"Look ahead" (and away from 1MDB)? You must be joking, Mr. Prime Minister!

In a demonstration of utter contempt for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Prime Minister had the cheek to ask Malaysians to “look ahead” after a damning report was tabled in Parliament.

Despite a relatively short list of  recommendations which included the call  for the 1MDB Board of Advisors to be disbanded and the Article 117 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A) which grants the Prime Minister autocratic control over the company be abolished, there were dozens of critical findings outlined throughout the 106-page report.

On Friday, I have already stated that the PAC has established that at least US$5.5 billion of 1MDB’s cash and assets could  not  be  verified  by  the Attorney-General  after  a  year  of investigations. This included:

• The sums of US$700 million and US$330 million which was misappropriated to Good Star Limited, a company unrelated to the purported 1MDB-Petrosaudi joint venture in 2009 and 2011. 
• US$3.51  billion which was paid to a British Virgin Islands (BVI) incorporated  Aabar Investment PJS Limited “Aabar (BVI)” in the form of collaterals, options termination compensation  and  further  unexplained “top-up  security” payments despite obvious doubts over who owns Aabar (BVI). 
• US$940 million worth of “units” which was parked at the Swiss Bank branch of BSI Bank in Singapore. 

In fact, I made a mistake on Friday by leaving out another US$1.56 billion of investments by 1MDB’s wholly-owned foreign subsidiary, 1MDB Global Investments Limited which also could not be verified by the Auditor-General.

That brings a total of US$7.0 billion (RM28 billion) of unverified cash or assets which have been parked overseas by 1MDB. 1MDB have refused to cooperate with the AG or the PAC by handing over the bank statements of their foreign accounts and subsidiaries. 1MDB was also unable to provide documentary proof of who the owners of Good Star Limited and Aabar Investment PJS Limited are.

So  how  is  the  Prime  Minister  expecting  Malaysians  who  have been  stunned  by  the staggering amount of abuse and gross mismanagement by 1MDB of tax-payers’ funds to “look forward”?

For a start, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has not even agreed to the minimal recommendations by the PAC to disband the Board of Advisors and abolish Article 117 in the M&A.

Worst,  Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has refused to instruct 1MDB to handover all the crucial missing bank statements and documents to the AG and the PAC. This will only suggest that the Prime Minister, who is also the Finance Minister is complicit in the entire scandal.

This is especially since Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s signatures are littered all over 1MDB as he was the ultimate decision maker who signed off resolutions to sack 1MDB’s auditors, Ernst & Young and KPMG, to invest US$1.83 billion in the failed Petrosaudi joint venture, to borrow US$6.5 billion of bonds via Goldman Sachs and to overpay for the RM12.1 billion of power assets.

Hence, the Prime Minister’s direct complicity in all of the above, and the fact that 1MDB refused to give us their foreign bank statements and documents makes it impossible for the PAC to “clear” the Prime Minister of wrongdoings.

Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must stop attempting to sweep the entire 1MDB scandal under the carpet by asking Malaysians to “look forward” or “move on”, when he has refused to even act decisively on the findings of the PAC Report.

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1MDB must have lost 80% of its marbles after the damning PAC report was published

In response to a remark I had made during a press conference yesterday where I said I was 80% satisfied with the Public Accounts Committee report, just as I had previously said I was reasonably happy  with  the  Auditor-General’s  Report,  1MDB  retorted  that  I  can’t  be  80% pregnant.

I  had  to  laugh  out  loud  out  of  sheer  incredulity  at  1MDB’s  preposterous  response. It appears that the  tabling of the PAC Report has touched a raw nerve, not only causing the entire Board of Directors to offer their resignation, but for 1MDB to lose 80% of its marbles as well.

I can see no problems with being 80% satisfied with the PAC Report which has been tabled. It merely  means  that  it  is  not  a  bad  report,  with  sufficient  damning  details  of  1MDB. However, the Report could have been even better if 1MDB had cooperated by providing all the necessary documents the Auditor-General and PAC had asked for.

More importantly for Malaysians however, isn’t whether I can be 80% satisfied or pregnant. It is whether 1MDB, after lying to Malaysians over the past 2 years, is continuing to do so with deceitful insinuations against its critics.

Let me refer to the key assertion 1MDB made in their press statement yesterday –“1MDB has provided to the National Audit Department (JAN) all documents in its possession. It has also explained to JAN why other documents could not be procured. YB Tony knows this yet persists with his recycled rantings.”

Because of the tabling of the PAC Report and the accompanying transcripts, Malaysians can judge for yourselves if 1MDB and its President, Arul Kanda have been telling the truth.

I  have  attached  are  3  pages  of  transcripts  of  Arul  Kanda’s  testimony  with  the  PAC  on 1st December 2015.

I had asked JAN during the meeting if they have received all the required bank statements from 1MDB. “Adakah  pihak  audit  telah  menerima  semua  penyata  kewangan  atau  bank statements of 1MDB?”

Puan Farizah Harman confirmed that they have only received the local bank statements and not the foreign bank account statements of 1MDB and its subsidiaries. “Tidak terima... local bank sahaja kita terima.”

Arul Kanda has earlier in public and in the PAC given the excuse that they couldn’t provide the crucial  outstanding  documents  to  the  PAC  because  they  have  been  confiscated  by  the authorities including the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

However, I asked “Bank statements, usually if it is taken by the police... you can get copies from the bank, right?”

However, Arul Kanda kept his straight face to respond that “Jadi Yang Berhormat, di mana kita dapat, where we have been able to, we have are(sic) source and we have pass over to JAN”.

The  following  was  the  short  exchange  when  Arul  Kanda  tried  to  pretend  he  doesn’t understand what “bank statements” were:

Tony Pua: Bank statements?

Arul Kanda: I am speaking in general terms Yang Berhormat because...

Tony  Pua:  Bank  statements  surely  it  can  be...  they  [JAN]  have  been  asking  for  it since May.

Arul Kanda: As I said earlier...

Tony Pua: Cannot be taking six months to get from the bank, right?

Arul  Kanda:  Again,  Yang  Berhormat,  I  am  not  sure  which  statement  or  which document in particular.

Tony  Pua:  Every  month.  I  think  they  have  asked  for  every  month’s  [statements], right?

Arul Kanda: Again, Yang Berhormat, I think we have to be detailed in our questions.

At  this  point,  the  Auditor-General  himself,  Tan  Sri  Ambrin  bin  Buang,  who  rarely  speaks during  witness  testimonies, found it  necessary  to  defend  his Office for  the  insinuation that they were not “detailed” in their questions.

