Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani must prove that the Auditor-General (AG) couldn’t find specifically what went wrong with 1MDB by seeking declassification of the AG’s Report on 1MDB

Last week, the Second Finance Minister Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani told an audience of the investment community at a luncheon organised by the Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) that the Government “can’t press charges on 1MDB without a full picture”.

He argued that "even the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) and AG (Auditor-General) were unable to specifically tell what went wrong”.

Dato’ Seri Johari must prove to Malaysians that he has not become a big liar defending a kleptocratic administration by demanding that the Cabinet declassify the Auditor-General’s Report immediately.

How can the Second Finance Minister expect Malaysians to believe him that the AG could not anything specifically wrong with 1MDB when the Najib administration has classified the AG’s Report under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) since its publication in February 2016?

Even the then Auditor-General, Tan Sri Ambrin Buang has emphasised that the intent of the OSA classification was only for the purpose of the PAC to complete its own report without unnecessary leaks.  He has stated clearly that there was no need for the AG’s Report to be classified after the PAC Report has been completed and left it to the discretion of the Government to declassify the document.

Can Dato’ Seri Johari tell us why the the AG’s Report remains classified?

Is it because even the ‘sanitised’ PAC Report itself has hinted at a whole lot of shenanigans discovered by the AG, if further exposed, would make life difficult for the Barisan Nasional Government?

For example, the PAC found that the 1MDB’s multi-billion dollar investments in Petrosaudi and other funds were carried out without any proper study or due diligence.  For that matter, the PAC and the AG found that 1MDB decided to invest a total of US$1 billion in a joint venture with Petrosaudi International Limited within just 8 days.

We have also since discovered with corroborating evidence from Bank Negara as well as court cases in the United States and Singapore, that US$700 million of that sum was siphoned to Good Star Limited, a company owned by the flamboyant Jho Low.

The PAC and the AG also found that 1MDB’s management executed multiple multi-billion dollar transactions without the approval of the 1MDB Board of Directors.  The PAC and AG also concluded that the top management had provided false information to the Board of Directors on multiple occassions.  Worse, the top management was found to have acted in defiance of decisions made by the Board of Directors.

The PAC and AG’s Reports were very specific in these allegations.

It true that the PAC and AG’s report were not sufficiently comprehensive. The PAC and AG could not investigate the US$731 million of funds originating from 1MDB which were deposited into the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account because 1MDB refused to supply its overseas banking documents.

However, there are already sufficient instances of criminal wrong-doings and negligence by the top management highlighted by both the AG and the PAC in their reports.  This was also the reason why the PAC had recommended that the authorities carry out investigations against Datuk Shahrol Halmi and other management officers who were involved.

Hence the question that the Second Finance Minister must answer is – why haven’t investigations into the shenanigans in 1MDB, especially by Datuk Shahrol Halmi been completed after more than a year?  Why is Datuk Shahrol still a Director at the PEMANDU agency in the Prime Minister’s Department?

Is it because he is ‘untouchable’ and protected by the Prime Minister himself, so as to avoid even more damning truths surfacing on how tens of billions of ringgit were misappropriated by 1MDB, of which a substantial portion of it was channelled to Dato’ Seri Najib Razak?

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If the leaked Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB by Sarawak Report is genuine, the Police must catch the crooks instead of going after whistleblowers!

On Saturday, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police will probe whistleblower site Sarawak Report under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for leaking the classified auditor-general’s report on 1MDB, but only after they verify that it was the genuine document.

“We’re also not sure if the document they published is genuine. So let me discuss with the auditor-general first to make sure whether the document is truly the auditor-general’s report, which has been classified as secret.  If it's true, then we will investigate under OSA. So let’s all calm down first.”

The IGP’s statement is shocking on several counts.  For one, Malaysians are shocked that after months since the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) tabled its report on 1MDB to Parliament demanding investigations on Datuk Shahrol Halmi and others involved in defrauding 1MDB, the Police have yet to gain access to the detailed Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB.

Has the Police been so lackadaisical in its investigations on 1MDB that it hasn’t already obtained a copy of the AG’s Report on 1MDB?  The IGP looked like a fool disclosing to Malaysians that he still has to “discuss with the AG first” to determine if what was leaked on Sarawak Report was indeed the AG’s Report.

Or has the Najib administration decided to maintain the AG’s Report as an OSA document so that even the Police will have difficulty accessing it?  Is this the real reason why the Cabinet has refused to declassify the report as it should have, so that the crooks behind 1MDB cannot be easily and properly investigated?

Regardless, if the leaked AG’s Report by Sarawak Report which exposed the billions defrauded and covered up by 1MDB officers is indeed genuine, Malaysians are shocked that the IGP isn’t at all interested in getting to the bottom of the scam and putting the crooks behind bars.

