The Police must stop abusing irrelevant and oppressive laws to investigate and persecute Senai state assemblywoman for merely questioning if the Johor Menteri Besar was involved in an act of corruption

On 27 November, DAP Senai elected representative, Wong Shu Qi had asked in the Johor State Assembly whether it was true that Khaled had received RM12 million from a developer to change the Bumiputera status of a residential plot of land to non-Bumiputera.  Wong said the allegations against Khaled had surfaced in March and were based on witness statements in an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

As a result of her question, she has not only been thrown out of the state assembly and is in the process of being referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee, the Police have commenced investigation against what she asked.

Firstly, the investigation by the Police demonstrates a clear abuse of power on its part by failing to respect the sanctity of the Johor state assembly.

The Federal Constitution, the highest law of our land, clearly states that assemblymen are immune from things said in state legislative proceedings.  Clause 72(2) of the Constitution states that:

No person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him when taking part in proceedings of the Legislative Assembly of any State or of any committee thereof.

The reason for this protection needs no explanation – but for the benefit of our law enforcers – elected representatives must be empowered to state and ask without fear or favour regardless of how scandalous and sensitive the subject matter might be. This process exists to ensure transparency and accountability in national and state administration.

If one can’t even ask questions of our leader’s in the state assembly, then where else can we ask to ensure the righteousness and integrity of our Government?

Are the Police of the opinion that the Menteri Besar of Johor is above the law, to the extent that even questioning his alleged involvement in a corruption case is criminal?

Worse, the Police are clearly clutching at straws to investigate and persecute Wong.  Wong has purportedly committed an offence under Section 203A of the Penal Code provides that anyone who discloses purportedly leaked information to any other person shall be punished with fine of not more than one million ringgit, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with both.

The problem here is what leaked information is illegal?  When fraudulent contracts signed by 1MDB with Petrosaudi International and Aabar Investment PJS Limited involving billions of dollars were exposed, does it mean that every person who had written about it – from analysts to politicians to both online and off-line media are all guilty of the above crime?

That would only result in the complete collapse of Malaysia’s natural justice system where the whistleblowers are persecuted while those involved in crimes against the tax-payers get away scot free.

Wong is also investigated under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, which refers to “improper use of network facilities or network service, etc.”

The fact that a leaked witness statement relating to the corruption allegations against Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin might amount to ‘communication which is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person’ is clearly an outrageous abuse of the law.

My question to the Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission remains the same – have they initiated and commenced investigations against Dato’ Seri Khaled Nordin based on the very witness statement which is being used to charge another member of the Johor administration for corrupt practices?

If the Johor Menteri Besar is indeed innocent, let the investigations prove that to be the case and clear Dato’ Seri Khalid’s name.  However, the fact that no investigations have been carried out against the Menteri Besar, but those who had the courage to question the case even within the protect confines of the state assembly are persecuted, only serve to confirm the suspicions in the minds of the rakyat as to Dato’ Seri Khalid’s guilt or innocence.

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Sedangkan Menteri Besar Johor Dato’ Seri Khaled Nordin tidak mengaku salah, SPRM mesti menjalankan siasatan penuh untuk membersihkan nama beliau

Semalam, Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin telah menafikan dakwaan yang beliau terlibat dalam rasuah berkaitan hartanah di negeri itu.

"Saya menafikan sekeras-kerasnya tuduhan tak berasas tersebut. Ia adalah fitnah, tidak benar dan tidak bersangkutan dengan saya.

"Pentadbiran saya tidak menerima apa-apa suapan, tidak akan menerima apa-apa suapan dan akan menentang segala usaha untuk memberi apa jua bentuk suapan kepada saya dan pentadbiran saya," katanya.

Minggu lalu, saya telah menyoal Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) kenapa tidak menjalankan siasatan ke atas Menteri Besar Johor berdasarkan dokumen kenyataan saksi SPRM, Amir Shariffuddin Abd Raub, yang bocor di internet.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled dituduh menerima sebanyak RM12 juta daripada Amir pada tarikh-tarikh yang tertentu, berkaitan dengan kes rasuah bekas exco kerajaan negeri Datuk Abdul Latif Bandi awal tahun ini.

SPRM kemudian mengesahkan kebocoran dokumen tersebut, walaupun Amir mendakwa kenyataannya dalam dokumen yang tersebar itu tidak lengkap dan telah membuat laporan polis.

