Jho Low tolong draf surat untuk Najib hantar kepada Raja Saudi...

Jho Low bantu dasar luar PM-Arab Saudi...

Seorang anggota Parlimen hari ini mempersoal sama ada hartawan Jho Low terlibat menentukan dasar luar Perdana Menteri Datuk Najib Razak dengan Arab Saudi.

Ong Kian Ming (DAP-Serdang) menyatakan kebimbangan itu selepas e-mel bocor didakwa menunjukkan Jho Low pada 2010 mendraf kenyataan berhubung pendirian Malaysia terhadap sebuah tindakan ketenteraan Arab Saudi.

“Pertama sekali, rakan baik Jho Low, Seet Li Lin, didakwa menyediakan draf surat untuk dihantar oleh Najib kepada Raja Arab Saudi, Raja Abdullah.

“Kedua, Tarek Obaid, pengasas PetroSaudi, didakwa menghantar e-mel pada Jho Low pada 13 November 2009, meminta perdana menteri menyokong tindakan ketenteraan Arab Saudi di utara Yaman terhadap kumpulan pemberontak dikenali sebagai Houthis,” katanya.

“Draf kenyataan malah disediakan oleh En Obaid.

"Pada 19 November, Najib keluarkan kenyataan mengutuk Houthis dan menyokong hak Arab Saudi untuk mempertahankan dirinya,” kata Ong dalam kenyataan hari ini.

Ong juga memetik dakwaan Sarawak Report bahawa Jho Low (atas) juga terlibat menguruskan wawancara Najib dengan saluran berita Al-Arabiya.

“Dasar luar awam harus ditentukan selaras dengan kepentingan rakyat Malaysia,” katanya.

“Hakikat bahawa seorang atau kumpulan kecil individu boleh menentukan dasar luar berkaitan kepentingan Malaysia untuk manfaat peribadi, seperti didakwa oleh pendedahan Sarawak Report, amat membimbangkan.”

Dakwaan itu dibuat oleh Sarawak Report pada 28 Februari lalu.

Najib melawat Arab Saudi pada Januari 2010.- mk

Jho Low dictates our ties with Saudi Arabia...

An opposition lawmaker is questioning whether Malaysian billionaire Jho Low has been dictating Malaysia's foreign policy with Saudi Arabia.

DAP's Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming raised this concern after Sarawak Report leaked email correspondence showing Jho Low and his associates laying the groundwork for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's 2010 visit to Saudi Arabia.

This includes preparing letters for Najib to send to the Saudi Arabian king and drafting statements on Malaysia's stance towards Saudi Arabia's military actions.

"Firstly, a close associate of Jho Low, Seet Li Lin, is alleged to have prepared the draft of a letter to be sent by Najib to the then king of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah.

Secondly, Tarek Obaid, the founder of Petro Saudi, was alleged to have sent Jho Low an email on Nov 13, 2009, asking the Malaysian prime minister to support Saudi Arabia's military action in northern Yemen against a rebel group known as the Houthis.

"A draft statement was even prepared by Mr Obaid. On the 19th of November, Najib issued a statement condemning the Houthis and supporting Saudi Arabia’s right to defend itself," Ong (above, left) said in a statement today.

Ong also cited the allegation by Sarawak Report that Jho Low had made arrangements for Najib to be interviewed by the Al-Arabiya News Channel.

"Malaysia’s foreign policy must be dictated in the best interests of Malaysian citizens.

"The fact that an individual or a small group of individuals can dictate the foreign policy interests of Malaysia for their own personal gains, as alleged by the Sarawak Report expose, is highly disturbing.

"I call upon Prime Minister Najib to give an account of these allegations, as well as the other allegations raised in the Sarawak Report expose on Feb 28, 2015," Ong added.

Najib visited Saudi Arabia in January 2010, after initially planning for the visit to take place in December 2009.- mk

Jho Low, the Taib link & RM4 bil of Pension money...

Documents available to Sarawak Report highlight the key role played by a well-known contact of the tycoon Jho Low, called Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, during the company PetroSaudi International’s negotiations to raise a further billion dollars in loans out of 1MDB in the course of 2010.

This was the same period during which PetroSaudi was also negotiating to buy out the Taib controlled bank, UBG.

At the time Nik Faisal was 1MDB’s Chief Investment Officer.

But, astonishingly, he also held the post of Executive Director of Investments for UBG.

