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Malaysian leader faces risk of criminal charge over funds


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Malaysian leader faces risk of criminal charge over funds
By EILEEN NG

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak is facing the risk of a criminal charge over allegations that millions of dollars were funneled from an indebted state fund to his personal bank accounts, the first time the country's leader has faced criminal allegations.

The attorney general confirmed late Saturday he has received documents from an official investigation that made the link between Najib and the investment fund 1MDB. The existence of the documents was first reported by the Asian Wall Street Journal on Friday, showing some $700 million were wired from entities linked to the fund into Najib's accounts.

The documents sent to the attorney general pave the way for possible criminal charges.

It is also one of the worst political crisis for Najib, who has come under increasing criticism over his leadership. He has denied taking any money for personal gains.

"It's damning and disastrous for Najib," said Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who heads the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs think-tank.

"This is really unchartered territory in Malaysian politics. For the first time ever, we are seeing a prime minister facing the possibility of a criminal charge," he said.

1MDB ,set up by Najib in 2009 to develop new industries, has accumulated 42 million ringgits ($11.6 million) in debt after its energy ventures abroad faltered. Critics, led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, have voiced concerns about 1MDB's massive debt and alleged lack of transparency.

The Wall Street Journal report said five deposits were made into Najib's accounts and the two largest transactions, worth $620 million and $61 million, were done in March 2013 ahead of general elections.

Najib has slammed the report as part of a "political sabotage" by Mahathir to remove him. Mahathir, who stepped down in 2003 after 22 years in power but remained an influential political figure, has been leading calls for Najib to step down.

1MDB also said it has never provided any funds to the premier.

However, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail has confirmed that a task force investigating IMDB for alleged impropriety has given him papers "including documents related to allegations of fund transfer into the account of the prime minister."

Abdul Gani said the task force had raided offices of three companies linked to 1MDB that were allegedly involved in the fund transfer. He didn't give further details on the documents nor say what actions would be taken.

Najib's deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, also said the allegations must be investigated because they tarnish Najib's credibility and integrity. Opposition lawmakers have said Najib should go on leave and also declare his assets.

Home Minister Zahid Hamidi, however, said Sunday the allegations against Najib were "reckless" and "bordering on criminal offences," as they were based on unverified documents. He warned police would "not hesitate to use the full force of the law against those who attempt to harm Malaysia's economy and our democratic process."

"Even if nothing comes up from the investigation, the damage to Najib's reputation has been done. The pressure for him to step down will increase," said Wan Saiful.

Najib, the son of a former prime minister, took over the premiership in 2009. He has fought criticism over his management of the economy, and being implicated in the murder of a Mongolian model nine years ago. Najib has said he has nothing to do with the model and two security officers linked to Najib at the time were found guilty of her murder.

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-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-05

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a corrupt politician wheres the news

Sounds like this time they have more than a few dubious white spots on an old mattress..... but it could still be another set up!

No need for a set up. The current leader and his wife are very, very apt at setting themsevles up without much help from others.

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I am sure that Anwar Ibrahim, in the confines of his prison cell, is thinking that karma has finally arrived. It was clear that there was a desperation from the ruling party that they just had to win the last election. All the stops were pulled out and, even though they polled fewer votes than the opposition, they were able to adjust the constituency boundaries to ensure they ended up victorious.

No wonder Najib placed himself as the Finance Minister as well as that of PM. Checks and balances? You're having a laughbiggrin.png

Of course, as to be expected, there are hidden agendas all over the place in this, so called, democracy. Mahathir Mohamed continues to snipe from the sidelines but what is not openly reported is that he is angling for one of his sons, the current Chief Minister of Kedah state, to take over from Najib as and when he falls on his sword. His other son is reported to be worth upwards of $500m, via his connection to businesses financed by the bottomless pit of Petronas monies. MM himself is said to be worth a similar sum, although some, no doubt fanciful reports, have his wealth as high as $44billion. I would hazard an educated guess at a level of low digit $billions.

Oh, and while we are at it, Anwar Ibrahim should not be considered as completely lily white - he is a politician, after allsmile.png

Dynastic desires is a common trait amongst political families in this part of the worldwhistling.gif

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a corrupt politician wheres the news

Sounds like this time they have more than a few dubious white spots on an old mattress..... but it could still be another set up!

Look up Sarawak Report blog site and see archives. Lots about this scam (and others) and the Abu Dhabi connection. Abu Dhabi kicked out the man at their end who was involved - Malaysia has done zip so far.

