Malaysians are disappointed by the eerie silence of the Cabinet on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits after its third meeting yesterday after the DOJ filing three weeks ago for forfeiture of over US$1 billion MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from the US$3.5 billion stolen, misappropriated, embezzled or laundered from 1MDB and the people of Malaysia, as the Malaysian Cabinet has yet to prove that it is a Cabinet of patriots and not idiots or kleptocrats.

Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, has said that there is no secret who is Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) mentioned in the US DOJ civil lawsuits as everyone who has read the court documents or familiar with the issues would know who is the person being referred to, as “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was”.

Do all the Cabinet Ministers know who is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1”, or are most of them “idiots” in Abdul Rahman’s parlance?

Or do all the Ministers agree with what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak told Indonesian television last weekend, that the DOJ action does not involve him, the Malaysian government or 1MDB directly?

Are the Ministers not aware that under their watch, Malaysia has overnight been turned into a global kleptocracy, not only because the DOJ complaint is the single largest US and global kleptocracy action, but the shocking inability and impotence of the Malaysian Government to debunk and rebut the grave allegations of kleptocracy against the Malaysian government, especially the litany of “criminal conduct” as well as the embezzlement and money-laundering of billions of dollars stolen from 1MDB meant for the country’s development? Read the rest of this entry »

Steven Thiru
President, Malaysian Bar
Malaysiakini
11th August 2011

COMMENT The Malaysian Bar is deeply disturbed by the grim disclosures contained in the complaint filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) “to forfeit assets involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)”.

The DOJ has made serious allegations of siphoning or diversion of funds, fraud, and the misuse of the banking system for illegal activities, by the individuals and entities named in the complaint.

Various persons have in the past weeks sought to interpret the DOJ’s 136-page complaint.

It is appalling that some have deliberately set out to distort the proceedings, and have attempted to create confusion, ostensibly to protect¬ wrongdoers.

In the interest of upholding the rule of law and the cause of justice, the thrust, purpose and ramifications of the DOJ proceedings must be appreciated.
Read the rest of this entry »