Jho Low, meanwhile, was a member of the Board of the bank, having headed a substantial share acquisition a few months earlier.

Correspondence shows that Nik Faisal was looped into extensive discussions with PetroSaudi over what was described as “Project Uganda”.

This project appeared to be focused around the loans to PetroSaudi and also the buy out of UBG – given that thek correspondence on “Project Uganda” email network referred to both these topics only.

It raises questions over whether Nik Faisal was essentially UBG’s ‘man inside’ 1MDB at this crucial negotiating time – acting as an effective cat’s paw for Jho Low?  

Read more here...

Nak selamatkan Najib, ada kambing bakal dicat hitam...

Pendedahan demi pendedahan mengenai syarikat pelaburan 1MDB yang kini sudah menjadi tajuk berita antarabangsa semakin menunjukkan kemungkinan ianya bertukar menjadi skandal kewangan terbesar dalam era Najib Razak.

Bermula dengan hutangnya yang tinggi, pelaburan yang diragui dan simpanan di Pulau Cayman yang tidak pasti, 1MDB kini memasuki episod pendedahan bagaimana wangnya didakwa dilarikan untuk kepentingan peribadi.

Selain itu, bagaimana hutang 1MDB  berjumlah RM2 bilion daripada dua bank tempatan dikatakan turut dibayar oleh  bilionaire terkemuka, Ananda Krishnan dan cubaan pinjaman tambahan RM3 bilion daripada kerajaan juga ditolak kabinet kerana ramai menteri tidak menyetujuinya, menambah-parahkan lagi imej dan persepsi awam terhadap syarikat anak emas Perdana Menteri itu.

Secara langsung ia mengesahkan bahawa kecaman bekas Perdana Menteri, Mahathir Mohamad mengenai syarikat itu ada benarnya. Ramai juga ketika ini yang bersetuju dengan Mahathir bahawa "tiada 1MDB pun tak apa".

Walaupun dalam banyak urusniaga, pelaburan dan kecurangan yang menjadi isu dalam 1MDB, nama Jho Low sering dikaitkan, tetapi kaitannya dengan Najib tentu saja sukar dielakkan kerana ahli perniagaan playboy yang mengamalkan gaya kehidupan rambu-ramba di Hollywood itu juga mempunyai hubungan rapat dengan Riza Aziz, anak lelaki Rosmah Mansor.

Selain Jho Low dikatakan mempunyai hubungan rapat dengan isteri Perdana Menteri melalui Riza, Najib sendiri dilaporkan beberapa kali bertemu dengannya di luar negara, termasuk ketika bercuti di Eropah tahun lalu.

Dengan pendedahan terbaru yang semakin menyentap hati rakyat berkaitan dakwaan RM2.5 bilion wang 1MDB cuba dilarikan oleh Jho Low dalam urusniaga dengan PetroSaudi beserta pelbagai bukti komunikasi yang disertakan,  tuntutan agar kebenaran diperjelaskan kepada umum, termasuk penubuhan Suruhanjaya Diraja semakin kuat bergema sekarang ini.

Tetapi apa yang menariknya ialah Pejabat Perdana Menteri atau PMO dengan pantas telah mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa Najib tidak terlibat secara langsung dalam operasi harian syarikat itu, sebaliknya ia diuruskan oleh satu kumpulan profesional dan berpengalaman.

Juga disebut bahawa kedudukan Perdana Menteri hanyalah sebagai Pengerusi Lembaga Penasihat 1MDB saja.

Ternampak bahawa penjelasan itu untuk mengelakkan Najib daripada dikaitkan dengan apa-apa masalah yang berlaku dalam 1MDB sekarang.

Memahami bahawa kecurigaan dan kecurangan dalam 1MDB selama ini melibatkan bukan angka sekupang dua yang tentulah mustahil taraf "prebet" atau "koperal"  berupaya melakukannya, konsep pertanggungjawaban sebenarnya lebih terpikul serta tidak semudah itu untuk dielakkan daripada bahu Najib selaku Perdana Menteri, Menteri Kewangan dan Pengerusi Lembaga Penasihatnya.

Bolehkah dipercayai pelaburan dan pengeluaran wang dalam jumlah yang besar boleh dilakukan tanpa pengetahuan atau tanpa restu Najib?

