By Khairie Hisyam
The latest expose by the Wall Street Journal is making waves in Malaysia for all the wrong reasons – never before has a sitting prime minister been accused of receiving large sums of money (US$700 mil or RM2.6 billion at current exchange rates) into his personal bank accounts. If the newspaper lied, the prime minister is duty bound to all Malaysians to deny everything immediately and sue at once.
July 3, 2015. A date that will now go down in Malaysian history. On that day, a sitting Malaysian prime minister has, for the first time, been directly accused of fraud and embezzlement.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, published in the wee hours of Friday, painted a clear picture. Citing documents from a government investigation into controversial 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the financial newspaper alleged that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) eventually found its way into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank accounts.
According to the paper, some RM42 million were moved through a series of transfers from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary now owned by the Ministry of Finance. The other US$681 million came from a British Virgin Islands-registered company through a bank owned by an Abu Dhabi state fund.
And all these monies eventually ended up in AmIslamic Bank accounts belonging to Najib, who is also finance minister, alleged the report.
This allegation is no joke – this is the first time the prime minister is directly linked to the long-brewing controversy over 1MDB. And never before in Malaysian history has any prime minister been directly accused of receiving such large sums of money. Najib now holds the unwelcome distinction of being the only prime minister at risk of facing criminal charges in court, should the allegations be true.
So are they true or not? Did WSJ report facts of fiction? Strangely the prime minister has not issued an immediate and complete denial of what WSJ reported, so damaging to his reputation and so damning, if true.
A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) claimed that the expose is a continuation of ongoing “political sabotage” against Najib. Meanwhile, 1MDB issued a statement saying they did not provide Najib with any money.
Below is the full statement from PMO:
Despite the Prime Minister’s successful stewardship of Malaysia’s economy against global headwinds – as recognised this week by Fitch’s upgrade – there have been concerted efforts by certain individuals to undermine confidence in our economy, tarnish the government, and remove a democratically elected Prime Minister.
These latest claims, attributed to unnamed investigators as a basis to attack the Prime Minister, are a continuation of this political sabotage.
It has been reported that criminal leaking of documents, doctoring and extortion has taken place to mislead the media and public.
So it is incumbent on responsible members of the media not to accept documents as genuine unless verified by the appropriate authorities.
Regarding the allegations themselves, it must be noted that 1MDB has already stated that the company never provided funds to the Prime Minister.
This statement really denies nothing, essentially claiming it was all political sabotage. But political sabotage or no, they did not deny the transfers happened. And it comes down to a single question: did the money find its way into his personal bank accounts? If the answer is no then clearly WSJ would have lied.
And herein lies the pressing question of the hour: if WSJ lied, why isn’t Najib denying outright all they said?
To be clear, he cannot afford to do anything less. His integrity, reputation and good name are at stake. The nation’s good name is being dragged through the mud as well. The party claiming that Najib essentially engaged in criminal wrongdoing is a reputable financial newspaper, whose allegations cannot be simply dismissed as hearsay.
Najib Abdul Razak
And WSJ’s allegations have been picked up by major international news outlets as well as reputable media from other nations – Bloomberg, Reuters, Singapore Straits Times, Bangkok Post and many more. In particular, Bloomberg and Reuters are no joke as they are leading wire services for most of the English-speaking world.
It does not make sense then that the PMO should issue a non-statement that does not deny anything in the face of such grave accusations. The statement that wasn’t did not even mention WSJ by name.
Here’s an example of what they should have said instead if the WSJ report is untrue:
The WSJ report published today accused the prime minister of receiving US$700 million in his personal bank accounts through a series of transfers originating from so and so entities.
The prime minister categorically denies that any such funds found its way to his personal bank accounts. He categorically denies that any monies linked to 1MDB, its business partners or current or past subsidiaries have found its way to his personal bank accounts. In fact he denies that he has personal bank accounts at AmIslamic Bank at all.
Given the WSJ report is utterly false and defamatory to the prime minister’s good name and reputation, he is currently taking legal advice to initiate legal action against the financial newspaper in a US court for slander and defamation, intending to sue them off for appropriate damages.
Now this here is just a sample, but PMO is more than welcome to use it nonetheless if they need to. Because they should issue a straightforward denial that leaves no doubt about whether the accusations are true or false.
Najib now has a duty to all Malaysians to defend himself in no uncertain terms. He is the sitting prime minister, leader of nearly 30 million people, elected through democratic electoral processes to lead the nation forward. For this man to be accused of receiving a huge sum of money into his personal accounts is a slap in the face for all Malaysians – and he should not delay in clearing his name.
If business weekly The Edge can be issued a show-cause letter for reporting on 1MDB issues, surely the prime minister would not hesitate to defend himself through legal means against such direct attacks upon his good name and integrity.
Come on, prime minister, what are you waiting for? Sue them now. Let the truth shine out as you defend your name and integrity against such accusations.
GRRRRR!!!
You must be logged in to post a comment.