“I think whatever kita minta ini, we put it in writing to them. So, they know exactly what we want.   Cuma  ada  yang  kita  dapat  separuh,  kita  tidak dapat  separuh. So that affect our works. And then now, people (Arul Kanda) come and say it (the audit findings) is totally wrong. We want to correct it if it is totally wrong.”

When  Arul  Kanda  then  insisted  that  he  didn’t  have the “detail” wanted,  Tan  Sri  Ambrin responded that their office have provided several deadlines, the last being 31 October 2015 for 1MDB to submit their documents.

“Tuan  Pengerusi,  I must  put  on  record. Kita sudah  beberapa  kali  beri  deadline. We have  to  finish  our  report  to  the  PAC. We  put  the  date  even  31st  October. We are now in December.  We are still waiting.”

As  the  new  Member  of  the  PAC,  Dato’ Takiyuddin  Hassan  rightly  pointed  out  then, “Tuan Pengerusi, saya  nampak  macam  ada  element  of  suppression of  evidence di  sini. You  are trying to hide something. We can assume that.”

When  I  repeated  my  question, “What  is  the  difficulty  of  getting  bank  statements  to  the Auditor-General?”

Arul  Kanda’s  response  summed  up  his  debating  credentials, “So  again, Yang  Berhormat, saya rasa soalan tersebut terlalu broad. Kita perlu... lebih jelas apa yang diperlukan...”

In fact, right up to the very last minute in March, there were still repeated requests to the Ministry of Finance and 1MDB to make available all the missing documents, including all the foreign bank statements, payments transaction confirmations, as well as certain key missing agreements. However, these requests fell on deaf ears.

So now, Malaysians can judge for themselves, whether Arul Kanda, the top banker touted to be a debt restructuring expert, but couldn’t understand what “bank statements” were, was “cooperating” with the  PAC  and  AG  as  he  claims,  or  he  was  in  reality  obstructing investigations against 1MDB. They can also decide, who are the real liars, 1MDB or me.

Hence  let  me  reassert  my  statement yesterday  that while the  findings of  the PAC and the Auditor-General are sufficiently damning  for  1MDB,  its Board of Directors and top management, the PAC failed to “clear” the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak of alleged wrongdoings because the crucial evidence of banking information overseas were not handed over to the AG or the PAC.

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Dato’ Seri Najib Razak needs to take full responsibility for the RM55 billion 1MDB debacle and take concrete measures to ensure full compliance by the company

The  spin  masters  in  the  Prime  Minister’s  Department  are  operating  in  full  swing  to  deflect any  blame  on  Dato’ Seri Najib Razak over  the  damning  Public  Accounts  Committee  (PAC) Report which has been tabled yesterday on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Dato’ Seri  Azalina  Othman  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  report  also  confirmed  that  the Prime  Minister  did  not  commit  any  offences  or  contribute  to  any  criminal  offences,  hence proved that all allegations made against him were baseless.

Worst,  Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  himself  attempted  to  make  light  of  the  highly  incriminating PAC  Report  by  focusing  on  the  irrelevant –  that  Tun  Dr  Mahathir  Mohammad  made  a mistake by claiming that “RM42 billion is missing”.  It is irrelevant because the point of the PAC Report wasn’t to determine “RM42 billion was missing” but how billions of ringgit might have been improperly siphoned.

Dato’ Seri Najib Razak  must  be  the  most  irresponsible  Finance  Minister in history  who  is more interested in political rhetoric than the scores of misdeeds outlined in the PAC as well as the Auditor-General’s  Report. Just  because  one  man  cited  the wrong figure for the amounts of funds which were not accounted for, does not mean that there were no billions of dollars which went missing.

We have already established that at least US$5.5 billion of 1MDB’s cash and assets could not be verified by the Attorney-General after a year of investigations.

Hence,  at  the  very  least,  Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  who  is  also  the  Finance Minister must be held to be ministerially accountable as 1MDB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). In fact, the debt which has been accumulated by 1MDB amounting to RM55 billion as at October 2015 is even larger that the entire RM32.3 billion budget for the Ministry of Finance in 2016!

The  degree  of  ministerial  accountability  is  even  higher, given  the  specific  provisions  of 1MDB’s  Memorandum  and  Articles  of Association  (M&A)  which  required  the  explicit  written endorsement  of  the  Prime  Minister  for  every  single  substantial  transaction  carried  out  by 1MDB.  Hence the Prime Minister had personally signed all written resolutions approving its investments in the failed US$1.83 billion Petrosaudi joint venture, the borrowing of US$6.5 billion of bonds,  the  multi-billion  ringgit  acquisition  of  the  power  plants  and  real  estate  as well as the sacking of both external auditors, Ernst & Young and KPMG.

Worse,  the  M&A  of  1MDB  explicitly  forbids  the  appointment of  any  MoF  officials  in  the company,  which  could  have  acted  as  an  additional  check  and  balance  on  the  rogue management.  The lack of oversight at the level of the Finance Ministry, as testified by the Treasury-General,  Tan  Sri  Irwan  Serigar  himself  to  the  PAC,  only  further  increases  the culpability of the Prime Minister in the entire scandal.

If  the Prime  Minister  hadn’t  personally  approved  these  resolutions,  then  none  of the shenanigans  cited  by  the  AG  could  have  taken  place. Hence, Dato’ Seri  Najib  Razak was either very stupid and reckless to sign these resolutions without proper consideration or he was very much part and parcel of the 1MDB scam. Either way, the Prime Minister must take responsibility and be held accountable.

Finally, and most importantly, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has failed to direct 1MDB to cooperate with the  AG  and  the  PAC  by  providing  all  necessary  financial  statements, particularly  its banking records and statements overseas. Given that the allegations of impropriety by the Prime  Minister, especially  over  the  US$681  million “donation”  scandal  are  all  transacted overseas,  there  was no  way  for  the  AG  or  the  PAC  to  clear  the  Prime  Minister  of  these allegations.

Hence all attempts by the BN Ministers to exonerate Dato’ Seri Najib Razak of any culpability in the RM55 billion 1MDB financial scandal are well off the mark. If Dato’ Seri Najib Razak wants to remove any suspicions of links between 1MDB’s overseas funds and himself, then he must immediately reprimand 1MDB and direct 1MDB to hand over all its banking records overseas to the PAC and AG for further scrutiny.

If  not,  then  Dato’ Seri  Najib  Razak  will  be further  tainted  with  the  perception  that  he  is afraid of the truth being discovered and he has much to hide.

