KUALA LUMPUR — When Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the RM2.6 billion (S$893.6 million) donation controversy has been “comprehensively put to rest”, the Internet promptly responded with memes ridiculing the attorney-general’s (A-G) decision to close the case.
From comedians to artists, local blogs to international news wires, many found it hard to believe that it was okay for a leader of a democratic country to accept billions of ringgit from an unidentified foreign funder.
Mr Najib urged Malaysians to “move on” from the issue but questions still abound despite the A-G’s findings that there was insufficient evidence to implicate Mr Najib.
The Malaysian Insider revisits what is known so far about the billions in his account, since July 2 last year when The Wall Street Journal first broke the news that RM2.6 billion was channelled into Mr Najib’s private bank accounts.
MONEY TRAIL A: US$681 MILLION BETWEEN MARCH 21-25, 2013
WSJ said it had obtained information from Malaysian investigators. It showed a flow chart with British Virgin Islands company called Tanore Finance transferring US$681 million into Mr Najib’s accounts in two tranches, through Falcon Private Bank in Singapore.
According to WSJ, Falcon Private Bank is a Swiss bank owned by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), which in May last year injected US$1 billion (S$1.42 billion) into 1MDB to settle a syndicated loan from a consortium of banks.
In 2012, IPIC also issued guarantees for Mr Najib’s brainchild, state-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) for the payment of interest and principal on bonds issued by the state investment firm.
MONEY TRAIL B: RM42 MILLION BETWEEN DECEMBER 2014, FEBRUARY 2015
A second chart showed that former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International, transferred RM50 million to its subsidiary, Gandingan Mentari. SRC International is now wholly owned by the Finance Ministry, which Mr Najib also heads.
Gandingan Mentari then transferred the RM50 million to Ihsan Perdana, which undertakes corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes for 1MDB’s charitable foundations.
From Ihsan Perdana, RM42 million was transferred into Mr Najib’s accounts at AmBank in three deposits of RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million.
A-G’S TAKE ON THE US$681 MILLION
A-G Mohamed Apandi Ali said on Tuesday (Jan 26) the US$681 million deposited into the prime minister’s accounts between March 22, 2013 and April 10, 2013, came from the Saudi royal family.
He did not confirm whether the money came from Tanore Finance through Falcon Private Bank in Singapore.
The A-G also said the prime minister returned US$620 million to the Saudi royal family in August 2013 because the money was not utilised.
ANOTHER TRAIL FROM SRC INTERNATIONAL?
But Mr Apandi also inadvertently revealed a third money trail, starting again, from SRC International, and which flowed through three companies and finally to three private AmBank accounts.
The companies were Putra Perdana Development and its subsidiaries, Putra Perdana Construction and Permai Binaraya.
From the initial RM35 million that SRC International transferred through these three companies, RM27 million finally ended up in one of the private AmBank accounts, with account number ending “880”. From here, RM20 million was transferred to the two other private accounts.
The “880” private account also received RM10 million and RM27 million in December 2014 and February 2015, respectively, via Gandingan Mentari and Ihsan Perdana.
Mr Apandi, however, said Mr Najib did not have any knowledge that SRC International had transferred money into his personal accounts nor did he instruct any such transaction.
[Oh well, if he says he has no knowledge, then he has no knowledge. Do we have to keep hectoring him?!? I mean come on! Are we going to treat him like some common criminal?]
MR NAJIB’S RESPONSE
After the news of the fund transfer broke in July last year, Mr Najib said he had not taken any money for personal gain, and accused his arch critic, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad of colluding with the foreign media to attack him.
It was a line he repeated many times although his critics noted he did not deny that the money was deposited into his accounts.
Speculation over whether or not Mr Najib received the funds was finally put to rest when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed the money came from Middle Eastern donors.
Since MACC’s confirmation, Mr Najib spoke little of the issue, only reiterating that he was innocent of wrongdoing and the money was a “donation” rather than from 1MDB.
Even his highly anticipated explanation to the Dewan Rakyat fizzled out, as Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi spoke on his behalf instead.
