Malaysiakini
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is investigating into allegations that a number of its registered companies allegedly linked to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s family are involved in money laundering.
BVI’s Financial Services Commission, in an email to Malaysiakini, said that the allegations, which was reported by the online website, “pose serious reputational risk” to the territory as an offshore financial centre.
“The commission in its efforts to protect the reputation of the British Virgin Islands as a premier and reputable financial centre, undertakes investigations into all complaints and allegations of BVI companies being linked or involved in any nefarious activities,” said Dwayne Thomas, the enforcement officer of the commission’s legal and enforcement division.
In an immediate response, Switzerland-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has yesterday provided the BVI authorities a list 10 off-shore companies linked to the Taib family.
Lukas Straumann, head of BMF, said that his organisation will “actively cooperate with the BVI investigators on this important matter of international concern”.
“The British Virgin Islands’ under-regulated offshore financial services and secrecy provisions have been used by the Taibs to launder millions of dollars of illicit funds in order to reinvest them in the property sector in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom,” said Straumann.
“We are calling on the BVI authorities to freeze all Taib family’s assets and to inform the public on the outcome of its investigations.”
Straumann also urged Malaysian prosecutors – in particular the attorney-general and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) – to follow BVI’s example in taking action on the matter.
“A registered letter, which we sent in December 2011 and was signed by 15 NGOs from eight countries calling on Malaysia’s authorities to arrest Taib and 13 family members, has been left unanswered,” he lamented.
Rewcastle impressed by BVI’s response
Meanwhile, Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle said she was impressed by BVI’s Financial Services Commission in voluntarily coming forward to request for further information.
“Our researches have shown that Taib companies and Taib family interests have had investments lodged in BVI, along with a number of other tax havens. These investments include a trust fund for CMS (Cahya Mata Sarawak)!
“There is also a BVI-based company that owns the Taib family property empire in London and another BVI company at the same address that has been providing interest-free loans to buy those properties.”
She suggested BVI investigators to take into consideration that Taib Mahmud had acquired the assets through CMS – the Sarawak-based conglomerate controlled by Taib’s family – by abusing “his political power at the expense of the people he is supposed to represent”.
“However, the corruption extends far beyond the acquisition of CMS into a whole network of kickbacks, self-interested contracts and concessions and illegal appropriations of land, as we have frequentlydetailed on Sarawak Report,” she said.
Last month, BMF released a list of 49 companies located across four continents, including three in the British Virgin Islands, said to be linked to Taib’s family.
The list includes 13 companies in Malaysia, 10 in Australia, nine in Canada, seven in Hong Kong, four in the United States, one on the island of Jersey and two in the United Kingdom.
The NGO called on the authorities in these countries to freeze Taib’s “illegal assets”.
Watching from NZ, rated top for democracy, and transparency, this is despicable, this is a disgrace to the whole Country Malaysia. Why are Sarawakians & Malaysian tolerating this rot & stench? Nothing will be done, unless Arab Spring type pressures are mounted beginning with:
Blockade of all logging & oil palm accesses. Blockade of all CMS & related companies’ access & movements.
Work stoppage. Sit-ins in offices, transport hubs & airports. Everyone has enough! If no one does anything, then let’s cut a long strong short. Let’s call the darkest and most deadly curse on the these criminals, including cronies and supporters of evil. Shame on them, curse and retribution be on them soonest.
Comment by Alan Newman. NZ — March 24, 2012 @ 5:15 PM |
The magnitude of his corruption & evil is astronomical. He & his cronies have stolen mega billions and caused the poverty and misery of a few million people. Yet They still think King, heaven & God of themselves! He is the worst and the lowest of the low, he should be arrested, prosecuted, be tied to a tree for weeks, spat on, whipped, knifed, then drawn by horses and quartered. Why are Sarawakians so gutless and foolish?
Comment by Alan Newman. NZ — March 24, 2012 @ 5:12 PM |
RM800million a day! Malaysia Chronicle: “For the first decade… Malaysia has lost a staggering RM1.08 trillion (US$338 billion) (RM800million a day) in illicit outflows which is the fourth highest in the developing world……The Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reported in January that RM930 billion flowed out of Malaysia from 2000 to 2008…The report elaborated further by stating that the increase was “at a scaled seen in few Asian countries” .Economists Sarah Freitas and Dev Kar, who is a former senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, stressed that these illicit outflows are basically illicit transfers of the proceeds of bribery, theft, kickbacks and tax evasion.” In other words, it refers to corruption money or black money that is obtained illegally…… ENOUGH OF TAIB, ENOUGH OF UMNO, NOT ANOTHER DAY!
Comment by Alan Newman. NZ — March 24, 2012 @ 5:12 PM |
The formula is straightforward and simple: In Sarawak, Vote BN = Vote Taib Mahmud. So, don’t vote for BN this coming GE.