Kami menyambut baik penafian keras daripada Menteri Besar Johor.  Kenyataan yang telah dibuat di dalam Dewan Undangan Negeri tersebut adalah jauh berbanding dengan sikap Perdana Menteri Dato’ Seri Najib Razak yang sehingga hari ini, masih enggan membuat sebarang kenyataan kepada Dewan Rakyat mengenai jumlah wang melebih RM2.6 bilion yang masuk ke dalam akaun peribadinya.

Akan tetapi, jika Menteri Besar benar-benar tidak bersalah, kenapa SPRM langsung tidak menjalankan sebarang siasat terhadapnya supaya kebenaran dapat ditetapkan dan kes ini boleh ditutup?

Apatah lagi, jika kenyataan saksi Amir Shariffuddin digunakan untuk mendakwa kes Datuk Abdul Latif, bukankan ianya penting bahawa kenyataan beliau adalah benar dan boleh dipercayai (“credible”) pada keseluruhannya?

Maksudnya jika kenyataan Amir di mana beliau telah menyerahkan sebanyak RM12 juta kepada Dato’ Seri Khaled adalah tidak benar, ia bermakna bahawa kenyataan Amir tidak boleh sama sekali digunakan terhadap Datuk Abdul Latif.  Akan tetapi, jika kenyataan Amir boleh dipercayai dan berasas kukuh untuk digunakan mendakwa Datuk Abdul Latif, maka bahagian-bahagian yang melibatkan Menteri Besar Johor juga mesti disiasat.

Oleh itu, kami menyeru supaya Dato’ Seri Khaled meminta SPRM membuka siasatan terhadapnya secara terbuka supaya SPRM dapat mengesahkan penafiannya.  Ini adalah penting untuk menyakinkan rakyat jelata bahawa tuduhan tersebut adalah benar-benar tidak berasas dan nama baik Menteri Besar Johor dapat dipulihkan.

Pada masa yang sama, kami terus menyeru SPRM menyiasat tuduhan rasuah terhadap Menteri Besar Johor supaya institusi SPRM menjalankan tugas mereka dengan penuh integriti, dan tidak dilihat berat sebelah.

Ia juga akan memastikan supaya kes Datuk Abdul Latif yang bergantung antaranya kepada kenyataan Amir tidak akan terjejas akibat perkara ini.  Pada masa yang sama, jikalau kenyataan saksi Amir adalah tidak benar, SPRM mesti menambahkan dakwaan terhadap beliau kerana memberi kenyataan palsu.

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Why hasn’t the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigated Johor MB, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin?

The whole of Malaysia have now seen the MACC investigation documents which have been leaked this week, implicating corruption by the Johor Menteri Besar (MB), Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin.  The documents comprised of the witness statement taken by MACC during its investigation into Johor state executive councillor Datuk Abdul Latif Bandi. The documents come from the Commission’s interview with Amir Shariffuddin bin Abdul Raub, who was also charged with Datuk Latif in April this year.

MACC had investigated the two in relation to a land graft scandal, where the two had received multiple bribes amounting to RM30 million from developers in return for their assistance in changing the status of bumiputera lots as well as reducing the 7.5% charge levied upon developers.

As shocking as the initial news of their investigation was, the biggest shocker is found in the witness statement (relevant pages attached), where Amir admitted to delivering nearly RM12 million in cash to the Menteri Besar in return for the MB’s help in the necessary land changes.

The MACC has effectively confirmed the authenticity of these documents when Deputy MACC commissioner Dato’ Sri Azam Baki’s said yesterday that the documents were sent to the lawyers of one of the defendants in the case.

Now that the MACC has acknowledged the documents, they will have to explain their failure to investigate the MB, who is similarly implicated according to the witness statement.

The first account given by Amir was for an alleged transfer of RM4 million in September 2013. That kickback would come from the developer MB Land, which had solicited Amir’s help in converting the land status and waiving the charge.

Following that successful deal, Amir says he was approached by other developers for similar favours. Each of these deals would also include multiple alleged kickbacks to the Mentri Besar. For a deal by IJM Group, Amir stated that he instructed his lawyer Zul Azam to cash in a cheque worth RM1 million. He then handed over the money in a backpack as instructed by Datuk Khaled. That was done on 14 November 2013.

