By BRADLEY HOPE
Wall Street Journal
Aug. 18, 2016

Investigators are looking into alleged fraud related to a Malaysian fund

Abu Dhabi authorities have arrested Khadem Al Qubaisi, who authorities say is a key figure in an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud related to a Malaysian sovereign-wealth fund, according to people familiar with the matter.

The arrest last week was made in relation to an Abu Dhabi investigation into fraud and corruption, which includes Mr. Qubaisi’s alleged role in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd., known as 1MDB, affair, the people said. No charges have been filed against him.

Mr. Qubaisi was previously restricted from leaving the United Arab Emirates and had his assets in the country frozen, The Wall Street Journal reported in April. Read the rest of this entry »

What a contrast!

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak blogging on the meaning of patriotism, that it is more than just raising the Jalur Gemilang, singing the national anthem or making a pledge to adhere to the Rukun Negara principles, but involving numerous levels in patriotism, like joining of hands between Malaysians to achieve a beneficial objective for the nation; genuine help extended to others in need and the effort to protect the nation’s harmony and sovereignty, even if it required sacrificing one’s life.

On the same morning, writing on his Facebook, Najib’s former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin named Najib as the “rogue” codenamed as “MO1” in the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s single largest action in the United States and the world for forfeiture of over US$1 billion assets in United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland because of US$3.5 billion embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds. Read the rest of this entry »

AMY ZIMMERMAN
The Daily Beast
08.18.16

The Oscar-winning actor’s charity and the production company behind Wolf of Wall Street have come under scrutiny for ties to a $3 billion embezzlement scandal.

When was the last time a celebrity scandal—not a body part—truly broke the internet? In the age of long lens paparazzi, 24/7 reality TV coverage and conscious uncoupling, we’ve been subsisting on cheap, disposable drama and scripted Bachelor breakups. Nobody thinks big anymore.

Surprisingly, the man to finally bring some old school Hollywood glamour back to the celebrity scandal game may be none other than the founder of the pussy posse himself, Leonardo DiCaprio. Yes, it’s come to this. Read the rest of this entry »

By Gary Baum
The Hollywood Reporter
August 17, 2016

According to the Justice Department, certain donations to the Oscar winner’s charity came directly from a multibillion-dollar embezzlement drama in Southeast Asia.

On the evening of July 20, under a tent at a vineyard in St. Tropez brimming to his specifications with booze, billionaires and babes, Leonardo DiCaprio was preparing to host one of the glitziest charitable events of the year: the third annual fundraiser for his Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Earlier that same day, under far less glamorous auspices half a world away, the U.S. Department of Justice was filing a complaint with the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles that suggested the recent Oscar winner is a bit player in the planet’s largest embezzlement case, totaling more than $3 billion siphoned from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund called 1MDB.

While the complaint does not target DiCaprio — he’s referred to twice in the 136-page document and only as “Hollywood Actor 1” — the scandal shines an unfamiliar light on the charitable foundation of the most powerful actor in Hollywood thanks to the way the LDF has benefited directly from DiCaprio’s relationship with key figures in the saga. And much like the gala in St. Tropez, with its expressions of one-percenter excess ostensibly in support of saving the environment (guests helicoptering in to dine on whole sea bass after watching a short film about the dangers of overfishing), a closer look at the LDF itself raises questions about its ties to the 1MDB players as well as the lack of transparency often required (or offered in this case) for the specific structure the actor has chosen for his endeavor. Read the rest of this entry »

After the statement by the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, that “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was” as there is no secret who is Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) mentioned in the US Department of Justice (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, more and more Malaysians must be asking with every passing day why there are so many “idiots” in the Cabinet and UMNO.

Is the UMNO MP for Langkawi, Datuk Nawawi Ahmad an “idiot” for him to argue that “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” is the Yang di Pertuan Agong.

What would have happened if it was a leader from the national Opposition, whether PKR, DAP, AMANAH or the yet-to-be-registered BERSATU who had postulated that “MO1” was the Yang di Pertuan Agong.

Former Langkawi Wanita Umno member Anina Saadudin has filed a police report against Nawawi asking for police investigations to protect the royal institution.

Would the police investigate Nawawi and would the authorities accept his poor excuse that he had not meant to imply that “MO1” was the Yang di Pertuan Agong?

If Nawawi’s excuse was valid, why then was the need to edit his Facebook posting? Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, I asked about the real relationship between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Penang billionaire Jho Low, as to who was making use of whom in the 1MDB global scandal – Najib making use of Jho Low or Jho Low making use of Najib?

