d)  The use of the 1MDB funds in the TANORE account by Jho Low and co-conspirators to purchase artwork and properties for their personal benefit, including the purchase of a 22-carat pink diamond necklace for the “wife of Malaysian Official 1” for the price of  US$27.4 million.

The DOJ kleptocratic suit not only smashed to smithereens the Najib pretence that the US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) was from a Saudi Arabia royalty, it also established that Attorney-General Apandi himself was not telling the truth when he characterized  in the press statement in January 2016 that the payment of US$681 million was a “personal donation to [MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1] from the Saudi royal family, which was given to him without any consideration”.

Would Apandi know retract his January 2016 statement characterizing the payment of US$681 million as a “personal donation from the Saudi royal family”, when it was stolen from the 1MDB funds according to the DOJ action?

In fact, Apandi should now be asked, before he dismissed the updated and expanded DOJ kleptocratic suit as nothing new, whether he had asked the “wife of MO1” whether the account in the updated DOJ kleptocratic suit  (Para 847 – 863) about Jho Low’s gift of a US$27.3 million 22-carat pink diamond necklace to  “the wife of MO1”  was true version of what happened in 2013/14, and where is now the 22 carat pink diamond necklace?

The Malaysian public would like to know whether any Minister would be asking questions about the expanded and updated US DOJ kleptocratic suit against 1MDB-linked assets in the forthcoming Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

(Speech at meeting of DAP Selangor grassroots leaders at DAP Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 18th June 2017 at 2 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 June 2017, 3:44 pm and is filed under
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Dirty money

By Una Galani

BreakingViews

Reuters

16 June 2017

1MDB’s money trail is quite something. Cash siphoned from the disgraced Malaysian sovereign fund ended up in a luxury yacht, technology startups, the movie “Dumb and Dumber To”, a pink diamond pendant, and artwork by Picasso and Basquiat, the U.S. Department of Justice alleges. This reads like a parody of the shopping habits of the rich and decadent.

With the latest filing, made public on Thursday, authorities now claim more than $4.5 billion was misappropriated between 2009 and 2015. Out of that, the DOJ is seeking to seize $1.7 billion of assets. The lawsuit shows in gritty detail how money was handled by the world’s biggest banks including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. They are not accused of wrongdoing, but no one comes out looking good in the largest case brought under the department’s so-called “Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative”.

This will not be easy, however. Seizing assets is slow, difficult work, and returning the proceeds can take a long time too. A Financial Times report on the unit last year said the DOJ had returned only 5 percent of the funds it has intercepted to its rightful owners. Anything recovered in this case is unlikely to return directly to the victim nation, given the case implicates “Malaysian Official 1”, a figure who matches the profile of Prime Minister Najib Razak. In similar cases, the DOJ has previously allowed funds to flow back via entities like the World Bank. Najib, meanwhile, has denied any wrongdoing and Malaysia insists the DOJ has not sought any assistance from the government or 1MDB.

The sad reality is that the days of U.S. crusades against global financial crime look numbered. This is unlikely to be a priority for the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose own business empire creates numerous potential conflicts of interest. And the government’s distaste for overseas alliances is likely to undercut the international cooperation needed to build complex cross-border cases. The move against 1MDB may be the last gasp of a fight to hold the world’s kleptocrats to account.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 June 2017, 5:59 am and is filed under
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Najib or US DoJ – the Malaysian people must decide who to believe

By Emma Richards | 17th June 2017

Asian Correspondent

It’s got it all – super models, mega yachts, diamond necklaces, Hollywood superstars, fine art, and political intrigue.

While you could be forgiven for thinking I’m describing the latest extravagant and somewhat farfetched storyline of the latest James Bond outing, you would be wrong. For this story also involves a pudgy Malaysian businessman and the biggest theft in history from the coffers of the Malaysian tax payers.

I am, of course, referring to the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal that has one again hit the headlines following the release of a 251-page court document issued Thursday by the US Department of Justice.

The document details the crafty workings of Malaysian financier Jho Low – among others, including Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz – who is accused of going on a lavish spending spree that beggars-belief with money stolen from the Malaysian people via the fund established by Najib in 2009 to promote economic development.

The Sarawak Report, who has doggedly exposed misconduct in this case, lays out all of the sordid details of his dealings, including presenting supermodel Miranda Kerr with a fabulously expensive and specially commissioned set of diamonds – a matching 18k white gold diamond necklace, bracelet and ring, costing US$2 million;  an 8.8-carat pink diamond heart-shaped pendant costing US$3.8 million, and two 5-carat “internally-flawless, pear-shaped diamond earrings” bought for just over a million dollars.