Subsequently, Amir also admitted to paying the MB, a total of RM9.7 million in cash over 10 transactions between 16 April 2014 and 4 May 2016. Those payments were for facilitating a land deal for Scientex Sdn. Bhd. The report specifically highlighted 5 of those transactions made on 16 April 2014, 1 October 2014, 20 October 2014, 2 December 2014 and 17 June 2015.

With such concrete evidence in front of their own noses, why hasn’t the MACC investigated Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin?

Worse, the MACC has decided it was more appropriate to ‘kill the messenger’ by filing a police report over the purported leaks.  In turn, the Johor state assembly (DUN) disgraced itself by acting in cahoots in its attempt to silence the issue by throwing out Senai state assemblywoman Wong Shu Qi in the DUN.

In fact, all the companies which have paid the alleged bribes must be investigated, and if guilty, charged and punished as well.  After all, the MACC has often opined that the giver of bribes is as guilty as those who receive.

The question is, is the Johor MB immune to investigations and prosecution just like Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is, in the case of the multi-billion ringgit scandal, 1MDB?  While the MACC abdicated from its responsibility to investigate the Prime Minister by shoving the responsibility to the Police, what is MACC’s excuse this time?

Where is the ‘all hands on the deck’ haste and urgency in the MACC just like the way it dealt with alleged and even trumped up corruption charges against opposition figures?  Or will this remove, once and for all, the façade that the MACC is an independent investigating institution which will act without fear or favour; and that it is merely an extended paw of UMNO to oppress the opposition while protecting its political masters?

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Why is Malaysia the most “man man” (slowly, slowly) in the world when the rest of the world have been very “kuai kuai” (quickly, quickly) in persecuting those who have been complicit in stealing billions of dollars from Malaysian tax-payers?

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim urged patience with regard to the ongoing investigation into 1MDB, even using words in Chinese to stress his point.

"In Chinese, we say man man lah, man man (slowly lah, slowly).  We will wait for the (outcome of the) matter, which is under investigation by the relevant authorities. God willing, the truth will be revealed," Razali told the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, 14 November.

The government treating 1MDB as a joke just shows how ridiculously selective investigations in Malaysia are.   It is obnoxious to expect Malaysians to wait even longer for a decision on a case involving multi-billion dollars that’s already been ongoing for years.

Worse, other countries have already investigated, charged and even jailed perpetrators involved in the 1MDB, while Malaysian authorities continue to drag their feet on the matter.

How much slower does the Deputy Minister expect investigations to slow down to?

His statement lays bare the sheer double standards of the government and authorities when it comes to investigating politically-linked scandals. If it’s an Opposition or parties critical of the Government, the authorities act with lightning speed. However, when the tables are turned, authorities are suddenly asked to go through things slowly.

The first police reports filed against 1MDB were done in 2014. In June 2015, the Home Minister said in Parliament that investigation papers had been referred to the Attorney- General in March. That was over two years ago, and the Attorney-General and the police are still passing the investigation papers between each other.

By comparison, the investigation into Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, started with a report to MACC on March 18 2016. Investigation papers were submitted to the AG in May and an arrest by MACC was made in June. It took MACC just two months to investigate and the AG just one month to decide on prosecution despite Lim Guan Eng having presented evidence to the contrary of the charges.

Why don’t we see this level of efficiency when it comes to scandals involving tens of billions of ringgit which implicated even the Prime Minister and his family?

Dismissive comments such as in the Deputy Minister’s speech prove just how little the government cares about upholding justice and protecting the interest of ordinary Malaysians. With billions of Malaysian public funds gone and allegedly funding the lavish lifestyles of others, we need to ask who the government are really defending – the people or crooks who are in power?

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The MACC must not abscond from its constitutional duty to investigate the ample hard evidence of corruption, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in 1MDB as confirmed by its own former senior officer

The Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported on 10 November that ex-senior Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officer, Ramli Manan said there is ample evidence for the anti-graft agency to investigate the financial fiasco involving state investor 1MDB.

Ramli Manan said investigators had only to look into 1MDB-related court proceedings in Singapore and the United States’ Department of Justice (DoJ) reports to assist them in their probes.

Singapore’s investigation into the fund has resulted in the termination of BSI Bank’s license and the arrest of its bankers for assisting in laundering of 1MDB funds. Even as we speak, the Singaporean investigations still continue, with police now examining the role of Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs’ in setting up fraudulent bond offerings for the fund. The US Department of Justice investigations more explicitly state their investigations are aimed at recovering assets bought using funds laundered from Malaysia’s 1MDB.