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Like every good politician, deny, deny, deny. Looks like he was making a run at Thaksin level numbers. whistling.gif

Thaksin was a billionaire from the profit from the sale of his satellite communications network. He just refused to pay tax on it.

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If the sitting UMNO PM is brought to justice I will be highly impressed. I doubt it will happen.

Story is MM hates Najib, and has for a long time, that 'hand-picking' Badawi as his successor was his gambit for keeping Najib out. Well, we know how that played out.

Anyone else notice that there is one guy, Hishammuddin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hishammuddin_Hussein), that whenever a crisis pops up Najib appoints him minister of whatever it is: eg, when that plane went missing he was appointed Air Transport minister, or something like that. I've seen Najib do this with him several times, just can't recall what they were at the moment. My knickname for him is The Enforcer. I find it telling that Najib didn't appoint him finance minister to handle this current situation.

Najib's deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, also said the allegations must be investigated because they tarnish Najib's credibility and integrity.

Now it gets interesting. If there is one thing Najib knows about it's betrayal from a deputy PM, he's pretty good at it himself.

I've heard stories from locals that Malaysian cops enjoy beating people up (in Thailand they just want your money, see how easy we have it here? smile.png ) and Yassin certainly has the look of a bullying cop (IMO). Iago is sharpening his blade. One heartbeat away from being PM...

Personally, I'd like to see UMNO go down. But I'm not optimistic that it will make things any better in Malaysia, just a new set of hands in the till.

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I am sure that Anwar Ibrahim, in the confines of his prison cell, is thinking that karma has finally arrived. It was clear that there was a desperation from the ruling party that they just had to win the last election. All the stops were pulled out and, even though they polled fewer votes than the opposition, they were able to adjust the constituency boundaries to ensure they ended up victorious.

No wonder Najib placed himself as the Finance Minister as well as that of PM. Checks and balances? You're having a laughbiggrin.png

Of course, as to be expected, there are hidden agendas all over the place in this, so called, democracy. Mahathir Mohamed continues to snipe from the sidelines but what is not openly reported is that he is angling for one of his sons, the current Chief Minister of Kedah state, to take over from Najib as and when he falls on his sword. His other son is reported to be worth upwards of $500m, via his connection to businesses financed by the bottomless pit of Petronas monies. MM himself is said to be worth a similar sum, although some, no doubt fanciful reports, have his wealth as high as $44billion. I would hazard an educated guess at a level of low digit $billions.

Oh, and while we are at it, Anwar Ibrahim should not be considered as completely lily white - he is a politician, after allsmile.png

Dynastic desires is a common trait amongst political families in this part of the worldwhistling.gif

There has been no "democracy" in Malaysia since the retirement of the first great prime minister, Tengku Abdul Rahman. All his successors have been primarily concerned with enriching themselves and their Muslim community - largely at the expense of the Chinese, along with retaining power by any and all means.

Edited by Farang99
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I am sure that Anwar Ibrahim, in the confines of his prison cell, is thinking that karma has finally arrived. It was clear that there was a desperation from the ruling party that they just had to win the last election. All the stops were pulled out and, even though they polled fewer votes than the opposition, they were able to adjust the constituency boundaries to ensure they ended up victorious.

No wonder Najib placed himself as the Finance Minister as well as that of PM. Checks and balances? You're having a laughbiggrin.png

Of course, as to be expected, there are hidden agendas all over the place in this, so called, democracy. Mahathir Mohamed continues to snipe from the sidelines but what is not openly reported is that he is angling for one of his sons, the current Chief Minister of Kedah state, to take over from Najib as and when he falls on his sword. His other son is reported to be worth upwards of $500m, via his connection to businesses financed by the bottomless pit of Petronas monies. MM himself is said to be worth a similar sum, although some, no doubt fanciful reports, have his wealth as high as $44billion. I would hazard an educated guess at a level of low digit $billions.

Oh, and while we are at it, Anwar Ibrahim should not be considered as completely lily white - he is a politician, after allsmile.png

Dynastic desires is a common trait amongst political families in this part of the worldwhistling.gif

Anwar is a very good man, who was framed, on the level of Mikhail Khodorkovsky being framed, by King (Vlad the terrible) Putin. Does anyone have any idea how much money Putin personally pocketed when that man went to jail? His fortune of $40 billion plus came out of the pockets of many. We can only hope this Malaysian despot gets many years in prison. Malaysia has more law and order than Thailand. This kind of thing would never happen here. But, it is possible there, as there is more respect for law and order, and the judges are not all bought and paid for, like they are here.

Edited by spidermike007
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