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If billions of dollars are not "missing" as alleged, then why did 1MDB refuse to present its bank statements to the AG and PAC?

The  damning  Public  Accounts  Committee  (PAC)  Report  on  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd (1MDB) was tabled in Parliament yesterday.

Among the lengthy list of transgressions by 1MDB, the PAC established that:

The  sums of  US$700  million  and  US$330  million  have  been  misappropriated  to Good Star Limited, a company unrelated to the purported 1MDB-Petrosaudi joint venture in 2009 and 2011. (7.3.4-7.3.5)

US$3.51  billion  has  been  paid  to  a  British  Virgin  Islands  (BVI)  incorporated  Aabar Investment  PJS  Limited “Aabar  (BVI)”  in  the  form  of  collaterals,  options  termination compensation  and  further  unexplained “top-up  security”  payments despite obvious doubts over who owns Aabar (BVI).

The  Auditor-General  (AG)  was  also  unable  to  verify  the  actual  transactions  above  because 1MDB has refused to provide the bank statements of its overseas bank accounts and foreign subsidiaries. (7.3.9 – 7.3.13)

As  a  result  of  1MDB’s  refusal  to  cooperate,  the  AG  was  also  unable  to  ascertain  the purported existence and value of the so-called US$940 million worth of “units” parked at the Swiss Bank branch of BSI Bank in Singapore. (7.3.15)

Instead  of  answering  the  respective  findings  of  the  Report,  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd (1MDB)  thought  it  more  appropriate  to  train  its  guns  on  the  Wall  Street  Journal  (WSJ). 1MDB claimed that it was entirely inaccurate of WSJ to claim in its article that the PAC had found that “billions  of  dollars”  had  gone  missing  from  1MDB,  and  had  recommended  a “criminal investigation” on the fund’s senior management.

Why is 1MDB so ruffled with the claim by WSJ that “billions of dollars” were “found missing” based on the PAC Report?

Indeed, the PAC Report never made the specific claim that the above billions were “missing” officially. However, the fact of the matter is these billions are unaccounted for and cannot be verified, as confirmed by the AG himself.

Hence,  if  1MDB  is  so  offended  by  the  missing  billions  description  by  WSJ,  why  didn’t  the company  show  where  these  monies  were  with  its  bank  statements  and  their  respective transaction details to the AG since May 2015?

In  fact, 1MDB’s  recalcitrance  and  utter  contempt  for  the  Auditor-General  over  the  above, despite  countless  reminders  by  the  AG  and  the  PAC,  only  goes  to  reinforce  the  global suspicions that the billions of dollars have indeed gone missing.

The refusal by 1MDB and its management to cooperate over the above unaccounted billions of dollars  left  the  PAC  with  no  choice  but  to  recommend  investigations  by  the  relevant
authorities.  These “relevant authorities” would certainly include the Royal Malaysia Police to track possible criminal elements in the flow of funds by 1MDB overseas.

1MDB  should  stop  trying  to  play  the  victim  of  a  non-existent global  malicious  conspiracy against the company. 1MDB has had every opportunity to clear its name over the past year and has now been proven to have failed to do so.

The  real  victims  are  the  Malaysian  people  whose  trust  in 1MDB,  its  management  and directors, have been betrayed by half-truths, lies, deceit and cover-ups.

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All critics of debt-stricken 1MDB have been finally vindicated with tabling of the PAC Report

For  more  than  a  year,  the  critics  of  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd  (1MDB) –  the  Sarawak Report,  which  has  been  banned  by  the  Malaysian  government,  the  Wall  Street  Journal, which has been accused of orchestrating a conspiracy against the country and myself, who is being investigated for “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” over the same matter were accused of doctoring documents and publishing lies.

The  tabling  of  the  Public Accounts Committee  (PAC) Report  today,  with  the  accompanying transcripts of all its proceedings since 19th May 2015 in Parliament has now fully vindicated us. The findings  of  the Auditor-General, summarised in  the  106-page  PAC Report  and  the relatively brief conclusion by the PAC confirms gross mismanagement and wanton neglect of all principles of good governance and accountability.

Most  importantly,  1MDB  deliberately  hampered  the  investigations  by  the  Auditor-General and the  PAC  by  giving  half-truths,  withholding  of  crucial  information  as  well  as defiantly refusing to  supply  simple  bank  statements  of  its  overseas  accounts  to  allow  the  audit  of multi-billion ringgit money trails.

Despite certain shortcomings of the report – the failure to obtain the crucial information of 1MDB’s foreign banking transactions, and the failure to secure additional key witnesses like former CEO, Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, Bank Negara officials, auditors Ernst & Young and even controversial figures like Low Taek Jho – the evidence put forward based on available documents were overwhelmingly damning for 1MDB.

This crucially include the first joint venture agreement with Petrosaudi International Limited where 1MDB  was  meant  to  invest  US$1  billion  for  a  40%  stake  but  US$700  million  was misappropriated  to  Good  Star  Limited. The  Auditor-General  has  found  evidence  that  the transaction  took  place without  the  knowledge  and  approval  of  the  Board  (7.3.4, 7.3.5). Interviews  with  the  then 1MDB  Chairman,  Tan  Sri  Mohd  Bakke Salleh showed that he quit the Board in disgust a few weeks after discovering the dodgy, in his refusal to condone the actions of the insubordinate action of the Management.

While  the  Management  insisted  that  Good  Star  Limited  was  a  subsidiary of  Petrosaudi International, no evidence  was presented by 1MDB from the relevant authorities to the AG or the PAC to prove such claims. The AG’s Report also confirmed that besides the original US$700 million  transferred in 2009, 1MDB  further  transferred  an  additional  US$330 million to Good Star in 2011.

The  AG  and  PAC  have  also  been  able  to  establish  multiple  questionable  transactions between 1MDB and Aabar Investment PJS Limited, which is established in the British Virgin Islands “Aabar (BVI)”. It has been previously reported that Aabar (BVI) was granted 49% options to acquire 2 power companies, Tanjong Power and Genting Sanyen, in exchange for International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) providing a US$3.5 billion guarantee for 1MDB bonds issued in 2012. These options were terminated in 2014.

Based on the Option Termination agreement sighted by  the AG, 1MDB was to compensate Aabar with a “refundable deposit” of US$300 million.  However, 1MDB reported that it has paid US$993 million to Aabar (BVI). (7.3.10)

Worse,  the  AG  and  the  PAC  has  also  been  informed  that besides  the  above,  1MDB  paid Aabar  (BVI)  further  sums of  US$855  million  and  US$295  million  as  unexplained “top-up security deposits”. (7.3.13)

Under the original “Credit Enhancement Agreement” signed in 2012, 1MDB has already paid Aabar (BVI) US$1.367 billion. (7.3.9)

Hence, in total, 1MDB has paid US$3.51 billion to Aabar (BVI) for “security deposits” and “option termination” apparently for the US$3.5 billion bond guarantee provided by IPIC!