“The evidence there is glaring and it could be of great assistance to MACC officers,” said Ramli, who retired as director of the Sabah ACA.

He further confirmed my criticism of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last week that the MACC and the Royal Malaysian Police have different responsibilities and jurisdiction.  Ramli told FMT that “it is only the MACC that has the expertise and experience to carry out investigation on graft and abuse of power. Police only can probe Penal Code offences.”

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in-charge of Integrity, Datuk Paul Low had on 1 November responded to me in Parliament that “investigations weren’t carried out because of existing investigations being done by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Bank Negara and the Police.”

The statement by the former Sabah ACA Chief only goes to prove that there could not be a more shameless and irresponsible reply from the Minister and the Government.

The MACC is clearly and willfully choosing to ignore readily-available evidence in order to protect those implicated in the multi-billion dollar scandal, including the Prime Minister and his family members.

We’d like to remind the MACC again of their role as an independent commission. Its actions should never be dictated or influenced by the actions of other authorities or agencies.  To prove that the MACC is indeed independent and not cowardly, it should immediately kick off its investigations into the massive shenanigans in the company and ensure the culprits who have caused billions of ringgit in losses pay for their heinous crimes.

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The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission needs to grow a spine and really stand up to corruption.

I had asked in Parliament why the MACC had announced in June that it would not be carrying out investigations regarding the misappropriation of funds and abuse of power in the 1MDB scandal.

Tony Pua meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan apakah sebabnya Ketua Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) mengumumkan pada bulan Jun 2017 bahawa pihak SPRM tidak akan menjalankan siasatan ke atas ke penyelewengan dan penyalahgunaan kuasa dalam skandal 1MDB?

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in-charge of Integrity, Datuk Paul Low replied on 1 November that “investigations weren’t carried out because of existing investigations being done by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Bank Negara and the Police.”

There could not be a more shameless and irresponsible reply from the Minister and the Government.

The PAC – which barely scratched the surface of the 1MDB scandal, has no prosecutorial powers.  Bank Negara Malaysia, on the other hand, was investigating 1MDB purely from the Financial Services Act and certainly did not deal with the parties who had profited from the scandal. 

At the same time, while the Police may have been investigating the criminal elements in 1MDB, the MACC has powers, laws and jurisdictions which are completely different from the Police to tackle corruption cases.

That was the whole point of the Parliament passing the MACC Act in the first place, so that there is a dedicated and independent commission to tackle the scourge of corruption and not let the burden be shouldered by the Royal Malaysian Police. What type “independent commission” worth its salt is MACC, if it leaves investigations, especially a scandal of such scale to other agencies?

In January this year, MACC commissioner Datuk Dzulkifly Ahmad warned corrupt politicians to “be careful”. He said he wasn’t afraid of protected individuals and would launch investigations without fear or favour. “Just you wait,” he had warned politicians.

Why is the MACC and Datuk Dzulkifly Ahmad, after all its showboating, so afraid of investigating the country’s biggest and most blatant corruption scandal?

Malaysians have been waiting long for MACC to launch its investigations into 1MDB especially after similar investigations have already begun in the US, Switzerland and Singapore. Just this weekend, even 1MDB-linked Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia was hauled up as part of an anti-corruption sweep in his own Kingdom.

In Malaysia, multiple reports have been lodged with the MACC regarding the 1MDB scandal. These included reports filed in December 2014 by then UMNO Batu Kawan Division Deputy Chief Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan and more recently, a Pakatan Harapan Youth-linked NGO in July this year.   Hence it is a serious breach of MACC’s duty for failing to look into complaints of corruption.

These submitted reports were to be evaluated before the Commission’s Information Evaluation Committee to determine whether there were elements of corruption or not. If elements of corruption are found, it is imperative that an MACC investigation is opened before being referred to the AG for legal prosecution.

Was the above process conveniently ignored in MACC’s special treatment for 1MDB?  Was this a condition for Datuk Dzulkifly Ahmad to be rapidly promoted to be appointed, less than 2 years ago, to be the Chief Commissioner in the first place?

It is preposterous for an independent commission like MACC to pass on its investigation to other agencies. Each authority has a different mandate to investigate, so it is entirely cowardly for MACC to turn a blind eye and let other agencies look into it.

Until the MACC finally grows a spine and properly considers reports against 1MDB, the commissioner's boastful warnings will remain in Malaysians’ eyes as baseless rhetoric.