Comment by DG — February 26, 2012 @ 1:27 PM |
A registered letter, which we sent in December 2011 and was signed by 15 NGOs from eight countries calling on Malaysia’s authorities to arrest Taib and 13 family members, has been left unanswered. Has the PM got any trace of moral, dignity and sense of shame left? Watching from NZ, rated top for democracy, and transparency, this is despicable, this is a disgrace to the whole Country Malaysia. Why are Sarawakians & Malaysian tolerating this rot & decay? It reflects on you the people too..
Comment by alan newman, NZ — February 25, 2012 @ 10:17 PM |
THIS ‘KURANG AJAR’ KARIM IS LICKING THE BALLS OF PEH MOH.I REALLY PITY HIM N HIS FAMILY MEMBERS FOR STOOPING SO LOW…..THAT HE HAS NO DIGNITY LEFT.
Comment by VINCENT AK PAUL — February 25, 2012 @ 11:15 AM |
Cari Makan Lah Pok! Dan Saving His Own Skin! Kalau Tidak Hilang Nasi Periuk!
Comment by Bus Stop — February 26, 2012 @ 12:28 PM |
Abdul Karim: ‘Unfair’ to stop Taib from amassing fortune
By Keruah Usit, Malaysia Kini, 8 Dec 2010
Abdul Karim Hamzah, chief political secretary to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, has told Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) that it is only “fair” that Taib should accumulate wealth in public office.
In an interview with RFS, a shortwave station outside the control of the government, Abdul Karim dismissed criticism of the enormous wealth of Taib’s family, as reported by the Sarawak Report website. He also discussed the controversial Sarawak Government White Paper on ‘unhealthy political practices’, proposed by Abdul Karim himself.
“Personally, I see there must be limitations to everything, you cannot have a free flow of everything… the freedom of speech, there are limitations. I mean to take up an action (for libel) is not as simple (as it seems)… sometimes it’s better to just leave things as they are, because it will, after a while, quieten down.”
He brushed off the furore surrounding detailed descriptions on Sarawak Report of Taib’s property fortunes in Europe and North America, and land acquisition schemes in Sarawak.
“The way I see it, it’s not causing any problem, lah. What is the problem with Sarawak Report? Have they been saying something that is very defamatory or bad? I don’t think it’s wrong to be rich.”
Asked how Taib and his children could have achieved their fabulous wealth based on his modest ministerial salary, he replied: “How can you use that salary as a yardstick, you know? I mean, you must give people an opportunity…I mean, if Taib is the chief minister, I don’t think we should stop the children, (that) the children cannot be rich or the family cannot be rich.
“He has been in power for the last 40 years… he has been open to a lot of opportunities, whereby his children also can participate in business, and then, using the kind of networking that they can have, and then build up their riches.”
Asked what these opportunities were, Abdul Karim explained: “Well, opportunities to participate in business and things like that, you know? Take for example… if you are a minister or chief minister, then somebody comes to you and wants to sell a piece of land at a very cheap price… and then through the years, that value of land suddenly shoots up 1,000 times… and you sell it off and make some money, is that tantamount to corruption?
“If you use your position to secure certain businesses or certain contracts, then I would say that would be an abuse of power, but then that depends again, whether that is happening or not…”
He avoided the topic of allegations of Taib distributing contracts to companies under the control of his family members, including CMS and Naim Holdings.
Asked whether cronyism exists in Sarawak politics, Abdul Karim said: “You cannot, you must not equate Taib’s family with himself… he has got a lot of ‘cronies’. Everybody knows him.
“So, after 40 years in the government, don’t you think he deserves to have some level of satisfaction, or some level of wealth that he could accumulate in the right way? Are you trying to tell me politicians must be poor? Only businessmen are allowed to be rich? That’s very unfair!
“I mean, if that is how we look at it, then we are not practising democracy, because you are depriving a politician from… having a good way of life. Only the businessmen are allowed to be rich, to fly around, have holidays? The politicians are not?”
“The purpose of the White Paper is to… to… to… more or less define what are the… who are those people who are undesirable, I would say, who could be a threat to the… there are certain… certain quarters of people, whether they are politicians, whether they are NGOs, or whether they are from the media even, whether they are from Malaysia or from overseas, who seem to be wanting to break us up, who seem to be… I mean they couldn’t be bothered, they don’t have any love for us.
“That’s why we want the state to set a proper guideline, who can be welcome and who should not be welcome, to identify what are the things that we can consider as a threat, who are those people who we know have blatantly tried to run down the government, tried to create instability, whether economically or politically, in the state.
“These are the people we should stop, whether they are from the government or not from the government, or whether they are from overseas or whether they are from Malaysia itself, or religious… this covers every angle, I would say.
“We have every right to look after our state… Immigration is in our hands, when we formed Malaysia… we have got that right, that immigration right.