The court documents also detail Low’s purchase of a US$250 million super-yacht, described as “capable of carrying up to twenty-six guests and up to thirty-three crew members and includes a helicopter landing pad, an on-board gymnasium, a cinema, a massage room, a sauna, a steam room, an experiential shower and a plunge pool” – not quite your average weekend getaway dinghy.

Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo Dicaprio was also the beneficiary of Low’s admiration, scoring a US$600,000 Oscar statuette once owned by Marlon Brando, a US$3.3 million painting by Pablo Picasso, and a Jean-Michel Basquiat oil painting costing US$9 million.

There is also evidence, according to the documents, that almost US$30 million of the money was spent on a necklace for the wife of ‘Malaysian Official 1’ – who is widely accepted to be Prime Minister Najib.

According to Reuters, the lawsuits show the jewellery for Rosmah Mansor was bought with funds that passed through Najib’s account. The jewellery, like Leo’s Picasso painting, was purchased with funds traceable to diverted proceeds from a 2013 bond offering by 1MDB, according to the filings.

The extravagant diamond necklace was bought in 2013, just months after US$680 million was transferred to the private bank account of Najib in Kuala Lumpur, the filings show. The Prime Minister has denied these links and claims the money was an exceedingly generous gift from the Saudi Royal family.

These are just a small handful of the many lavish purchases made with money linking back to the public fund. For the whole account, I suggest you read the full Sarawak Report article or, if you can muster the energy, the DoJ court documents, to get the full mindboggling scale of the alleged super-theft in question.

In total, the DoJ alleged more than US$4.5 billion was taken from 1MDB by high-level fund officials and their associates. In a statement released along with the court documents, Acting US Attorney Sandra R. Brown explains:

“These cases involve billions of dollars that should have been used to help the people of Malaysia, but instead was used by a small number of individuals to fuel their astonishing greed. The misappropriation of 1MDB funds was accomplished with an extravagant web of lies.”

Najib has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the scandal, issuing a number of unconvincing and at times conflicting explanations as to how the huge sums of money ended up in the personal accounts of himself and his family members.

His government has avoided doing a proper investigation into the matter and in 2015, when the allegations surrounding the US$680 million in his personal account surfaced, he went as far as firing the attorney general who had been investigating him, along with a deputy who had been among his most prominent critics. In 2016, one credible report into the matter, conducted by the Auditor General, was classified under the Official Secrets Act and was not willingly released to the public.

By contrast, the DoJ documents are fairly damning in their detailed and evidence-based untangling of this “global labyrinth of multi-layered financial transactions allegedly used to divert billions of dollars from the people of Malaysia and fund the co-conspirators’ lavish lifestyles.”

The investigation, painstakingly compiled over years of digging, has brought to light bank transfer and company documentation, interviews with executives and officials, as well as information from letters, emails, texts and phone conversations, all dated and corroborated, to demonstrate exactly how the money was stolen and where it went.

It is between these two sources that the Malaysian people must now choose who to believe.

Whether to believe the reluctant assertions and denials of their Prime Minister or the meticulous and exhaustive investigation of the US Department of Justice.

Whoever they choose could have grave consequences for Malaysian politics as the renewed accusations come at a time when Najib was expected to call a snap election later this year.

The Malaysian people may get to give their verdict on the allegations at the ballot box. Let’s just hope they’re listened to.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 June 2017, 6:32 am and is filed under
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US moves to seize another $540m of Malaysia’s 1MDB fund

Aljazeera

17th June 2017

Malaysia officials have denied US allegations that the assets were stolen from the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

The US Department of Justice is seeking to recover $540m in assets that it says were stolen from Malaysia’s troubled sovereign wealth fund, prompting objections from Malaysian officials who said on Friday there was no evidence of such crimes.

The move by the United States, announced on Thursday, is part of an effort to seize luxury property, art, and other ill-gotten assets linked to fraud at the government-controlled fund, which is intended to promote economic development projects in the Asian nation.

It was the latest development in a complex money laundering scheme the Justice Department says was intended to enrich top-level officials of the fund, including some who are close to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Najib has denied wrongdoing. The prime minister’s press secretary, Tengku Sariffuddin, attacked the latest move and said: “The judicial process is not served by headline seeking.”

The Justice Department says more than $4.5bn has been stolen from the fund, known informally as 1MDB, which was created in 2009.

“This money financed the lavish lifestyles of the alleged coconspirators at the expense and detriment of the Malaysian people,” acting US Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco said in a statement.

The assets also include a rare 22-carat pink diamond necklace, allegedly bought for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, at an estimated $27.3m.

The filings did not identify Najib or his wife by name, but it stated that the jewellery purchases were for the wife of “Malaysian Official 1”.

Malaysian and US government sources have previously confirmed that “Malaysian Official 1” refers to Najib.

The accusations have rocked the Malaysian governing class and come at an especially awkward time for the Malaysian leader, as he had been expected to call a snap election later this year.