Mengelak daripada memikul tanggungjawab dengan alasan tidak terlibat dalam operasi harian tidak lebih merupakan alasan untuk "cuci tangan" saja sedangkan jika 1MDB mencapai kejayaan dan kecemerlangan, sudah tentulah semuanya akan diwar-warkan sebagai buah tangan dan hasil fikiran orang yang yang terlibat dalam operasi harian tadi.

Ketika itu juga tentunya alasan tidak terlibat dalam operasi harian tadi tidak berbangkit sama-sekali.

Apakah kenyataan tidak terlibat dalam operasi harian ini suatu bentuk percubaan mengolah kepercayaan ramai bahawa Najib tidak tidak ada kena-mengena dan tidak wajar dipalitkan dengan apa juga kecurigaan dan kecurangan dalam 1MDB?

Bukankah konsep pertanggungjawaban bukan saja ketika suka dan berjaya, tetapi turut waktu  duka dan ketika dibebani masalah?

Adakah ini juga bermakna "seekor kambing" sedang dicari untuk dilumurkan cat hitam dan ditunjukkan kepada umum sebagai orang yang bersalah?

Kalau Najib sebagai Pengerusi Lembaga Penasihat 1MDB tidak harus dikaitkan semata-mata kerana tidak terlibat dengan operasi hariannya, apakah "kambing hitam" itu Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Pengerusi 1MDB sekarang?

Mungkinkah juga bekas CEOnya, Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman atau penggantinya sekarang, Arul Kanda Kandasamy sebagai "kambing pilihan kedua dan ketiga" untuk ditumpahkan cat hitam itu?

Atau "kambing-kambing"  lain sedang dicari untuk dimangsakan? - Shahbudin Husin 

Scramble for scapegoats begins as 1MDB scandal deepens...

It appears that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has begun the process of trying to wash PM Najib’s hands clean of what may turn out to be the biggest political and financial scandal in recent Malaysian history, according to analyst Shahbudin Husin.

Tied to that process may be a search for a scapegoat, he writes in a blog entry that indicates his belief that the 1MDB controversy is close to reaching a climax.

He refers to a recent report in London’s Sunday Times which quoted the PMO as saying that Najib was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the company.

“It’s obvious that this was an attempt to distance Najib from any problems 1MDB may now be facing,” he says.

“But it’s not so easy to lift the burden off Najib’s shoulders for he is the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and chairman of the company’s board of advisors. 

Can we believe that funds in such large amounts can be invested or disbursed without Najib’s knowledge or consent?”

If 1MDB had been successful, he adds, there’s no doubt that the success would have been attributed to Najib’s acumen in his day-to-day involvement with the company.

Shahbudin wonders who will become the scapegoat or scapegoats in the event the 1MDB affair unravels and turns out to be a major scandal or, as DAP’s Tony Pua has put it, “the heist of the century”.

“Will the scapegoat be Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, the current chairman of 1MDB? Will the second and third scapegoats be its former CEO, Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman and his successor, Arul Kanda Kandasamy? Will there be other scapegoats still?”

Shahbudin notes that the PMO’s statement to the Sunday Times came after a claim by whistleblower website Sarawak Report that it was in possession of emails and documents showing that 1MDB’s joint venture with PetroSaudi in 2009 was allegedly a front to channel funds to a company controlled by tycoon Jho Low.

He says it would be difficult for Najib to deny any association with Jho Low because the playboy tycoon is a close friend of his stepson, Riza Aziz.

“Besides reports that Jho Low has become close to the Prime Minister’s wife through Riza, there have also been reports that Najib himself has met him several times overseas,” he says.

“With the new allegation that Jho Low tried to make off with RM2.5 billion of 1MDB’s money, the call for the truth to be revealed to the public, perhaps through a royal commission of inquiry, has grown louder.” - fmt

Pembocor maklumat: Banyak lagi data 1MDB...

Terdapat "ribuan lagi dokumen" berkaitan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) dan penglibatan hartawan Taek Jho Low didakwa dalam milik laman web pembocor maklumat Sarawak Report.

Dalam wawancara e-mel dengan Malaysiakini, editor dan pengasasnya Clare Rewcastle Brown mendakwa terdapat banyak dokumen berkaitan berhubung 1MDB, melebihi apa yang didedahkan.

Sarawak Report mendedahkan komunikasi e-mel berkaitan usahasama 1MDB dengan Petrosaudi Limited yang didakwa mempunyai penyelewengan.