What  is  damning  is  the  fact  that  1MDB  could  not  provide  any  concrete  documentary evidence that Aabar (BVI) is in anyway related to Aabar Investment PJS of Abu Dhabi, which is the susbsidiary of IPIC.  The Auditor-General noted that Aabar (BVI) is not listed as IPIC’s subsidiary based on the audited accounts of IPIC. (7.3.11, 7.3.12).

In  addition,  the  AG  Office  clearly  stated  that  they  could  not  verify  that  the  above transactions disclosed  by  1MDB  actually  took  place because 1MDB  failed to submit  its overseas bank statements  and  other  relevant  documents  for  verification, despite repeated requests and reminders. (7.3.13)

There are many other shocking misdeeds and transgressions which have been disclosed in the PAC report, which won’t be listed here in my statement. However, what is clear is that there  is  more than sufficient  damning  evidence  to  indict  not  only  the  entire  top management, but also the entire Board of Directors.

The  PAC  Report  has  requested  that  former  CEO,  Datuk  Shahrol  Halmi  Azral  and  other related parties be investigated for all of the shenanigans cited, and reprimanded the Board of Directors for their failure. The  Inspector-General  of  Police  must  take  immediate  action  to investigate  Datuk  Shahrol and his associates. I will go further to call not only for Datuk Shahrol Halmi be sacked with immediate effect, but the entire Board of Directors who have failed to protect the interest of the Government and the tax-payers to be removed as well.

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1MDB once again disingenuous with its denial that it funded "The Wolf of Wall Street" producer, Red Granite Pictures

Global  news  agencies  picked  up  on  the  exposé  by  Wall  Street  Journal  which  claimed  that Red Granite Pictures, the company formed by Riza Aziz to produce “The Wolf of Wall Street”was funded with US$155 million originating from 1MDB.

The  Wall  Street  Journal  said  that  1MDB  had  paid  US$1.4  billion  to  Aabar  Investment  PJS Limited, a company established in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in 2012.

The  payment  was  meant  as  a  collateral  for  the  guarantee  provided  by  Abu  Dhabi’s International  Petroleum  Investment  Corporation (IPIC)  for  1MDB’s  US$3.5  billion  of  bonds. However,  IPIC’s  subsidiary  with  a  similar  name,  Aabar  Investment  PJS  is  set  up  in  Abu Dhabi. IPIC’s  financial  statements  published  on the  London  Stock  Exchange  has  disclosed neither Aabar (BVI) as a subsidiary or the receipt of the US$1.4 billion “collateral” cited by 1MDB.

Red  Granite  Capital  then  received  US$105  million  directly  and  another  US$50  million indirectly via intermediaries from Aabar (BVI).  Red Granite Capital then funded Red Granite Pictures.

1MDB was relatively quick to issue a very short denial. 1MDB said it “has never invested in nor transferred funds to Red Granite Pictures, whether directly or via intermediaries.”

However,  1MDB  has  failed  to  explain  why  it  has  made  the  above  collateral  payments  to Aabar  (BVI)  which  appears  to  be  a  completely unrelated entity  to  IPIC? Can  1MDB  clarify who is the ultimate beneficiary or owner of Aabar (BVI)?

If 1MDB is unable to ascertain the ownership of Aabar (BVI), then why did it transfer such an enormous sum of US$1.4 billion to the company?

Hence it appears that on paper, the transfer of US$1.4 billion is a legitimately made for the purpose of providing  a  collateral. But  upon  closer  scrutiny,  it  may  amount  to  a  fraudulent attempt to mask the embezzlement of funds via the mystery Aabar (BVI) vehicle.

If  1MDB  fails  to  provide  clarity on  the  nature  and  ownership  of  Aabar  (BVI)  with  the necessary  and  appropriate  documents, then  any  denials  it  makes  about  Aabar  (BVI)  not being an “intermediary” would have zero credibility.

In fact, the best thing for 1MDB to do now is to request IPIC to issue an official statement confirming its  alleged  relationship  with  Aabar  (BVI).  It  would  put  to  rest  all  of  the  global allegations against  1MDB  today. Given  1MDB’s  intimate  relationship  with  IPIC  and  Abu Dhabi, why haven’t IPIC come to 1MDB’s rescue?

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Impian Sabah & Sarawak: A Malaysian Dream - The Book!

Shipping Location

West Malaysia (Courier) RM90.00 MYR  East Malaysia (Courier) RM95.00 MYR  ASEAN (Normal) RM100.00 MYR  Australia / NZ (Normal Mail) RM120.00 MYR  USA / Europe (Normal Mail) RM140.00 MYR

 

Impian Sabah & Sarawak: A Malaysian Dream is a commemorative book that celebrates the milestones achieved since 2013. We have completed scores of projects, involved hundreds of volunteers, assisted thousands of marginalized rural villagers and have been generously supported by tens of thousands of ordinary Malaysians.

Despite not being part of the state or federal governments, we have shown the East Malaysians that much can be achieved even with very limited budgets.   

Impian Sabah and Sarawak have become the game-changer for these rural folks.  There is now real competition to win the hearts and minds of these voters who were previously taken for granted.  

We firmly believe that continued Impian Sabah and Sarawak programmes are crucial in bringing about the twin change of upgraded quality of life and longer term political change. Sarawak needs to elect a government that not only cares for the man on the street, but also one that will fight tooth and nail against corruption.

 The book records not only the projects but the story behind each one of them; accounts of lives touched and perspectives of volunteers who participated in the many projects, all captured in the many photographs featured in this book.

All profits from the sale of this beautiful hardcover, full-colour 180-page book will go towards future Impian Sabah & Sarawak projects, benefitting the rural marginalised poor in East Malaysia. Get your copy today!

Shipping Location

West Malaysia (Courier) RM90.00 MYR East Malaysia (Courier) RM95.00 MYR ASEAN (Normal) RM100.00 MYR Australia / NZ (Normal) RM120.00 MYR USA / Europe (Normal) RM140.00 MYR

And for those who prefers to pay via Maybank2U or other internet banking channels, cash deposit, special requests, bulk quantities etc., feel free to email me at tonypua@yahoo.com. Please include your shipping address and contact number.