Last summer, prosecutors moved to recover more than $1bn allegedly embezzled by businessmen with political connections in Malaysia to pay for properties in New York and California, a $35m jet, art by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet and to help finance the movies, “Dumb and Dumber To” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” – which ironically focused on financial crimes.

In the latest court papers filed in Los Angeles, federal prosecutors alleged that in 2014 Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho stole $850m from funds borrowed from a syndicate of banks, ostensibly to repay options on bonds issued in an earlier stage of the scheme.

Those assets include a $261m yacht Low purchased, as well as paintings by Picasso and Jean-Michel Basquiat; and the royalties of “Dumb and Dummer To” and “Daddy’s Home”.

Those films were also produced by Red Granite, a Los Angeles company co-founded by Riza Aziz, son-in-law of Najib.

Bloomberg News reported that some of the assets highlighted in the court papers were given away by the conspirators as gifts, including a collage by Basquiat and a painting by Picasso, both presented to “Wolf of Wall Street” star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Bloomberg quoted a spokesman for the actor as saying that he had already “initiated return” of the items, which he had accepted for a charity auction for his foundation.

The lawsuits also describe how Low spent about $9m in 2014 buying jewellery for Australian model Miranda Kerr.

Low bought a necklace containing an 11.72-carat heart-shaped diamond for $1.29m, with Kerr’s initials “MK” inscribed on the back.

The necklace was given to Kerr as a Valentine’s Day gift, according to the lawsuit.

Later that same year, Low bought an 8.88-carat pink heart diamond pendant worth $4.8m, also as a gift for Kerr.

The case is the largest single action the Justice Department has taken under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, launched in 2010, which seeks to recover foreign bribery proceeds and embezzled funds.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 June 2017, 5:46 am and is filed under
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Call for a month of moratorium by Pakatan Harapan leaders from PKR, Bersatu, Amanah and DAP to avoid negative statements and background briefings which could be exploited to Pakatan Harapan’s detriment and to focus externally on positive and offensive developments

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in his statement on Saturday evening withdrawing  as Prime Minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan,   called for a single-minded focus on the coming general election over all other issues.

In the past few months, there have been too many negative news, reports and background write-ups  about Pakatan Harapan reinforcing the malaise of public  disappointment and disenchantment about the possibility of political and electoral change – after the failure in the 13th General Election to bring about a national change of government despite the support of the majority of popular vote in Malaysia!

The Pakatan Harapan parties and leaders must re-ignite the hopes and dreams  of  Malaysians for electoral and political change in the next general election, which is likely to be held next year although we cannot completely rule out the possibility of polls in the last quarter of this year.

At a time when Najib and UMNO/BN coalition are buried almost up to their neck by their failures, fiascos and scandals, especially the new eruptions in the twin colossal financial scandals of 1MDB and FGV in the month of Ramadan, in the midst of a train of economic, educational,  social and nation-building disasters, Pakatan Harapan must respond positively to the cries by all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, for leadership, change and a re-set of nation building directions and policies.

Malaysians want the country  to be a top world-class nation –not a mediocre nation dangerously close to being trapped in a trajectory towards a  kleptocratic, failed and rogue state.

Pakatan Harapan parties and leaders must not let the Malaysian voters down.

The  robust views, debates and  differences in Pakatan Harapan and among PH leaders must continue, but within the four walls of Pakatan Harapan, as we must not give fodder to UMNO and Barisan Nasional propagandists and cybertroopers to continue to concoct fake news and false information about Pakatan Harapan.

For the coming month, let the  robust views, debates and differences in Pakatan Harapan continue within  internal Pakatan Harapan  councils and channels to build a Pakatan Harapan consensus and solidarity –  away from  the glare of hostile publicity and media attention.

Pakatan Harapan parties and leaders should project a positive image to build a unified and cohesive pact and focus externally on  the issues that concern Malaysians, like the 1MDB and FGV twin scandals and the Malaysian nation-building crisis after six decades of nationhood.

This is why I suggest a month of  moratorium by Pakatan Harapan leaders from PKR, Bersatu, Amanah and DAP to avoid negative statements and background briefings which could be exploited to Pakatan Harapan’s detriment and to focus externally on positive and offensive developments.

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The Legacy of Tun Razak’s Oldest Son

M. Bakri Musa

19th June 2017

 The dismissive attitude of Malaysian officials to the latest US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil forfeiture lawsuit targeting expensive assets allegedly acquired with funds illicitly siphoned from 1MDB is misplaced. Their stance is an embarrassing display of gross ignorance.

            Yes, civil lawsuits in America are as common as mushrooms after a rainfall. This DOJ action however, is the largest (in dollar value) such forfeitures to date. This second set of lawsuits targeted assets allegedly given to Hollywood celebrities, as well as to the spouse of “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1). The two categories are separate though the latter believe that she is in the same class as the former.