As the Chief of Malaysian police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should be thoroughly scandalised and embarrassed by the single largest multi-billion dollar heist which has taken place under his nose over the past 5 years.  However, from his media response, he appeared completely indifferent to the great robbery but instead is more interested in a witch hunt to capture and charge the heroic whistleblower under the Official Secrets Act.

The IGP would do well to remember that police officers are sworn to protect Malaysians against criminals and not instead to cover up for crooks.  The Official Secrets Act, draconian that it may be, was designed to protect the national interest of the country, particularly against the leaking of security secrets to foreign agents. 

The AG’s Report on 1MDB is not a national security document.  It is a document which audited 1MDB for tens of billions of ringgit lost and has been exposed as such by the Sarawak Report.  It is hence a crucial evidentiary report against the masterminds behind the 1MDB scam and any attempt by the IGP to suppress the evidence will pervert the course of justice in Malaysia.

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Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad should advise the PM and the Cabinet to declassify the Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB

I am extremely disappointed that Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad had called on the Police to investigate Sarawak Report, which has successfully procured a copy of the Auditor-General’s (AG) Report on 1MDB for breach of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

The exposé is a feat even I could not achieve because the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin has ruled that even PAC members could not retain a copy of the document.  This is despite the fact that we have been specifically cleared to access the Report.  I could only read the Report during the PAC meetings or upon request at the Parliamentary office.

This particular disappointment with Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad was because he was formerly the Chairman of the PAC prior to his “promotion” as the Deputy Home Minister.  Of all people, Datuk Nur Jazlan should understand the concept of accountability and transparency which he preached during his tenure as the Chairman.

In fact, Datuk Nur Jazlan often led the line to demand answers from 1MDB, gave clear instructions to the Auditor-General on the information to be acquired and even concluded that the mysterious key-man, Low Taek Jho be summoned to testify before the PAC.  His stand on the matter was clear and can be read in the published Hansards as well as his press conferences.

What has caused the 180 degrees about turn in his position on the investigation on the single largest financial scandal in Malaysia’s history since his appointment to the front bench?

His endorsement for the Police to pursue the whistle-blowers would unfortunately, also destroy all the goodwill and reputation he has gained over the past few years as one of the few UMNO politicians with some trace of integrity.

Malaysians would have pinned hopes on him to carry on his crusades for better accountability in the administration of government subsidiaries.  In this case, we would have hoped that he would at the very least attempt to convince the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet that the right thing to do under the circumstances is to “declassify” the Report as it ought to have been.

Datuk Nur Jazlan must make it clear to the Prime Minister that with the Report already leaked, there is no choice for the Government but to declassify the Report to save its own credibility and reputation.  What is the point of keeping it a secret any more now that it has been leaked?

Otherwise, Datuk Nur Jazlan and the Malaysian Government will be seen as clearly attempting to cover up the enormous scandal to protect the wrong doers in the debt-ridden state-owned company.

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The best Hari Raya present: the Auditor-General's discoveries on 1MDB which the Najib administration tried to hide via the Official Secrets Act (OSA)

It appears that The Sarawak Report has successfully procured the classified Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB with the relevant accompanying documents.

It is a feat even I could not achieve because the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin has ruled that even PAC members could not retain a copy of the document.  This is despite the fact that we have been specifically cleared to access the Report.  I could only read the Report during the PAC meetings or upon request at the Parliamentary office.

What is important however, isn’t the feat itself, but the fact that the whole wide world can now confirm what was speculated earlier as the real reason why the AG’s Report has not been declassified and presented to the Parliament.  It is because the Auditor-General’s comments on the fishy tales and documents supplied by 1MDB is even more damning than the already damning PAC Report on the 1MDB investigations.

For example, 1MDB made payments to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) Incorporated Aabar Investment PJS Limited amounting to US$1.15 billion between May to November 2014.  These were originally explained to the Auditor-General as compensation payments for the termination of options granted to Aabar.

However, much later, after it was exposed that they have separately made another payment of US$993 million for the same purpose in November 2014, 1MDB changed their tune and claimed the US$1.15 billion was meant for a separate “top-up security” Deposit to Aabar.

1MDB even got its Board of Directors to retrospectively approve the above US$1.15 billion “top-up security” payment one year later in November 2015.

This was despite the fact that Arul Kanda, as the Chief Executive of 1MDB would have already received notification from International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) and its subsidiary, Aabar Investment PJS of Abu Dhabi in July 2015 that the BVI-incorporated Aabar is a fictitious entity unrelated to them!