This is a question which is on the mind of every concerned Malaysian in the past two years, but despite the investigations by the various national enforcement and investigative agencies, including the high-powered Special Task Force on 1MDB (which was ignominously dissolved after the sacking of the then Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail who had chaired the Special Task Force and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin), Police, Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee, Malaysians are no nearer to a truthful and satisfactory answer.

Will Parliament when it meets in October be able to get an answer from Najib, at least in his 2017 Budget speech?

Nobody however is optimistic that Najib would be prepared to furnish any answer and it would be easier to squeeze water from a stone. Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Peel and Simeon Kerr
Financial Times
15th August 2016

Swiss criminal authorities are probing a well-connected former top Abu Dhabi finance official over an alleged international conspiracy to embezzle money from Malaysia’s 1MDB wealth fund.

Investigators suspect Khadem al-Qubaisi, ex-head of the Emirati government’s International Petroleum Investment Company, of fraud, money laundering and corruption, according to a letter seen by the Financial Times.

Mr Qubaisi has long been regarded as close to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, owner of Manchester City football club and brother of Sheikh Khalifa, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of United Arab Emirates. Read the rest of this entry »

I do not know whether the police will open an investigation paper under Section 506 of the Penal Code against the Shah Alam UMNO chief Zahari Shaari, who lamented this morning that the 1MDB scandal had hit UMNO like an “atomic bomb”.

This was what the Police did the last time an “atomic bomb” reference made news two months ago during the Kuala Kangsar by-election when the PKR Secretary-General and MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli said that if the AMANAH candidate, nuclear physicist Ahmad Termizi Ramli, was elected in the by-election, Termizi would be asked to hurl an “atomic bomb” at Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament.

Police reports were lodged against Rafizi and even an UMNO Minister admonished Rafizi for joking about an “atomic bomb”, although eventually nothing came out of the hullabaloo over Rafizi’s “atomic bomb” joke.

But Rafizi was joking while Zahari was deadly serious in comparing the after-effects of the 1MDB scandal to that of an mushrooming “atomic bomb” explosion. Read the rest of this entry »

I do not know whether the police will open an investigation paper under Section 506 of the Penal Code against the Shah Alam UMNO chief Zahari Shaari, who lamented this morning that the 1MDB scandal had hit UMNO like an “atomic bomb”.

This was what the Police did the last time an “atomic bomb” reference made news two months ago during the Kuala Kangsar by-election when the PKR Secretary-General and MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli said that if the AMANAH candidate, nuclear physicist Ahmad Termizi Ramli, was elected in the by-election, Termizi would be asked to hurl an “atomic bomb” at Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament.

Police reports were lodged against Rafizi and even an UMNO Minister admonished Rafizi for joking about an “atomic bomb”, although eventually nothing came out of the hullabaloo over Rafizi’s “atomic bomb” joke.

But Rafizi was joking while Zahari was deadly serious in comparing the after-effects of the 1MDB scandal to that of an mushrooming “atomic bomb” explosion. Read the rest of this entry »

Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob came out with a gem of a statement yesterday when he said he did not know what was going on in Malacca Chief Minister, Datuk Idris Haron’s head when the latter claimed the United States was trying to topple Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the Malays.

Idris had claimed last Sunday that the US was doing this through the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits related to 1MDB.

Sabri refused to comment on the alleged conspiracy, and asked journalists to ask Idris instead.

Sabri is not the only one who was bamboozled by Idris’ “conspiracy theory”, as nobody knew what Idris was blabbering about.

Which UMNO Minister or leader dare to specifically endorse Idris’ statement and talk sense instead of nonsense?

But the tragedy of Malaysia today is that Idris is not the only UMNO leader who make statements which cause everybody to wonder what was going on in the person’s head!

To be fair to Idris Haron, Malaysians are flummoxed most of the time by the statements of UMNO Ministers and leaders – as Idris Haron is the rule not the exception. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

By Dhirenn Nair
The Diplomat
August 09, 2016

Despite a deepening scandal, Najib Razak has strengthened his position by purging his party and government of critics.

July 20, 2016 was a dies horribilis for Najib Razak, the embattled prime minister of Malaysia. For over a year, he had been battling accusations of financial mismanagement of the state fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and embezzlement for personal gain. Exposés by the Wall Street Journal and the Sarawak Report, an investigative journalism site which is blocked in Malaysia to “maintain national security,” first showed alleged financial mismanagement in the fund. Then came allegations that Najib had over $680 million in 1MDB-related funds transferred into his own personal account. The response of the Malaysian authorities was to investigate the Sarawak Report for leaking confidential government information.