            Najib apologists and enablers never fail to point out with unconcealed smugness that the defendants to the lawsuits are not individuals, specifically Najib or his associates and relatives, rather those assets.

            That is right, but such sophistry reveals a fundamental ignorance of the American judicial system. Those targeted assets do not exist in vacuo; someone or somebody owns them. They in effect are the defendants.

            By targeting those assets and not their owners, DOJ is spared the task of identifying their rightful owners. That can be an arduous and expensive task, what with multiple shell companies involved in dizzying number of foreign jurisdictions. Instead, all DOJ has to do is wait for the owners to come out of the woodwork to identify themselves and lay claim to those assets by challenging the lawsuit. They have to, otherwise they would lose those assets, or at least their share.

            One of those owners is Jho Low. He claimed to have bought those assets with his family’s wealth. That at least was believable as he came from a wealthy clan in Penang. Sure enough, his family’s assorted trusts too have contested the lawsuit from faraway New Zealand!

            Then there is one Reza Aziz, identified as the “stepson of MO1.” Where did this son of a nondescript Malaysian army officer get his wealth? From his mother, the daughter of my parent’s contemporary as a village school teacher in Kuala Pilah? Visit her dilapidated ancestral home back in my kampong, and her current flamboyant lifestyle today would make you puke. As for Reza’s stepfather Najib Razak, that man had spent his entire adult life in government, with its measly pay.

            Reza Aziz concocted the idea that the money (some hundred million!) was a “gift” from a benevolent Saudi Sheik. Even the wealthiest corpulent Sheik would not be so extravagant with his favorite toy-boy, yet this Reza Aziz character wants those seasoned DOJ prosecutors to believe his story! Even his American accountants did not believe him.

            One other owner has also come forward. Hollywood celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio has not only surrendered the gifts he had received “from the parties named in the civil complaint” but went further and cooperated with DOJ investigators. That cannot be good news for Jho Low or Reza Aziz.

            Any bets whether any of the other “owners,” specifically the alleged recipient of that pink diamond, MO1’s spouse, would return their gifts? It is worth pondering whose actions better reflect the forgiving spirit of Ramadan, hers or DiCaprio’s?

            Najib supporters trivialize the DOJ’s lawsuit, citing its lack of “action” after its first filing last year as proof of its political intent. To them, these series of forfeiture lawsuits are yet another albeit more sophisticated American attempt at regime change. Such commentaries reveal a pathetic lack of the basic understanding of the US justice system.

            This asset forfeiture is a civil lawsuit. Unlike criminal ones where the axiom “justice delayed, justice denied” is adhered to, civil suits can and do drag on for years. They go to trial only when all parties are ready, and all extraneous issues as with ownership claims settled. The fact that these forfeiture lawsuits drag on should not be misinterpreted in any way.

            There is also the possibility that criminal charges would be filed against specific individuals during the discovery or the trial.

            There is only one certainty. Once a lawsuit is filed, those assets are effectively tied up. They cannot be sold, mortgaged, or altered in any way without the court’s consent. DOJ has in effect total control of those assets, meaning, their de facto owner.

            These forfeiture lawsuits will not be settled out of court. Those prosecutors have a point to prove, and with unlimited resources to pursue it. That reality has prompted owners like DiCaprio to cooperate with DOJ.

            This will not be like a Malaysian trial where prosecutors could be illicitly paid off or where defense lawyers openly brag about having judges in their (lawyer’s) back pockets. The defendants have hired some of the best legal minds including those who had once worked in DOJ and had successfully prosecuted many high profile kleptocrats. It will be far from a walk in the park for the DOJ lawyers.

            DOJ does have something in its favor. In a civil suit, unlike a criminal trial, the burden of proof is lower, only the “preponderance of evidence” and not “beyond reasonable doubt.” The burden of proof also shifts from the plaintiff to the defendant. Meaning, the owners have to prove that the funds they used to purchase those assets were untainted. It would be very difficult to convince an American jury that a Middle Eastern sheik would willingly part away with hundreds of millions of dollars to a Malay boy no matter how pretty he looks, for nothing in return.

            Regardless of the outcome, this trial would expose to the world all the sordid ugly details of the 1MDB shenanigans. Once those are out, not many would be proud to call themselves Malaysians. They would be downright ashamed for having elected a leader with such unbounded avarice, and then letting him get away with it for so long.

            As for MO1, his spouse and stepson, they are beyond shame. With the millions if not billions they have already expropriated, they can handle the setback. Malaysians however, would be saddled for generations with 1MDB’s humongous debt. Quite a legacy for the son of the late Tun Razak! As for the Tun, what a legacy to have bequeathed Malaysia with his ethically-blighted son.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 June 2017, 5:08 am and is filed under
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Why are the reactions of Najib crowd jitterier  and more hysterical than during the initial US DOJ kleptocratic forfeiture suit some eleven months ago?