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DAP Federal Territories (FT) and Selangor expresses support for and solidarity with Guan Eng and Kit Siang

The DAP FT and Selangor State Committee and branch leaders met on 31st March 2016 in Kuala Lumpur and we unanimously resolved to express support for and solidarity with DAP Secretary-General Sdr Lim Guan Eng.

Barisan Nasional has launched it’s fiercest and most stinging attacks against Lim Guan Eng that we have ever seen to date.  BN MPs and Ministers are using parliamentary immunity to hurl numerous spurious allegations and outright lies against the Penang Chief Minister.

The  BN-owned  and  dominated  media  followed  up  by  going  to  town  with  the  cooked-up scandal. Both  Lim Guan Eng  and  the  Party  has had  to  endure  the  avalanche of  malicious attacks via “trial by media”, peppered with unsubstantiated and twisted facts.

Such  massive  attacks  serve  to  divert  attention  from  the  multiple  political  crises  faced  by Prime Minister Najib Razak especially arising from the Citizen’s Declaration on 4th March.

The  attacks  also  aim  to  discredit  Guan  Eng  and  the DAP  in  the upcoming Sarawak state election. The Penang Chief Minister was the most potent political figure for the Opposition in the previous Sarawak state election in April 2011.

Both  DAP  FT  and  Selangor  proudly stands  by  the  implementation  of  open  tenders  by  the Penang state government  which  not only improves  transparency but eliminates graft and corruption.

Hence when BN alleged that the controversial land in Taman Manggis was sold to KLIDC in exchange  for  a  bribe  via  a  bungalow  bought  below  market  price,  we know  that  it  can’t  be true. It  cannot  be  true because  the  said  land  was  sold  via  open  tender  to  the  highest bidder. There’s no need for a bidder to pay a bribe when he has to bid the highest price to win. This is unlike the BN states where land is sold and alienated via direct negotiations.

In  addition,  the DAP-led  Penang  government  has  been  accused  of  betraying  the  people’s interest by selling the piece of land meant for low-cost housing.  That has now been proven to be an utter lie, because it was the then BN state government which rejected the low-cost housing proposal in March 2007.  What’s more, the DAP-led Penang government has instead in  2012  commenced  a separate  low,  low-medium  cost  and  affordable  housing  less  than  2 kilometers  away in  Jalan S P Chelliah. Better still,  the  Jalan  S P  Chelliah  land  is nearly  10 times the size of the land in Taman Manggis.

Therefore,  we  welcome  fair  and  unbiased  investigation  into  Guan  Eng’s  purchase  of  his house. We  also  hope  that  the  investigations  will  be  expedited  so  that  his  name  can  be cleared as soon as possible.

DAP FT and Selangor calls on our members and supporters to be cognizant of these political calculations, help the party emerge from these attacks stronger, and support Sdr Lim Guan Eng in his battle to clear his name.

Tan Kok Wai & Tony Pua

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Is Arul Kanda casting doubt on the integrity of the AG’s Report even before it has been tabled in Parliament?

I  am  stunned  that  1MDB  President  Arul  Kanda has  started  to  pre-empt  the findings  of  the Auditor-General’s (AG) Report which has been submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) even before it has been tabled in Parliament.

Arul  Kanda  said  he  is  confident  that  the  parliamentary  Public  Accounts  Committee  (PAC) would not just rely on the findings of the auditor-general’s report on 1MDB when it compiles its own report. 

"What I can say on the general terms is that the auditor-general’s report (on 1MDB) is very detailed, comprehensive  and  professional.I  am  sure  the  PAC  report  will  reflect  all  the findings  PAC has made,  not  just  based  on  the  auditor-general’s  report,  but  also  on  the interview  and  the additional  information  PAC  obtained,"  he  said  during  his  interview  with BFM89.9 yesterday. 

First  of  all,  given  that  the  AG’s  Report  was  classified  under  the  Official  Secrets  Act  (OSA), how did he know the contents of the Report? 

Secondly, is Arul Kanda now worried that the AG has tabled a damning report against 1MDB, that he is counting on the BN-dominated PAC to reject the conclusions of the report? 

In the past, Arul Kanda has used the fact that the AG’s investigation is proof that 1MDB and the Government  are  transparent  and  have  nothing  to  hide. Why  is  Arul  Kanda  now attempting to cast doubt on the integrity and accuracy of the completed AG’s Report? 

Instead Arul Kanda should tell Malaysians if he has cooperated fully with the AG to ensure that  the AG  had  access  to  all  necessary  documents  to  complete  its  findings,  especially  on bank statements of its overseas subsidiaries.   

If he has failed to submit even simple bank statements which demonstrates the money trail of 1MDB’s funds, then he is obviously lying to Malaysians when he blamed  Malaysians for not trusting explanations from the state-owned fund “because the facts are boring” while the “baseless allegations” made by politicians are “sexy”. 

What's more, the 1MDB President has also stubbornly refuse to clarify the simple but substantive allegations Wall Street Journal has made that 1MDB has transferred billions of US Dollars to a fictitious “Aabar Investment PJS Limited” set up in the British Virgin Islands which is completely unrelated to Abu Dhabi’s “Aabar Investment PJS” or its parent, International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC).

If  1MDB  did  not  make  these  allegedly  fraudulent  payments,  why  not  just  give  an unequivocal “NO” in its statements?  Instead of answering the allegations, Arul Kanda only chose  to twist  and  turn,  while  going  on  the  hyperbole  to  allege  some  global  malicious conspiracy against 1MDB and Malaysia.

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Why has the Royal Malaysian Police not investigated 1MDB's missing Cayman Islands investment funds?

I  had  asked  the  Minister  of  Finance  who  is  the  investment  bank  which  is  managing  the balance  of  the  proceeds  in  the  form  of “units”  which  was  redeemed  from  1MDB’s  Cayman Islands investment amounting to the reported RM940 million.

I  received  the  reply  yesterday stating  that “no  investment  bank  was  appointed  to  manage state investment firm 1MDB's funds in the Cayman Islands.”

The lies by 1MDB and the Minister of Finance have now come a full circle, which strengthens the suspicions that there was never any substantial money invested in the Cayman Islands. The investment was purportedly made with the US$2.318 billion proceeds from the disposal of 1MDB’s investment with PetroSaudi International Limited.

Instead, the supposed opaque investment now looks like a cover story for 1MDB to hide the fact   that   the   billions   of   dollars   invested   with   PetroSaudi   have   been   lost   through embezzlement  and  pilferage. In  fact  the  entire  scam  was  so  well-thought  through  that  it fooled international auditors KPMG and Deloitte for years.