E-mel itu menunjukkan bahawa usahasama itu dengan suntikan AS$1 bilion (RM3.6 bilion) daripada 1MDB digunakan sebagai syarikat “muka depan” untuk menyalurkan wang kepada syarikat Jho Low.

Hartawan itu didakwa rapat dengan keluarga Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

Walaupun Petrosaudi mendakwa e-mel itu direka-reka, Rewcastle menegaskan ia komunikasi asli.

Rewcastle juga berkata pendedahan berkaitan 1MDB itu berjaya dibuat selepas dua tahun meneliti dokumen-dokumen tersebut, termasuk bekerjasama dengan sekumpulan wartawan.

Beliau bagaimanapun memilih merahsiakan sumber dokumen itu kerana ia diserah padanya berasaskan kerahsiaan.

Menurutnya lagi, penafian oleh 1MDB dan pihak lain berhubung dakwaan itu “gagal membuktikan” sama ada keuntungan benar-benar dibuat.

“Mereka sebaliknya sembunyikan keuntungan dalam akaun bank pesisir pantai berbanding menggunakan untuk menyeimbangkan akaun itu,” kata Rewcastle, merujuk kepada akaun di Kepulauan Cayman.

Malaysiakini menghubungi dan masih menunggu maklum balas daripada pihak Jho Low berhubung perkara itu.

1MDB mempertahankan bahawa usahasama itu berakhir pada 2012 dan 1MDB berjaya membuat keuntungan AS$488 juta (RM1.768 bilion) daripadanya. - mk

Whistleblower: Lots more on 1MDB and Jho Low...

There are "thousands of documents" on the dealings of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and businessman Low Taek Jho's role in the state investment arm in the possession of whistleblower Sarawak Report.

This was revealed by its editor and founder Clare Rewcastle Brown in an email interview with Malaysiakini.

In recent weeks, Sarawak Report ran a series of exposés on 1MDB's 2009 joint venture with Petrosaudi Ltd, highlighting alleged irregularities in the joint venture, and more importantly, publishing damning email communications that purportedly took place among the brokers.

The email indicated that the joint venture, into which 1MDB injected US$1 billion (RM3.62 billion), was being used as a "front" to channel the money into a company controlled businessman Jho Low, who allegedly retains close ties with the family of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Though Petrosaudi has claimed that the email were fabricated, Rewcastle (left) insisted otherwise.

"In fact I had neither forged nor hacked to get this material, but I thank Petrosaudi for at least acknowledging the authenticity of the documents I have published. They are indeed genuine email," Rewcastle said, referring to reports that Petrosaudi had lodged a police report with a cyber team in Scotland Yard, accusing the whistleblower of hacking.

"They can't have it both ways, can they?" she asked.

Two years of poring through documents

Rewcastle also revealed that the 1MDB exposés came about after at least two years of pouring through documents and that she had worked with a "number of other journalists" on the matter.

However, she is keeping the source of the documents a secret, saying that they were passed to her on the basis of confidentiality.

She also said that the constant denials from 1MDB and other relevant bodies on the allegations had "failed to prove" whether any profit was indeed made.

"They have chosen instead to hide these supposed profits in an offshore account, rather than using them to balance their books," Rewcastle said, referring to 1MDB's controversial move to park the money it supposedly profited from the Petrosaudi deal in an offshore account in Cayman Islands.

"As the term goes, the proof will be in the pudding and 1MDB should take the advice of the former prime minister (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) and bring this alleged profit money back to Malaysia and open its books," she said.

Sarawak Report, set up in 2010 by Rewcastle, an investigative journalist, had exposed that the joint venture was started with 1MDB having to pay US$700 million (RM 2.536 billion) of the initial cash injection into Petrosaudi's parent company, Petrosaudi International, in order to repay a loan PSI had given to its subsidiary.

Over the weekend, Sarawak Report reported that the US$700 million was actually transferred to a company controlled by Jho Low (right), who is said to have engineered the whole deal after getting Petrosaudi International to agree to being a "front" for his benefit.

The expose was published in cooperation with the British newspaper Sunday Times.

While Jho Low's team is yet to respond to the allegations despite queries from Malaysiakini, 1MDB has offered nothing more than maintaining that the joint venture ended in 2012 and that 1MDB had made a profit of US$488 million (RM1.768 billion) from the deal. - mk

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