I have been wondering why the reactions of the Najib crowd have been jitterier and more hysterical than during the initial United States Department of Justice (DOJ) kleptocratic forfeiture suit of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland some eleven months ago!

There have already been two rounds of counter-offensives in defence of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his government in the past three days in response to the updated and expanded DOJ kleptocratic suit in California on Thursday.

There was firstly the initial response within hours by the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali misleading the Malaysian public that there was nothing new while expressing regret at the  “insinuations” against the Prime Minister in the DOJ’s latest 1MDB forfeiture suit, followed by four inane statements, viz:

— the first by the Minister for Communications and Multimedia Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak muttering about “treason”;

— the second by Najib’s press secretary, Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad suggesting “domestic political manipulation and interference” as well as a “motivation that goes beyond the objective of seizing assets”;

— the third one by the Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein playing the diversion game by claiming that the latest US DOJ filing “would divert attention from a bigger agenda”; and

— the fourth one from 1MDB itself that there is no proof to back the DOJ allegations on misappropriation of 1MDB-linked funds.

But this first round of counter-offensive was felt by the Najib crowd to be inadequate, resulting in a second round of counter-offensives, involving three Cabinet Ministers with two them issuing two statements in a row in counter-attacking DOJ on its updated and expanded kleptocratic action on 1MDB-linked assets.

Hishammddin, who was unusually silent in the initial DOJ kleptocratic suit 11 months ago, issued a second statement challenging the US DOJ to press criminal charges if they have proof of wrongdoing in the 1MDB affair; Salleh also issued a second statement making another inane claim of  interference with Malaysia’s sovereignty as  a large part of the DOJ kleptocratic action is about “what is happening internally in Malaysia and an even larger part has no relevance” to international money-laundering in the US; while a third Minister who is also BN strategic communications director, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan joined in  the Ministerial chorus demanding the DOJ to reveal who were the complainants to the DOJ in the first place.

These three Ministers impress no one by their intelligence quotient as they only confirmed that the Malaysian Cabinet has probably the highest percentage of half-past six and deadwood Ministers.

It would appear that the UMNO chieftains were competing with each other to show who is more “loyal” to Najib, and the question is when the other UMNO Minister/chieftains are going to join in the chorus of loyalty to Najib.

Will the leaders from the other Barisan Nasional parties apart from UMNO be joining in the chorus of loyalty to Najib?

MCA has recently  claimed that it is a party of principles and conviction. Will anyone of the three  MCA Ministers take a principled stand against the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia becoming a “global kleptocracy” or will all the three MCA Ministers  prefer keeping their Ministerial positions to taking a  principled stand on public  integrity and good governance?

Hishammuddin provides an interesting example.

In trying to cover up Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s “bloopers” when he admitted at the world-wide BBC interview last September that “MO1” in the DOJ kleptocratic action was none other than the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, and that “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was”, Hishammuddin cast doubts when asked about assertions that that “MO1” was Najib.

Hishammuddin said: “For all we know it could be anyone. ‘MO1’ could be (Second Finance Minister) Johari (Abdul) Ghani.

“But until we know for a fact… until they are charged officially how are we going to know?”

Is Hishammuddin a confirmed “idiot” in Abdul Rahman’s definition, or is Abdul Rahman himself the “idiot”.

Be that as it may, only an idiot would hazard the view that Johari could be “MO1”, as Johari is definitely not “MO1”, with DOJ’s elaboration of “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” as “a high ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDD” and during all times relevant to the complaint, was a “public servant” as that term is used in Section 21 of the Malaysian Penal Code”.

Johari, who became a Deputy Minister of Finance in July 2015 and the Second Finance Minister  in June 2016 does not fit this definition and cannot be “MO1”.

There are a number of reasons why the Najib crowd is jitterier and more hysterical in the reaction to the expanded and updated DOJ kleptocratic action, like the increase in the value of the targeted forfeit of  1MDB-linked assets from over US$1 billion to US$1.7 billion; increase in the total amount of money-laundering activities implicated in the DOJ action from US$3.5 billion to US$4.5 billion; a longer list of “relevant individuals and entitles” in the DOJ action; increase in the countries affected to include Australia with the broadening of DOJ efforts to seize assets alleged to be bought with 1MDB stolen funds such as jewellery given to Australian model Miranda Kerr by Jho Low;  but also in the fact that after eleven months of protests from the Malaysian government, the DOJ stuck to its guns and maintained  that the controversial RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal Ambank accounts were not donations from some Saudi Arab royalty, but stolen 1MDB funds by  giving more  details of the money trail of the RM2.6 billion  from the beginning to the end.