“If we feel that they are not desirable to us, if they are known to be… who have been running us down, from their writing, from their blogs, I think if they are not a friend to Sarawak, I would say, then we stop them!
“The opposition always thinks it is against them, not realising that it is also against certain people in Barisan Nasional (BN).”
Abdul Karim declined to name those in BN who may be kept out of the state.
In response to speculation that the state government wants to muzzle websites like Sarawak Report, Abdul Karim replied, “We can’t stop them from publishing, they can have their own right, because the world is free, you see… the Internet world, you can put anything inside there. But then when it comes to coming into our state, we do not want them.”
Abdul Karim concluded his RFS interview by alleging that US president Barack Obama, and British leaders like former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, are all “filthy rich”, and that Taib has done nothing wrong in accumulating wealth.
Comment by Kamus — February 25, 2012 @ 10:51 AM |
Getting rich the right way is no problem at all..through hardwork and sweat….. not by CM means…. Mr Karim can polished the conmen till he’s 6ft under….
Comment by hard rod — February 25, 2012 @ 2:36 PM |
The ONLY way and guarantee to ensure the paramount thief minister, his family members and cronies return all their ill gotten wealth back to all Sarawakians is to make sure Pakatan Rakyat takes over Putrajaya in GE13. Sarawakians must not lose sight of our first objective and commitment to defeat the highly corrupted, abusive, repressive and oppressive BN government which has been protecting their own criminal actions. By helping ourselves, we must first ensure Pakatan Rakyat wins at least 15 to 20 parliamentary seats in Sarawak Take whatever BN monies and goodies they throw at us and kick them out and “canibalise” themfor real this time. .
Comment by Mata Kuching — February 25, 2012 @ 10:49 AM |
Masing believes Taib clean
“If you have nothing to hide then go straight on because we are judged by public perception…”
Borneo Post, June 23, 2011, Thursday
CENTRE OF MEDIA ATTENTION: Reporters crowd around a speaker in the Media Room as Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud delivers his personal statement regarding the investigation by the Swiss Federation into his alleged assets in Switzerland.
KUCHING: Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said he believed Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is innocent of all the corruption allegations hurled at him.
The Baleh assemblyman also lauded Taib for being brave enough to tackle the issue head on yesterday.
He said this when asked to comment on Taib’s explanations to the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) yesterday that he does not own a Swiss bank account or assets and investments in Switzerland.
“It is very good for him (Taib) to tackle the issue straight on.
“That is what I expected a leader to do. As a politician you must not hide anything. If you have nothing to hide then go straight on because we are judged by public perception,” Masing said.
Masing added that he was “impressed and satisfied” with the Chief Minister’s answer and he eagerly awaits the Swiss authorities to respond.
“The onus of proof is from the other side,” Masing stressed.
Asked whether the public would be convinced of Taib’s innocence, Masing lamented that members of the public always make judgement based on emotion and not the law.
That, he added, represented one of the toughest obstacles which all politicians have to endure.
“We are not judged by the fine lines of the law. We are judged by allegations, half truths and lies.”
Meanwhile, Second Minister of Finance Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said what Taib did yesterday was to make it known to the whole world that the graft allegations were unfair to him.
“Of course once the allegation is made and published in the press, not only the image of the Chief Minister but the state government of Sarawak may be tarnished,” he lamented.
Therefore, he added, it was important for Taib to make the statement in DUN to redeem himself and to clear his name.
“I think it is the right thing to do,” Soon Koh said.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s statement failed to impress PKR leaders.
State PKR liaison chief and Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian said it was “quite unfortunate” that Taib’s statement was not put up for debate.
He pointed out that there was no mention of whether the Chief Minister’s letter had been replied to and that PKR would be interested to know what Taib wrote and the reply, if any, to it.
“As it has been reported that this involves MACC, we hope that the whole investigation will continue on in spite of the explanations he (Taib) made in the Dewan…as it is only an explanation. If there is really truth in it, then of course it is of concern to the public at large, especially Sarawakians,” said Baru.
When asked whether the Chief Minister’s denial would help to assuage public concerns, Baru said he did not think so as there was nothing particularly significant about the statement.
“You need to have concrete facts and evidence and decisions made either by the Swiss President or authority of Switzerland, or even from MACC. The report we hear is about an ongoing kind of investigation, so as for now, we’ll leave it as it is.
“Unless they come up with a conclusion, it’s nothing that would wipe out any doubts or anything for that matter.”
Comment by Kamus — February 25, 2012 @ 10:49 AM |
Looks like the noose is slowly but surely tightening around Taib’s neck. As a Sarawakian, I only hope he live long enough to see justice is done to him and his family and cronies for the miseries he caused to Sarawakians in general and those who suffered directly due to his greed. Justice will prevail.
Comment by apai — February 25, 2012 @ 10:23 AM |