In the spirit of honesty and decency during the month of AidilFitri celebrations, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must immediately instruct the declassification of the AG’s Report, which was never meant to be permanently classified.  After all, if he has nothing to hide and insists that the Sarawak Report has once again falsified documents and doctored, in this case the AG’s Report, then making public the “real” Report will once and for all destroy Sarawak Report’s credibility.

The failure to declassify the Auditor-General’s Report however, would only prove to Malaysians and the whole wide world that we have a Prime Minister who is guilty of one of the biggest cover up in the history of the world.  It would also ultimately confirm the public perception that we are a country run by kleptocrats.

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The "cari makan" chairman of PAC must resign for lying to the committee, suppressing evidence and obstructing investigations into 1MDB!

The Public Accounts Committee members were baffled as to why Datuk Hasan Arifin had unilaterally deleted sentences from the finalised PAC Report on 1MDB which quoted Bank Negara who disclosed that the “ultimate beneficiary of Good Star Limited is an individual not related to Petrosaudi International Limited”.

We were further stumped by Datuk Hasan Arifin’s failure to disclose to PAC members another letter from Bank Negara dated 6 April 2016, a day before the final PAC report was tabled in Parliament. When we discovered the existence of the letter via a ministerial reply in Parliament on 17 May 2016, we had confronted the PAC Chairman at our meeting the very next day.

All PAC opposition members were left speechless when Datuk Hasan refused to share the contents of the Bank Negara letter with us. We could not understand Datuk Hasan’s claims of confidentiality when PAC members were even authorised to review the Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB which was classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).  What could possibly be more confidential than OSA documents?

Datuk Hasan’s highly suspicious behaviour led us to believe that the Bank Negara letter responding to queries from the PAC must have contained some damning information on 1MDB. I had speculated two days ago that Bank Negara must have outed Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low as the sole beneficiary of Good Star Limited and demanded that the PAC Chairman confirm or deny my allegation.

Datuk Hasan Arifin refused to respond to the press despite repeated queries.

Malaysians are ashamed because we have to depend on the foreign media, The Wall Street Journal in this case, to expose the truth contained in the said letter.  The letter dated 6 April 2016 from Bank Negara to the PAC clearly stated that Good Star Limited is “beneficially owned by Low Taek Jho” and that there was never any change of ownership in the company.

This crucial piece of information opens up a whole Pandora’s Box and confirmed what critics like The Sarawak Report, The Edge publications and opposition Members of Parliament have accused 1MDB all along, that out of the US$1.83 billion investment 1MDB carried out with Petrosaudi International Limited, at least US$1.03 billion have been directly misappropriated to Good Star Limited, owned by Jho Low.

This incontrovertible evidence tears to shreds the pretense by Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and 1MDB’s top officials that Good Star Limited belongs to the Petrosaudi group, a claim which was not backed by any legally-admissible documentary evidence.

This vital evidence, if taken into consideration by the Auditor-General and the PAC, would have made the already damning PAC report even more devastating. Fraud, while previously suspected, would have been confirmed.

In fact, had Datuk Hasan Arifin shared the Bank Negara letter with the PAC members, a whole new front of investigations would have been opened, including summoning Jho Low to testify before the PAC. Instead, he lied to the PAC members claiming that the Bank Negara letter was intended for his eyes only. This was despite the letter clearly making reference to the information being provided to the PAC for deliberations.

Hence it cannot be clearer that Datuk Hasan Arifin has been nominated by Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional to hamper and cover up the investigations into 1MDB.  The PAC Chairman has denigrated his parliamentary position to become a tool to help the crooks who stole billions of dollars of Malaysian tax-payers’ money.

He has lied to and acted against the decisions of the PAC. He has suppressed crucial evidence to cover up shenanigans multi-billion ringgit fraud by the powers that be. He obstructed the parliamentary investigation into the single largest scandal in the history of Malaysia.

Datuk Hasan Arifin’s position as the PAC Chairman is no longer tenable because Malaysians can no longer trust him to carry out his role honestly, professionally and with integrity.  We now call upon Datuk Hasan Arifin to resign as the Chairman of the PAC because he has brought disrepute to the committee and disgraced the Parliament.

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@ Nathaniel's Vigil

Thanks to Malaysiakini who recorded the event, my little impromptu speech at the vigil for Nathaniel Tan on Saturday evening seeking his release was captured on video ;)

Before me, you can hear Nathaniel's sister, Cheryl sing, and Nik Nazmi addressing the crowd. You can also catch other Malaysiakini on the vigils as well as his release on Malaysiakini.tv.

And as he has been released from detention by the police, he has graciously agreed to speak to us about his detention tomorrow evening @ KL & Selangor Assembly Hall ;) So see you guys there!