REASONS FOR DONATION
On Aug 11, Tourism Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the donation was from a “brotherly nation” which wanted to see certain parties win the 13th general election because they were friendly to them.
[And you see nothing wrong in that?]
Four days later, UMNO Kuantan division chief Wan Adnan Wan Mamat said the RM2.6 billion was from Saudi Arabia as a form of appreciation of Malaysia “championing Islam” and fighting militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
[Oh so, perhaps UMNO does see something wrong in that!]
But on Aug 22, Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the donation came from their “Muslim friends in the Middle East” to help UMNO fight DAP in the 14th general election, as the party was funded by Jews.
But on Aug 22, Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the donation came from their “Muslim friends in the Middle East” to help UMNO fight DAP in the 14th general election, as the party was funded by Jews.
[Oh wait! Nothing wrong in subverting democracy. Once we drag in the Jew-bogeyman. Erm... you do realise the Jew Bogeyman is only a bogeyman to UMNO, right?]
Later that same day, Mr Zahid said he met the donors’ representatives who informed him that the funds was in appreciation for the government’s efforts in countering terrorism, and to help Barisan Nasional (BN) maintain Malaysia’s status as a Sunni country.
[Oh wait! So now it is for religious reasons! Or religio-political reasons!]
After the A-G’s no-further-action decision on Mr Najib, however, the BBC on Wednesday (Jan 27) reported an unnamed Saudi source as saying that the money was donated to help the prime minister win GE13 and counter potential Muslim Brotherhood influence in Malaysia.
[So basically, you can just come up with whatever theory or reasons or explanations you want. The bottom line is, Najib cannot be prosecuted. ]
The Saudis consider the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, and Malaysia’s opposition alliance at that time included PAS, “whose founders were inspired by the Brotherhood”.
CASE CLOSED
After months of investigations, speculation and criticism, Mr Apandi said on Tuesday there was “insufficient evidence” to implicate the prime minister and he would not pursue charges in court over the RM2.6 billion and SRC International.
But questions remain unanswered, such as what happened to the shortfall that Mr Najib did not return to the Saudi donors. And even if Mr Najib said he had no knowledge of the money transfers from SRC International to his accounts, who would transfer such large sums of cash to him, and why?
Given the call by the MACC’s oversight panels to anti-graft investigators to “engage” the A-G on the no-further action, and with sources saying charges were originally recommended against Mr Najib, it could be that the case of the RM2.6 billion is not over yet.
Later that same day, Mr Zahid said he met the donors’ representatives who informed him that the funds was in appreciation for the government’s efforts in countering terrorism, and to help Barisan Nasional (BN) maintain Malaysia’s status as a Sunni country.
[Oh wait! So now it is for religious reasons! Or religio-political reasons!]
After the A-G’s no-further-action decision on Mr Najib, however, the BBC on Wednesday (Jan 27) reported an unnamed Saudi source as saying that the money was donated to help the prime minister win GE13 and counter potential Muslim Brotherhood influence in Malaysia.
[So basically, you can just come up with whatever theory or reasons or explanations you want. The bottom line is, Najib cannot be prosecuted. ]
The Saudis consider the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, and Malaysia’s opposition alliance at that time included PAS, “whose founders were inspired by the Brotherhood”.
CASE CLOSED
After months of investigations, speculation and criticism, Mr Apandi said on Tuesday there was “insufficient evidence” to implicate the prime minister and he would not pursue charges in court over the RM2.6 billion and SRC International.
But questions remain unanswered, such as what happened to the shortfall that Mr Najib did not return to the Saudi donors. And even if Mr Najib said he had no knowledge of the money transfers from SRC International to his accounts, who would transfer such large sums of cash to him, and why?
Given the call by the MACC’s oversight panels to anti-graft investigators to “engage” the A-G on the no-further action, and with sources saying charges were originally recommended against Mr Najib, it could be that the case of the RM2.6 billion is not over yet.
THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
[All I can say is, "Malaysia Boleh!" but Najib "Boleh-er".]
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