However,  the  chickens  finally  returned  to  roost  when  1MDB  was  forced  to “redeem”  the funds from Cayman Islands.

Under pressure from debtors, 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda hurriedly announced on 13 January 2015 that "following a commitment made by the Chairman of the Board of Directors in a statement dated 23 December 2014, 1MDB can confirm that it has now redeemed in full the US$2.318 billion invested by the company in a Cayman Islands registered fund”.

Again, under pressure to explain what exactly has been “redeemed”, Arul Kanda told the Singapore Business Times on 9 February 2015 that “The cash is in our accounts and in US dollars. I can assure you (about that) . . . I have seen the statements.”

The Minister of Finance further confirmed on 11 March 2015 in Parliament that the “cash”was held in BSI Bank in Singapore.  He further explained that the money wasn’t repatriated to Malaysia to avoid the hassle of Bank Negara approvals.

However, following a damning exposé by the Sarawak Report that BSI Bank denied the existence of cash held in the 1MDB account, the Minister of Finance retracted his earlier reply in Parliament.  On 19 May 2015, and informed the House that the redeemed proceeds were “assets” and not cash.

But a few days later, the mystery had deepened when Second Finance Minister Husni Hanadzlah claimed that what was held in BSI Bank were “units”, when he was asked to clarify on the exact nature of these “assets” in Singapore.

On 10 June 2015, without explaining what these “units” really were, Arul Kanda blamed the entire fiasco of cash to assets to units on “miscommunications on the matter”.

Now, the latest reply from the Finance Minister has proven that Arul Kanda and 1MDB has “miscommunicated” not only on the form of proceeds which were redeemed from the
Caymans investment. The reply showed without a doubt that Arul Kanda and 1MDB lied about the fact that the balance of the US$940 million investment in Caymans were redeemed in the first place.

The purported “investment” is still stuck in Cayman Islands and could not be liquidated.

Even more shocking was the claim by Dato’ Seri Najib Razak that there was no investment bank fund manager for the “units”! How can there be “units” if there is no fund manager?

1MDB must be the first investor in the world who can hold fund manager-less units creating a brand new class of investment assets!

If not,  all of the above points to the fact that lies after lies after lies were told by 1MDB and the Government to carry out a massive cover up of the loss of billions of ringgit by 1MDB over its investment in and with PetroSaudi International.  For the billions we have invested in PetroSaudi, we are now in possession of worthless or even fake and fraudulent “units”.

Why hasn’t the Royal Malaysian Police conducted a thorough investigation over the missing funds and these dodgy “units” even after I have made my police report exactly in March a year ago?

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Dato’ Seri Najib Razak makes rare appearance in Parliament; fails miserably to address twin scandals of 1MDB and RM2.6 billion

The Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak made a rare appearance today in the Parliament to answer  a  question  posed  by  the  Member  from  Ketereh,  Tan Sri  Annuar  Musa, who happens to be the new UMNO information chief.

Tan Sri Annuar had asked how Malaysia will collaborate with ASEAN countries to overcome the economic uncertainties we face today.

I  had  the  opportunity  to  ask  a  supplementary  question,  where  I  raised  the  fact  that  the economic uncertainties and the crisis of confidence facing Malaysia today have been caused to  a  large  part  by  the  twin  RM55  billion  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd  (1MDB)  and  RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals.

I  emphasized  to  the  House  that  there  has  been  an  unprecedented  degree  of  negative foreign media interest in Malaysia as a result of the Prime Minister’s failure to address these unanswered scandals. The  clearest  example  would  be  the journalists  from  Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)  taking  a  flight  all  the  way  to  Kuching  just  to  seek  a comment  from  the  Prime Minister “if  you  could  explain  the  hundreds  of  million  in  your account?”

For  their  troubles  they  were  detained  by  the  police  for  6  hours  and  had  their  passports temporarily confiscated.  The attempt to further charge them for allegedly obstructing public officials from  their  duties,  before  they  were  subsequently  withdrawn  and  the  journalists deported further disgraced the nation in the eyes of the global community.

The  refusal  by  Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  to  answer  the  simple  question  further  cement  the perception of guilt and wrongdoing not only among Malaysians but to the entire world.

Hence I asked, what was the Prime Minister going to do to address these scandals to reduce the economic uncertainty and crisis of confidence affecting the country’s economy.

Unfortunately,  Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  failed  miserably  to  use  the  golden  opportunity  in Parliament,  on  live  television  to  reveal  the  truth  behind  the  scandals  and  silence  all vehement critics on these matters.

The  Prime  Minister  chose  to  paint  the  so-called  attacks  as  an “orchestrated  campaign”against his  government  and  only  promised  that  "I  am  responsible  to  the  people... The process of accountability in the country will continue".

Even  his  re-assertion  that  he  will  let  the  Public  Accounts  Committee  (PAC)  decide  on  the RM2.6  billion “donation”  and  1MDB  scandals  rings  hollow  after  singing  the  same  tune  for more  than  a  year,  where  he  had  pro-actively  stifled  the  investigations  on  these  matters, including the sacking of the former Attorney-General.

Malaysians do not want to hear Dato’ Seri Najib promising investigations.  Malaysians want to hear from the Prime Minister himself with regards to these scandals because more than RM2.6 billion was found to have appeared in his own personal bank account.

Hence  the  question  everyone  is  asking is,  why  the  heck can’t Dato’ Seri Najib Razak let Malaysians  know  why  these  obscene  sums of  money  were  found  in  his  personal  account himself? Why  does  he  need  investigators  to tell  him  why  the  money  appeared  in  his account in order to tell Malaysians and the watching world? This is particularly since it has been more than 8 months since the scandals were exposed?

The  above  proved  that  Dato’  Seri  Najib  Razak  has  failed  to  be  accountable  as  the  Prime Minister  of  Malaysians,  and  further  justify  why  all  Malaysians  should  sign  and  support  the Citizen’s Declaration seeking the removal of the Prime Minister and institutionalise reforms in the Malaysian Government.

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Felda Global Venture must end its value-destroying acquisition spree which smacks of utter recklessness and sheer incompetence

Felda Global Venture Holdings Bhd (FGVH) has been the undisputed worst plantation stock performer  ever  since  its  initial  public  offering  (IPO) in  July  2012. The  share  price  decline was so bad that the company was removed from the Bursa Malaysia KLSE Index stocks last year.