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No to a Police State in Blogosphere

Nathaniel Tan, a 26 year old dedicated blogger, a Harvard University alumnus and an aide to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been arrested under the Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) over allegations that he had documents linked to Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharom’s alleged involvement in corruption.

To demonstrate our solidarity with Nathaniel who has been dealt with great injustice, to show our steadfast refusal to let the Government curb the democratisation impact of blogs and the Internet, and to voice our displeasure at the OSA, we are organising a forum with invited speakers from across the civil society with details as follows:

Venue: KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Date: 19th July 2007 (Thursday)
Time: 7.30 pm
Admission is Free; Bring Friends

The panel of Distinguished Speakers include:

• Nathaniel Tan, Blogger & Aide to PKR Advisor*
• Jeff Ooi, Protem Vice-President, All Blogs Malaysia
• Harris Ibrahim, Lawyer & Founder of The People's Parliament
• Nurul Izzah Anwar, Special Assistant to PKR Advisor
• Lim Guan Eng, Secretary-General of DAP
• Tony Pua, Economic Advisor to DAP Secretary-General

Chairperson: Soon Li Tsin, Journalist & Blogger

* We will be inviting Nathaniel to speak to us and relay his experiences at the Forum should he be released from remand on Tuesday, 17th July or before. We'll also be trying to leave as much time to the floor as possible, so as to enable greater interaction at the forum.

And for those who would like to find out a little more about the young man who wants to do so much for his country, check out the write up at Jeff's blog.

A quick note on the OSA:

The OSA in its current form allows for a government to administer this country covertly and in defiance of the accountability and transparency that is crucial to democratic process. As human rights lawyer, Malik Imtiaz says, "this impacts on all our lives in more ways that we can begin to understand as the government is given a means to thwart legitimate public interest by the forced suppression of material and relevant information."

See you there!! ;)

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Candlelight Vigil for Nathaniel

More activities are being planned for Nathaniel as I write. Leaders of both DAP and PKR have unreservedly condemned Nathaniel's arrest.

Meanwhile, there's a candlelight vigil for Nathaniel tonight (Sunday 15th July) at 8.00pm outside the Dang Wangi Police Station (Jalan Stadium, near Merdeka Stadium). Let's show that we are not cowed by irresponsible, vindictive, unethical (I can go on...) police and government actions. See you guys there!

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Free Nathaniel

The blogosphere is abuzz with Nathaniel's arrest. I really don't think I'll add to the opinions already raised, except to say that Nat is such a nice guy that doesn't deserve this treatment. The police abuse of the laws of the land is abhorrent and deplorable.

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Secrets

To quote the most recent issue of our leading financial weekly, The Edge newspaper, "What's the big secret?" The Government has classified the toll and other utilites concession agreements under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), which if contravened, will require a mandatory 1-year jail sentence.

The problem is, while 4 leaders of opposition parties are facing the threat of prosecution under the OSA at this point of time, many others who have made equally 'damning' disclosures are not investigated.

Information contained in water and toll concession agreements is often readily available to investors and bondholders... While bondholders do not necessarily view the actual concession agreements, all vital information contained in these is presented to them through those other documents.

These secondary documents tell investors in precies detail what and when toll rates or water tariffs will be raised and what sort of compensation concessionaires are liable for men the government fails to raise tariffs as provided in the concession agreements.

Hence, given that the concession companies have themselves made the information within the so called confidential agreements "publicly" available to the "investment class", why shouldn't we, the taxpayers be "accorded an equal right to such transparency and accountability"?

As an example, while it's not a widely available public information, the "investment class" would have known for a while now that Litrak, the conession-holder for the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) is cash-rich despite it's borrowings and requisite loan repayments. It has been highlighted that Litrak has so much cash, it's like to return them to its shareholders soon.

Over the next 2 years, [Litrak] may have the capacity to undertake further repayments as its free cash flows increases, says AmResearch. The research house estimates that Litrak's free cash flows will increase between 16% and 18% by FY2007-2008 from 9.3% in 2006.

Litrak's earnings are expected to increase significantly in its financial year ending March 31, 2008, on the back of higher toll roates. Given the higher toll receipts, AmResearch estimates that the company's earnings will grow 64.8% to RM136.2 million in FY2008.

Such sharp estimates could not have been made without access to OSA-classified information, or AmResearch must have been irresponsibly plucking assumptions from thin air.

Of course, the fact that, thanks to our benevolent government, the shareholders of Litrak will have more guaranteed bumper years, at the expense of the rakyat.

Footnote: For more examples of such disclosure of OSA-classified information, check out the post by Sdr Lim Kit Siang.

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