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Rahman Dahlan disparages US DOJ's US$1.7 bil. asset seizure suit; doesn't deny Mr. & Mrs. MO1 received US$732 mil. cash and US$27.3 mil. pink diamond pendant

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dato’ Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan continued his tirade against the US DOJ again yesterday, accusing the DOJ of publishing a “half-cooked report”.

He even insinuated that the United States of attempting to influence the results of the impending Malaysian election.  "Is it because the election is around the corner and some desperate quarters need a leg-up?" he tweeted.

This is on top of the Minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit berating the US DOJ the previous day, “you (DOJ) mock, you gave the impression that Rosmah and the diamond did something wrong.  But in the document you submitted, you didn't include the diamond as one of the items that you want to seize. It was unnecessary to put the name there.”

The Minister is saying that since elections is around the corner, the US DOJ should not have filed the updated suit last week as it might influence the results of the election, since it implicates both the Prime Minister and his wife of misappropriating state funds for their own personal benefit?

Is the Minister trying to tell the US that they should have waited until the election is over and the Najib administration has won a new mandate, before publishing such scandalous allegations against those who have misappropriated more than US$5.6 billion of funds from 1MDB?

Does the Minister realise how ridiculous he sounds?  Is he really that half-witted, or is he only pretending to be so?

In responding to Dato’ Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s criticism, the US DOJ said that they “have to allege enough facts to show a reasonable belief that United States money laundering and other criminal laws were violated and that the subject assets were involved in or traceable to these illegal transactions.”

Surely Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan would know that the way to fight a factual allegation is to provide factual evidence which destroys the allegations.  The daily repetitive attempts by the Minister and his colleagues to taint the US investigations with insinuations of political and other motives not only does not help the cause of the Prime Minister and his wife, they actually worsen the negative perception because the alleged facts have not been challenged.

Malaysians are asking, if the US DOJ is indeed concocting malicious allegations against the Prime Minsiter and his wife as the Cabinet Ministers continue to insist, why haven’t the allegations been denied?

In fact, why hasn't Dato’ Seri Najib Razak produced proof that this bank account(s) never received the purported US$732 million which had originated from 1MDB?  Why hasn't Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor come out to publicly deny that she had indeed acquired, or received as a gift, the alleged US$27.3 million pink diamond pendant?

Their silence speaks a thousand words, while the aimless barking by the Prime Minister’s lieutanants only served to confirm without a doubt in the minds of the people, the truth of the US DOJ scandalous allegations.

Perhaps in his eagerness to castigate the US DOJ, Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan has merely forgotten to establish the facts.

Let me challenge Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan once again, did or did not the Prime Minister, referred to as MO1 in the US DOJ suit, receive more than US$732 million in his personal bank account in Malaysia while his wife, Mrs MO1 acquired a US$27.3 million diamond pendant after trips to Monaco and New York in 2013?

If the EPU Minister can’t answer the above questions, then he should stop making a complete fool of himself and further destroy whatever is left of the good name of Malaysia to a watching international audience.

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Why is Rahman Dahlan not outraged by the allegation that US$27.3 mil. of 1MDB funds helped buy a 22-carat pink diamond pendant necklace for Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor?

Malaysians are amused by the sardonic entertainment the Barisan Nasional (BN) Ministers are putting up for us on a daily basis in response to the recently updated US DOJ suit to seize an additional US$540 million worth of assets laundered with funds from 1MDB.  This sum is on to of nearly US$1.2 billion in the suits filed since July last year.

At the heart of the scandal is the involvement of a “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) who received more than US$732 million of the laundered funds in his personal bank account in Malaysia.  What further stunned the nation was when “MO1’s wife” was mentioned in the updated kleptocracy suit, when DOJ alleged that she spent US$27.3 million on a 22-carat pink diamond pendant necklace with that money.

Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Hussein would put up a blank face feigning ignorance and asked “for all we know it could be anyone. ‘MO1’ could be (Second Finance Minister) Johari (Abdul) Ghani.”

This of course runs contrary to Economic Planning Unit (EPU) Minister, Dato’ Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s public admission on BBC in September 2016 that “obviously, if you read the documents, it is the prime minister…”

This confirmation is on top of the Minister’s earlier contemptuous remark made in August 2016 that “only an idiot doesn’t know who MO1 is”.