Since its hyped-up listing at RM4.45 per share, the battered government-linked stock closed at RM1.51  yesterday  representing  a  whopping  66%  decline  in  share  prices. Despite  its acquisition spree  since  then,  FGVH  net  profits  have  tanked from  RM1.33  billion  in  the financial year ending 31 December 2011 to a pitiful RM117 million in 2015.

Among  its  major  acquisitions  included  Pontian  United Plantations  Bhd  at  RM1.2  billion  in October 2013, Asian Plantations Ltd at RM568 million in October 2014 and Felda Iffco South China Ltd at approximately RM181 million. The undisputed turkey of the year however will go to FGVH’s proposed US$680 million 37% acquisition  of  Eagle  High  Plantations  (EHP)  at  the  outrageous price  of  Rp775  per  share in June 2015 whose stock price closed at Rp270 yesterday.  That means FGVH will pay nearly 3 times the market price of EHP, an absurd acquisition by any measure!

The EHP deal has yet to be completed but FGVH is in a limbo because the company paid a exorbitant 25% non-refundable deposit of US$174.5 million for the shares of EHP already!

The spate of acquisitions by FGVH should by right be earnings accretive, meaning they will add profits to the group.  However, despite having used up all of its cash raised during the initial public offering in 2012, the more acquisitions it conducts, the less profits it makes.
In another stunning announcement last week, before the dust over EHP has settled, FGVH is now proposing  to  acquire  55%  of  Zhong  Ling  Nutri-Oil  Holdings  Ltd  for  RM976  million. Zhong Ling is a company registered in Cayman Islands with interests in the Chinese market refining and distributing peanut and other edible vegetable oils.

There  are  many  questions  arising  from  this  particular  transaction  including  the  reason  for FGVH  to  acquire  a  peanut  oil  company  and  variances  arising  from  a  complicated  profit guarantee by Zhong Ling’s vendors.

However, the biggest question which FGVH must answer to its shareholders, which include not only state-owned  funds  like  EPF  and  Tabung  Haji,  but  also  more  than  90,000  Felda settlers  is, why is  FGVH  acquiring  a  company  which  has  failed  to  complete  its  audited accounts since December 2013!

The failure to complete and table Zhong Ling’s financial audit for December 2014 or 2015 in a timely manner by a reputable international auditor is the clearest warning sign that all is not well within Zhong Ling.  It gives the signal that Zhong Ling’s shareholders are seeking a profitable exit by disposing  of  the  troubled  assets  to  a company  desperate  to  boost  its earnings.

If Zhong Ling is indeed financially sound, why shouldn’t FGVH just request for the company to complete its missing audit first before negotiating the acquisition.  Why must FGVH rush in headlong into the acquisition, bear the risk of an unaudited company backed by a highly questionable guarantee arrangement by Zhong Ling’s main shareholder?

We  call  upon  the  Board  of  Directors  of  FGVH  to  protect  the interest  of  the  company’s shareholders  by  immediately  terminating  the  acquisition.    The  deal  should  only  ever  be considered after Zhong Ling has regularized its audit short-comings, and even so, only if the latter allows a separate independent audit be carried out to verify the financial statements.

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Dato' Sri Azalina Othman must clarify contradictions between her statement and MACC's on the Prime Minister receiving money from SRC International

I  had  asked  in  Parliament  last  week  whether  the  Attorney-General  has  investigated  the RM27 million  deposited  into  the  Prime  Minister’s  personal  bank  account  on  8  July  2014, which originated from SRC International.  In addition, RM3.2 million of the sum was used to repay Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s Visa and Mastercard bills. Was this not a criminal breach of trust?

 ...sama ada Peguam Negara telah menyiasat deposit RM27 juta ke dalam akaun bank Menteri        Kewangan  pada  8  Julai  2014  yang  berpunca  daripada SRC  International, yang antaranya  RM3.2 juta digunakan untuk membayar bil kad kreditnya. Adakah ini merupakan kesalahan pecah  amanah? 

The  response from the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department,  Dato’ Sri Azalina Othman is shocking both in the lack of and discrepancy in the details.

"MACC's investigations on SRC International show that the prime minister has not committed any corrupt practice," she said in a written reply to me.

Firstly,  how  could  it  be  that  RM27  million  which  found  its way  to  Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal  bank  account,  which  was  exposed  by  none  other  than  the  Attorney-General himself, be  dismissed  summarily  without  any  basis  that there  was  no  criminal  breach  of trust?

What  is  more,  the  Attorney-General,  Tan  Sri  Apandi  Ali’s  evidence  which  he  showed  to reporters  during  his  press  conference  in  January  showed  how  RM3.2  million  of  the  money was channelled to pay the Prime Minister’s credit card bills.

Unless the Prime Minister or the Attorney-General can give impossibly good reasons why the transfers  took  place,  there  is  a  clear-cut  prima  facie case  to  charge  the  Dato’  Seri  Najib Razak for criminal breach of trust.

Secondly,   Dato’    Azalina’s    assertion    that    Malaysian    Anti-Corruption    Commission’s investigations  on  the  matter  showed  no “corrupt  practice”  is  completely  contrary  to  the statement issued by the MACC Oversight Panel issued on 24 February 2016.

“The panel agreed that MACC resubmit its investigation papers regarding SRC International to  the  Attorney-General  for  review...  Since  MACC’s  investigation  into  the  alleged  RM2.6 billion donation case is still incomplete, the panel recommended to MACC that it continue its investigation  into  the  case  and  seek  the  Attorney-General’s assistance  to  issue  the  Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) in order for MACC to obtain evidence and documents from financial institutions based overseas as part of its investigation into the RM2.6 billion,” the statement read.

The  MACC  Oversight  Panel  statement  could  only  mean  that the  investigation  is  still “incomplete”  and  MACC  was  seeking  the  assistance  of  the  Attorney-General  to  obtain overseas MLA to access additional evidence.

Dato’  Sri  Azalina Othman  must  clarify  why  her  statement  contradicted  that  of  the  MACC’s. Has she misled  the  parliament in  her  reply in  order  to exonerate  her  direct  superior,  Dato’Seri Najib Razak.

If she fails to provide clarifications and evidence that MACC has indeed “cleared” the Prime Minister of all crimes, that we will consider referring the Minister to the House Committee of Rights and Privileges for intentionally misleading the Parliament.

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Did the Ministry of Finance invent a fictitious project to cover up for funds being transferred from SRC International to Putra Perdana?

I had asked the Minister of Finance to explain why SRC International paid RM170 million to Putra Perdana Construction between 8 July 2014 to 8 August 2014. Mysteriously this amount was also returned to SRC International at the end of 2014. SRC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the finance ministry.