The real reason, however, why the Najib crowd are jitterier and more hysterical to the updated and expanded DOJ action than the initial DOJ suit eleven months ago was the realisation that the latest DOJ action could unravel Najib’s  general election plans and undermine Najib’s electoral prospects and chances in the forthcoming 14th General Election.

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 19th June 2017)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 June 2017, 4:01 pm and is filed under
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Billions’ Worth of Baubles Could Wind Up in U.S. Hands in 1MDB Case

By PETER J. HENNING

New York Times

JUNE 19, 2017

You can almost hear Robin Leach narrating the introduction to an episode of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” by describing a luxury yacht, diamond jewelry, a Picasso painting, and real estate in New York, Beverly Hills and London.

All those baubles — and much more — may end up in the hands of the federal government as the Justice Department filed its latest asset forfeiture lawsuit in Federal District Court in Los Angeles seeking an additional $540 million in goods obtained from looting a Malaysian investment fund, bringing the total sought to $1.7 billion.

Prosecutors may not be able to convict the individuals involved in suspect transfers, but an important tool in the federal arsenal lets them seize assets that are tied to foreign corruption, even if none of the criminal conduct took place within this country.

The complaint details how 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, known as 1MDB, raised money by selling bonds that would help fund development in the country. The Justice Department claims that from 2009 through 2014, over $4.5 billion was diverted to benefit those with ties to Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, who ostensibly oversaw the fund, including as much as $1 billion funneled to accounts he may have controlled.

The Justice Department identifies Mr. Najib only as “Malaysian Official 1,” and The New York Times reported that his attorney general found no evidence that money had been misappropriated. 1MDB says it is cooperating in the case, and has not been named as a defendant.

Asset forfeiture dates back over 200 years, first used to seize pirate ships or goods imported without payment of the proper duties. Today, the law authorizes the government to sue for the item sought to be forfeited, known as an “in rem” proceeding, because it was used for a crime or represents the proceeds of illegal conduct.

That means the cases sometimes have odd names, like United States v. 92 Buena Vista Avenue, a Supreme Court decision involving a home in New Jersey that the government sought to seize because its purchase was traceable to the proceeds of drug dealing.

Among the items named in the lawsuits are the rights to “Dumb and Dumber To” and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” movies financed with funds from 1MDB; a Bombardier jet; a penthouse in the Time Warner Center in New York City; and an apartment in the fashionable Mayfair section of London.

The Justice Department routinely seeks to seize assets in criminal cases as one part of the indictment. If it wins a conviction, then a defendant is liable to return anything of value derived from the crime. In addition, the government can also seek “substitute assets,” which means it can seize any other money or property that might be available if the proceeds of the crime are not enough to satisfy the full amount of the forfeiture order.

Unlike a criminal prosecution, a civil asset forfeiture case allows the government to seize only assets that it can trace to the underlying crimes. That puts a premium on following the flow of money, and the complaint goes into great detail in describing how cash flowed out of accounts controlled by 1MDB through banks in Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg before reaching the United States and Britain to pay for the assets prosecutors want to seize.

Even though most of the transactions took place outside the United States, the money laundering statute can be violated by “an offense against a foreign nation,” including bribery, misappropriation or embezzlement in that country. The only requirement is that the proceeds of those crimes pass into or through the United States for the purpose of concealing the source or ownership of the assets. Buying property and jewelry, or even movie rights, can constitute money laundering, so those assets can be seized if the Justice Department can show the transactions hid the source of the funds.

A property owner can fight an asset forfeiture claim by offering an innocent owner defense. This provision was adopted in 2000 as part of the Comprehensive Asset Forfeiture Reform Act to curb abuses in how the federal government seized assets without affording claimants a reasonable opportunity to assert their ownership. The defense requires the person to show that he or she did not know about the criminal conduct that led to the forfeiture action, or “did all that reasonably could be expected under the circumstances to terminate such use of the property.”

A crucial limitation on this defense is that if the person acquired the property after the illegal conduct, then that person must be a “bona fide purchaser or seller for value” to avoid forfeiture. If it was received as a gift, rather than being bought or sold in an ordinary transaction, then the person can be compelled to turn it over to the government, regardless of whether the recipient knew how it was acquired. So the adage that “possession is nine-tenths of the law” does not apply here.

The complaint identifies gifts given to Leonardo DiCaprio by Jho Low and Riza Aziz, Mr. Najib’s stepson, who set up the movie production company Red Granite Pictures with 1MDB funds. Among the gifts to Mr. DiCaprio, who starred in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which Red Granite financed, were a collage by Jean-Michel Basquiat valued at $9.2 million, a Picasso painting worth $3.2 million and the Oscar statuette won by Marlon Brando in 1955.