Najib, on the other hand, claimed that the funds found in his personal account were a donation from Saudi Arabia; a portion of that “donation” was used to finance his coalition’s 2013 re-election campaign and the rest was returned to the donor(s). His claim was later corroborated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the attorney general, Apandi Ali; Saudi Arabia also confirmed that a political donation had been made to Najib. Legally, the prime minister had not done anything unlawful, for there are no existing political financing laws in Malaysia. It appeared Najib has dodged a bullet — but then came the announcement by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) on July 20. Read the rest of this entry »

Is the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman, Datuk Hasan Arifin’s refusal to re-open investigations into the 1MDB scandal a signal that Malaysia is to become a nation in denial about the 1MDB global scandal on top of a new infamy of Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy?

Yesterday, DAP National Publicity Secretary and MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua, walked out of the PAC meeting after Hasan rejected his proposal to re-open PAC investigations to 1MDB and to summon the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to testify at the PAC in the light of lawsuits filed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

Are we going to have a situation where all the key national institutions, starting with the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Parliament, the PAC, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Auditor-General, the mainstream mass media, are going to act in concert as a nation in denial about the 1MDB scandal, virtually ignoring the largest US and global action in the DOJ forfeiture of over US$1 billion assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland as a result of an international conspiracy of embezzlement, money-laundering and misappropriation of 1MDB funds?

The Cabinet meeting tomorrow will be a litmus-test whether Malaysia is going to adopt the stance of a nation in denial about the 1MDB scandal, ignoring the 136-page DOJ lawsuits, coupled with a “wait-and-see” attitude for the US legal process to take its course, hoping that this will take years! Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to the Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the question arising from the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest single action in the United States and the world for forfeiture of over US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland because of embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering is simply this:

Has Malaysia a Cabinet of idiots or kleptocrats?

Abdul Rahman 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.

He said that there is “no mystery” about “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” as “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was”.

Can we be sure that we do not have a Cabinet of Idiots, that at least by now, 19 days after the DOJ complaint, every Cabinet Minister would have “read the court documents or familiar with the issues” and would know who is the person codenamed “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” being referred to? Read the rest of this entry »

My first reaction to the startling statement by the BN Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan that only an idiot doesn’t know who “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” is was to wonder when the UMNO Supreme Council became an Idiots’ Council.

This is because an UMNO Supreme Council member, the MP for Kinabatangan Bung Moktar Radin had said on Wednesday that the UMNO Supreme Council meeting the previous Friday (July 29) did not discuss the “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” mentioned 36 times in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits “because nobody knew who ‘MO1’ was”.

Bung told Malaysiakini: “DOJ did not name the person, so it is difficult to predict (who the person is).”

Abdul Rahman is a member of UMNO Supreme Council, which means he was an “idiot” by his own definition – at least up to July 29 when the UMNO Supreme Council met.

When did Abdul Rahman cease to be an idiot, and realise who is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1”?

May be what is more appropriate is to say that only an idiot does not know that “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” is implicated in the “criminal conduct” of embezzlement, money-laundering and misappropriation of 1MBD funds which formed the basis of the US DOJ lawsuits to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, and there is nothing to be proud of such incriminating mention – 36 times in the DOJ lawsuit. Read the rest of this entry »

Ironically, it is the UMNO Youth Chief and Youth Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin who has refuted the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement on Indonesian television yesterday that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit does not involve him, the Malaysian government or 1MDB directly.

Khairy Jamaluddin told the Sepang Puteri and UMNO Youth annual assembly last night that the US DOJ’s accusatory tone in its lawsuit made it as though the Malaysian Government was a guilty party in their forfeiture suit for over US$1billion 1MDB-linked assets.

He said the US press conference on July 20 on troubled state investment fund 1MDB was to present the findings of their year-long investigations, but the language used were as though Putrajaya had already been convicted.

“The way they announced (their findings) is as though it was a conviction, as though (those named) are already guilty and to be punished.

“The words used showed as though Malaysia and the government are guilty,” Khairy said at the Sepang Puteri and Umno Youth annual assembly last night.

He said this went against the concept of “innocent until proven guilty”.

Isn’t this precisely the reason why inaction by the Prime Minister and the Malaysian government for the past 17 days is untenable and not an option, especially as Malaysian Prime Minister and the nation’s reputation and good name had never been so besmirched and tarnished as by the DOJ’s largest single forfeiture action, making it the largest in the world, as a result of embezzlement, money-laundering and corruption of Malaysia’s national sovereign wealth fund and the country being named overnight as a global kleptocracy? Read the rest of this entry »