The question as to whether Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan would tell Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Hussein that the latter is “an idiot” is perhaps best left for the former to answer.  What is perhaps comically incongruent is how two senior Ministers in the Prime Minister’s office held 2 contradictory positions over the simple poser.

They were both however consistent in ignoring the elephant(s) in the room pointed out by the DOJ – that MO1 received more than US$732 million in his personal bank account while Mrs MO1 got her US$27.3 million necklace with money borrowed by the Government’s wholly-owned subsidiary.

Yesterday again, the EPU Minister, who is also BN Strategic Communications Director, confirmed that MO1 is Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, and MO1’s wife would be Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

However, Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan took pains to lament that “you (DOJ) mock, you gave the impression that Rosmah and the diamond did something wrong.  But in the document you submitted, you didn't include the diamond as one of the items that you want to seize. It was unnecessary to put the name there."

The Minister clearly and intentionally missed the woods for the trees.  Instead of asking why “implicate” Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, should the Minister, whose primary responsibility is not to protect the Prime Minister’s wife but the interest of the Rakyat, confirm if the US$27.3 million diamond necklace was indeed purchased with money laundered from 1MDB?

It is worth noting that the EPU Minister did not deny these facts.  He is merely making a hue and cry of the exposure of these “facts”.

Before Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan decides to speak to the press again regarding this issue, let me challenge him to confirm these simple facts exposed by the DOJ with Mrs MO1:

1.     On or about July 5, 2013, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor met New York jeweller, Lorraine Schwartz together with Low Taek Jho and others aboard the 147 meter Topaz, one of the largest private yachts in the world in Monaco.  There group discussed the design of the necklace to hold the 22-carat pink diamond, which itself would be made of smaller diamonds.

2.     On or about September 28, 2013, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor again met Schwartz with Low in a hotel suite in the Mandarin Time Warner in New York in order to show them the layout of the necklace that Schwartz had designed.

3.     The finished 22-carat pink diamond necklace, which included the 22-carat pink diamond as a pendant, was delivered to a friend of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in Hong Kong on or about March 7, 2014, for delivery to the wife of the Prime Minister in Kuala Lumpur.

If Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan can provide evidence, on behalf of Mrs MO1 that the above allegations are brazenly untrue, then let me assure the Minister and everyone else in the Cabinet that I will be the first from the opposition bench to sit with him in a press conference to publicly denounce the DOJ allegations.

If not, then let me remind Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan, that as a responsible Minister and citizen, he must report the above transgression to both the Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for their respective investigations.

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All Malaysians should heed the call by the MACC Chief Commissioner to be “brave” and file reports on the corruption, abuse of power and money laundering in 1MDB as exposed by the US DOJ

We wholly support MACC Chief Commissioner, Dato’ Dzulkifli Ahmad’s call for Malaysians to be “brave” to report all cases of corruption to the agency.

"Concerned Malaysians need not fear the MACC. We are friendly, so join us and report corruption and abuse of power.  Together we will bring up a society that is brave and will say 'no' to corruption and the corrupt," Dzulkifli told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on 17 June 2017.

He assured that those who want to remain anonymous will have their identities protected and launched the new anti-corruption hotline number 1800-88-6000.

Dato’ Dzulkifli’s call and toll-free number could not have come at a more opportune time.

Malaysians have been outraged and flabbergasted by the latest suit filed two days earlier by the US DOJ under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative for multi-billion ringgit worth of assets for funds laundered from 1MDB.

Not only did Malaysians discover that funds exceeding USD5.6 billion have been laundered by 1MDB officials, Jho Low and his associates, we discovered that more than US$200 million or approximately RM880 million have been used to purchase precious designer jewelry for their family and friends.

This included a US$27.3 million 22 carat pink diamond pendant necklace which was acquired by the wife of Malaysian Official 1 (MO1).  The Minister in Prime Minister’s office, Dato’ Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan has publicly stated that MO1 is none other than Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, and anyone who doesn’t know who MO1 is, is an “idiot”.

The DOJ also detailed how 1MDB forged financial statements, falsified audited financial statements, created multiple version of agreements for the very same transactions, colluded with foreign companies, lied to financial officers and authorities and outrageously pledged worthless securities as collateral to secure its US$975 million loan from the Deutsche Bank-led consortium.

The DOJ have included all these evidential details – telephone conversations, email correspondences, financial statements, transaction documents – were clearly painstakingly gathered by the DOJ from all international banking institutions involved with 1MDB as well as other relevant witnesses around the world.