In the reply received yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said SRC International Sdn Bhd paid RM170 million to Syarikat Putra Perdana Construction for a turnkey project.

Najib said in Parliament today that Putra Perdana Construction returned the money to SRC, following cancellation of the project.

This must be the very first time in Malaysia where a Government subsidiary received promptly a full refund for a supposedly cancelled project.   The excuse given by the Finance Minister which was not substantiated with any details or evidence, is almost as unbelievable as the Prime Minister receiving RM2.6 billion of Arab donation.

What was the value of the project which required SRC International to pay in advance a whopping RM170 million? Given that SRC International is a wholly-owned government subsidiary, what exactly is this mega-project which escaped scrutiny, report and mention by any Minister or media?

What’s more, the Parliament has been previously informed that SRC International was specifically involved in the overseas investment in strategic energy and mining sectors.  How such a project worth at least hundreds of millions of ringgit, if not billions, awarded to a mid-sized local construction company in anyway related to its stated mandate?

Worse, the actual amount transferred to Putra Perdana Construction was RM197 million, of which only RM170 million was returned.  The balance of the RM27 million was channelled to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal account by Putra Perdana Construction immediately upon receipt from SRC International.

If the sums transferred were indeed for a unnamed mega-project, then why was the RM27 million not returned by Putra Perdana to SRC International but instead “given” to Dato’ Seri Najib Razak?

Hence the utterly feeble reply provided by the Minister lends credence to the view that the unnamed fictitious project was made up in order to cover up illicit transactions between SRC International and Putra Perdana.

Furthermore, in the Finance Minister’s reply, he said based on Malaysian parliamentary rules, he did not need to respond to allegations on the RM27 million, which was based on a news report.

"SRC does not have any information with regards to the issue on the money that was channelled to the bank account of Finance Minister, and this was based on news report from a portal, (in) which the source of the news was unverified.  In view of this, under the Standing Order 23(1)(i), the matter need not be answered, as it is one to seek clarification over a news report," Dato’ Seri Najib said.

The failure to provide an answer to the RM27 million is completely unacceptable because the information was not “based on a news report”, but instead based on a chart openly displayed by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Apandi Ali during a press conference.  The Finance Minister’s refusal to answer a perfectly valid question arising from information provided by the Attorney-General himself demonstrates an utter contempt the Minister has for the Parliament.

The only way for the Prime Minister to be absolved of the alleged crimes is to come clean with all the necessary evidence to be judge by all Malaysians.

However, the failure by the Prime Minister to shed light on the matter goes to only to strengthen the suspicions and belief of ordinary Malaysians that tax-payers money has been illicitly transferred from state-owned entities to Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal account.

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The AG and IGP must expedite investigations on 1MDB's US$6.5 billion bond deals with Goldman Sachs

Bloomberg has reported yesterday that the former Chief of Goldman Sach’ s Southeast Asian operations,  Tim  Leissner  has  been  subpoenaed  by  the  Federal Bureau  of  Investigations (FBI) of the United States last month.

Prosecutors  in  the  Justice  Department’ s  kleptocracy  asset-recovery  unit  are  investigating whether  funds  were  embezzled  from  1Malaysia  Development  Bhd.,  known  as  1MDB,  by politically  connected  people  in  Malaysia,  the  people  said.  The  FBI’ s  New  York  office  is leading the investigation and is trying to determine if any U.S. laws were broken, according to one of the people briefed on the subpoena issued to Leissner.

Critics  of  the  1MDB  mega-scandal,  including  myself,  have  long  been  calling  for  the  bond issuance exercise carried out by Goldman Sachs for 1MDB to raise a total of US$6.5 billion to be investigated.

1MDB had via 3 international bond issuance exercise, raised US$1.75 billion, US$1.75 billion and US$3 billion in May 2012, October 2012 and March 2013 respectively.  The investment bank which also acted as the underwriter of the bonds was Goldman Sachs.

The above bond issuance stunk to high heavens because of the abnormal and exorbitant “certain commissions, fees and expenses” which were paid to Goldman.

For  example,  1MDB  paid  US$196  million  and  US$283  million  for the “certain  commissions, fees  and  expenses”  to  raise  US$1.75  billion  and US$3  billion  respectively.   These  amounts worked out to a staggering 11.2% and 9.4% of the funds raised.

How  is  it  that  Tenaga  Nasional  and  Penerbangan  Malaysia  Bhd  were  able  to  raise  US$350 million and US$1 billion by paying only 2% and 0.5% in fees and expenses?

What  is  more  interesting  is  the  fact  that  other  Goldman Sachs fund-raising  exercises  were substantially   cheaper  as  well.   For  example,   Goldman  charged  Sarawak   government subsidiary, Equisar International Inc only 1.3% in fees.

For  similarly-sized  issues,  the  Mexican  and  Uruguayan  governments  successfully  issued bonds amounting to US$3.9 billion and US$2.0 billion by deducting only 0.2% and 0.1% for fees and expenses respectively.

How could it be possible that Malaysia as a country is 100 times less credit worthy than the Uruguayan government?

Questions asked previously have not been answered in full and Malaysians have remained in the dark. Goldman  Sachs  insisted  that  other  than  fees  paid  to  the  professional  legal advisors and accountants, the entire fees were due to the investment bank.

1MDB  and  the  Minister  of  Finance  however,  contradicted  Goldman  Sachs  by  telling  the Malaysian  parliament  that  part  of  the ‘ fees’   to  Goldman  was  actually  a  discount  given  to bond  subscribers.    They  however,  refused  to  disclose  the “discount”  which  was  given  and the investors who subscribed to the bond.

Despite the fact that the Malaysian government and taxpayers are the biggest victims to the astronomical fee paid to Goldman Sachs, it is the US investigators who have found basis to investigate  the  above  transactions  for  possible  scam,  conspiracy  and  international  money laundering.

It is a disgrace that the Royal Malaysian Police has completely failed to carry any extensive investigations  on  the  above  incredulous  transactions. The  Attorney-General  and  the Inspector General  of  Police  must  expedite  investigations  on  1MDB’ s  US$6.5  billion  bond deals with Goldman Sachs in the light of Tim Leissner being subpoenaed by the FBI.

The  failure  of  the  Attorney-General  and  the  Inspector  General  Police  to  take  quick  and effective action against such crimes have led to the Government carrying out a multi-billion bailout of  1MDB  with  emergency  loans,  cheap  land  sales  and preferred  contracts  at  the expense of the tax-payers.

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