The complaint also seeks the return of an 11.72-carat diamond given by Mr. Low to his girlfriend at the time, who has been identified as the prominent Australian model Miranda Kerr.

Mr. DiCaprio has returned the gifts, perhaps because he had no basis to claim he was an innocent owner to resist the government’s effort to seize them.

Banks in the United States are at the center of the global financial system, and most foreign banks have a correspondent relationship with an American bank so that they can do business in this country. It would be difficult to avoid having the proceeds of illegal activity touch the United States in some way, which is one reason the Justice Department set up a kleptocracy team in the money laundering and asset recovery section of the criminal division to pursue these cases.

Mr. Aziz filed a motion in February challenging an earlier asset forfeiture complaint, arguing that the government cannot show any of the funds are the proceeds of criminal conduct and that he is an innocent owner because he was unaware of any wrongdoing at 1MDB.

One potential issue facing any defendant outside the country who wants to fight an asset forfeiture case is that the court could require the person to come to the United States to be examined as part of the discovery process. That would entail a risk that the government could arrest and charge the person with the money laundering if there is evidence of involvement in diverting funds from 1MDB.

If the Justice Department succeeds in seizing the property, an interesting question is whether those assets should be returned to Malaysian officials. Since the complaint in effect names Mr. Najib as a recipient of some of the money diverted from the fund, it would be anomalous to then turn it back over to his government.

The size of the supposed misappropriation from 1MDB is stunning, and the power of the Justice Department to fight foreign corruption means that government officials who try to loot their own treasuries must beware that the United States will do its best to take the proceeds of crime away from them.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 June 2017, 8:20 am and is filed under
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Cabinet tomorrow must establish whether Najib’s “no more statements on DOJ” is  a “mea culpa” admission of the multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal

Loyal and patriotic Malaysian cannot but feel deep shame and mortification reading the online report  this morning of a  leading United States newspaper, New York Times,  “Billions’ worth of Baubles Could Wind Up in U.S. Hands in 1MDB Case” with the following opening paragraphs:

“You can almost hear Robin Leach narrating the introduction to an episode of ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ by describing a luxury yacht, diamond jewelry, a Picasso painting, and real estate in New York, Beverly Hills and London.

“All those baubles — and much more — may end up in the hands of the federal government as the Justice Department filed its latest asset forfeiture lawsuit in Federal District Court in Los Angeles seeking an additional $540 million in goods obtained from looting a Malaysian investment fund, bringing the total sought to $1.7 billion.

“Prosecutors may not be able to convict the individuals involved in suspect transfers, but an important tool in the federal arsenal lets them seize assets that are tied to foreign corruption, even if none of the criminal conduct took place within this country.

“The complaint details how 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, known as 1MDB, raised money by selling bonds that would help fund development in the country. The Justice Department claims that from 2009 through 2014, over $4.5 billion was diverted to benefit those with ties to Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, who ostensibly oversaw the fund, including as much as $1 billion funneled to accounts he may have controlled.”

Yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared he will no longer issue statements in relation to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) multi-billion dollar forfeiture suits of 1MDB-linked assets from US$4.5 billion  1MDB international money-laundering kleptocracy.

Najib said this when he was asked to comment on Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who had slammed the DOJ for its latest suit.

Was Najib distancing or even repudiating  what Hishamuddin said in the latter’s second statement on the latest DOJ kleptocratic action  to  forfeit up to US$1.7 billion of 1MDB-linked assets out of a new total of US$4.5 billon money-laundering scam using American banks?

Hishammuddin challenged the US DOJ to press criminal charges if they have proof of wrongdoing in the 1MDB affair.

But Hishamuddin was not the only Minister to disgrace the Malaysian government and nation with the most inane responses – there was the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan who demanded DOJ to reveal who were the complainants to the DOJ in the first place and the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak who claimed DOJ’s interference with Malaysia’s sovereignty.

All these three Ministers have tertiary education and university degrees, but from their statements, they clearly belong to the cohort of “half-past six Ministers” in the Malaysian Cabinet and provide excellent material for Amir Muhammad’s latest collection of “Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things”.

Rational and thinking Malaysians have reacted to Abdul Rahman’s statement by asking “Why should identity of complainants to DOJ even matter”, unless the monstrous crimes of kleptocracy outlined in the 251-page DOJ kleptocratic suits were a pack of lies – and the Malaysian Government, the Prime Minister and 1MDB are prepared to come upfront to disprove that they were  stolen 1MDB billions of dollars and  had not been used to finance the lavish lifestyles of the conspirators and their associates at the expense to detriment of the Malaysian people.

In fact, if the DOJ allegations of the kleptocratic money-laundering crimes running into billions of US dollars and defrauding the Malaysian people were true, the country should be honouring those who complained to DOJ and treating them as exemplary national heroes!