Hence with the wealth of information and evidence contained in the 251-page suit, all Malaysians can now be “brave” and ring the toll-free 1800-88-6000 number to file a complaint against corruption, abuse of power and money laundering by 1MDB as well as against both MO1 and his wife.  After all, there is no bigger case of corruption plaguing the country today than the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal.

This will answer the Chief Commissioner's honourable plea for the public to “help [MACC] realise the anti-corruption revolution to ensure that our country is free from corruption and abuse of power within the next three years when we hit the year 2020".

However, the bigger question is, will MACC be equally “brave” as ordinary Malaysians to investigate MO1, his wife, 1MDB officers as well as Jho Low and his associates for their crimes against the nation?

Dato’ Dzulkifli Ahmad shall not be so cowardly as to abdicate from its constitutionally enshrined responsibilities by passing the buck to the Royal Malaysian Police, as he so-declared at the same press conference.

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The MACC will never shake its politically tainted image unless it starts taking action against power abuse and corruption in relation to 1MDB and SRC International

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has been putting up a brave front in making dozens of arrests of corrupt government officials from state utilities and zakat officials to senior police officers around the country.

While none of the key arrests to date have resulted in convictions in the court of law, the relatively aggressive effort in fighting corruption is to be applauded.

However, all its efforts have failed to redeem the commission’s tarnished and tainted image of being a political tool of the Najib administration, and for its failure in touching anything remotely connected to the two largest scandals afflicting Malaysia today – 1MDB and SRC International.

In comparison, over the period of a year, the Singapore authorities have prosecuted and secured guilty verdicts against various parties involved in facilitating the laundering of illegally sourced funds passing through the Singapore banking system.

The most recent conviction was against a remisier who provided a S$3,000 inducement to a financial analyst to produce a favourable valuation report for a then proposed US$2.4 billion acquisition of Petrosaudi Oil Services Limited (PSOSL) by 1MDB.

In Malaysia, the Auditor-General and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have already flagged the transaction as highly irregular and failed all tests of corporate goverance and due diligence – with the management both misleading the 1MDB Board of Directors, as well as ignoring the instructions of the latter.

Why is it that while the Singapore authorities have not only completed the prosecution and conviction of those found guilty of being involved in the above fraudulent transaction, but in Malaysia, the MACC isn’t even remotely close to completing its investigations.  In fact, the MACC Chief Commissioner has consistently refused to confirm if there are any investigations on the parties involved in the 1MDB scandal which have burdened the Malaysian tax-payers with RM42 billion of financial liabilities.

As a result, regardless of how many other arrests the MACC made against police officers and other agencies, the rakyat will forever view MACC as a biased agency which will only take action against the fish fries and not the monster sharks.  This is especially since it is now public knowledge, undenied by the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak himself, that at least US$731 million originating from 1MDB and RM69 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd found its way to his personal bank account with Ambank Bhd.

The Chief Commissioner, Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad had tried to brush off criticisms of MACC’s tardiness by claiming that actions against politicians are delayed because they didn’t want the issue to be made used of by politicians for the purposes of campaigning.

"There is no issue of 'pilih kasih' (favouritism), it's about timing. If we take action straightaway, then that's favouritism," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Datuk Dzulkifli could not be more misguided in his rational for not completing its investigations on 1MDB and SRC International, or prosecuting the politicians involved.  In fact, his failure to take action against corrupt politicians on a timely basis is itself an act of ‘favouritism’.

It is not the business of MACC to interfere with politics or political campaigning. The business of MACC is to prosecute the corrupt, regardless of whether the person is the Prime Minister or a lowly civil servant.  The constitution provides for the fact that all Malaysians are equal under the eyes of the law.

Secondly, Datuk Dzulkifli appears to insinuate that political campaigning against corrupt officials is a despicable and dishonourable activity.  The MACC Chief could not be more wrong. Campaigning against the politically corrupt officials is central and integral to the concept of electoral democracy.

The rakyat must have the opportunity to hear and understand all the relevant facts, so that they are able to make informed choices during the General Election.

So, Datuk Dzulkifli, we call upon you to use the powers vested upon MACC to take immediate and uncompromised actions against political figures who are involved in abuse of power, the misappropriation of state funds as well as corruption.  It will go a long way towards redeeming the severely damaged image of MACC and demonstrating that you really act without fear or favour.

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