And is Salleh suggesting that national sovereignty includes the sovereign right to commit the crimes of international money-laundering?

In fact, the same report in the New York Times today provides answers to the queries and statements by Hishammudin, Salleh and Abdul Rahman if they need an “education” on the DOJ kleptocratic action to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets. I refer in particular to the following five paragraphs:

“Asset forfeiture dates back over 200 years, first used to seize pirate ships or goods imported without payment of the proper duties. Today, the law authorizes the government to sue for the item sought to be forfeited, known as an ‘in rem’ proceeding, because it was used for a crime or represents the proceeds of illegal conduct.

“That means the cases sometimes have odd names, like United States v. 92 Buena Vista Avenue, a Supreme Court decision involving a home in New Jersey that the government sought to seize because its purchase was traceable to the proceeds of drug dealing.

“Among the items named in the lawsuits are the rights to ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ movies financed with funds from 1MDB; a Bombardier jet; a penthouse in the Time Warner Center in New York City; and an apartment in the fashionable Mayfair section of London…

“Unlike a criminal prosecution, a civil asset forfeiture case allows the government to seize only assets that it can trace to the underlying crimes. That puts a premium on following the flow of money, and the complaint goes into great detail in describing how cash flowed out of accounts controlled by 1MDB through banks in Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg before reaching the United States and Britain to pay for the assets prosecutors want to seize.

“Even though most of the transactions took place outside the United States, the money laundering statute can be violated by ‘an offense against a foreign nation,’ including bribery, misappropriation or embezzlement in that country. The only requirement is that the proceeds of those crimes pass into or through the United States for the purpose of concealing the source or ownership of the assets. Buying property and jewelry, or even movie rights, can constitute money laundering, so those assets can be seized if the Justice Department can show the transactions hid the source of the funds.”

The DOJ kleptocratic action identifies gifts given to Leonardo DiCaprio by Jho Low and Riza Aziz, Najib’s stepson, who set up the movie production company Red Granite Pictures with 1MDB funds. Among the gifts to  DiCaprio, who starred in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which Red Granite financed, were a collage by Jean-Michel Basquiat valued at $9.2 million, a Picasso painting worth $3.2 million and the Oscar statuette won by Marlon Brando in 1955.

The DOJ suit  also seeks the return of an 11.72-carat diamond given by Low to his girlfriend at the time, who has been identified as the prominent Australian model Miranda Kerr.

DiCaprio has returned the gifts, perhaps because he had no basis to claim he was an innocent owner to resist the government’s effort to seize them.

Will Miranda Kerr return the gifts?

Even more pertinent to Malaysians is the DOJ disclosure of Jho Low’s gift of a US$27.3 million 22-carat pink diamond necklace to  “the wife of MO1”, and whether “the wife of MO1” would return the 22 carat pink diamond necklace?

The Cabinet, at its first meeting tomorrow after the updated and expanded DOJ kleptocratic actions against 1MDB-linked assets, must establish whether Najib’s “no more statements on DOJ” is  a “mea culpa” admission of the multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal; as well as take the necessary action to clear or cleanse Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a “global kleptocracy”.

(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Tuesday, 20th June 2017)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 June 2017, 12:43 pm and is filed under
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Did Hadi complain to Najib that PAS was bullied by DAP in Pakatan Rakyat?

I am very intrigued by the speech of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak,  in Kedah yesterday  that PAS had been bullied by DAP in  Pakatan Rakyat – that “PAS has had enough of DAP, it was bullied when it was with DAP, so much so it gave up and ran away”.

Najib said despite their differences of opinion, the government under UMNO has its principles of struggle and PAS sees the UMNO struggle as leaning towards the importance of Muslim dignity which makes UMNO likable to PAS.

I will reserve comment on whether UMNO is upholding the dignity of Muslims and Islam with a pink diamond and other precious jewellery items  turning Malaysia overnight into a “global kleptocracy”, or whether the PAS leadership has embraced these kleptocratic developments as  marks of Islamic dignity and leadership.

For the moment, I seek clarification on Najib’s speech that PAS has severed its ties with DAP after it was bullied by DAP.

This is totally news to me.

I know of “bully stories” in Pakatan Rakyat but I have never heard about PAS being bullied by DAP, and I will like to hear about them.

Did Najib concoct the story that PAS was bullied by DAP, creating  fake news and false information, or had the PAS leaders run to him and  cried on his shoulders to   complain that PAS had been bullied by DAP in Pakatan Rakyat?

Let the stories come into the light of day instead of hiding in the closets.

Let Najib and Hadi clarify what the Prime Minister said in Kedah yesterday, or were there other PAS leaders who had complained to Najib?

(Media Statemen in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 20th June 2017)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 June 2017, 6:56 pm and is filed under
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