Elias Hj Idris

Malaysia’s first family are under the spotlight as David Cameron flies in

As David Cameron arrives to talk trade, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s bank accounts, his wife’s handbags and her son’s Hollywood deals are making the headlines




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Prime Minister Najib Razak  Photo: AFP
David Cameron might have hoped that his few final hours in Malaysia at the end of a four-day, four-state whirlwind trade tour of South East Asia would have been the chance to start winding down before heading home.
Instead, he finds himself flying in to a deepening controversy on Thursday as a multi-million dollar scandal engulfs his host Najib Razak, the prime minister of the former British colony.
Nor is it just Mr Najib who is under attack from his foes in Malaysia amid allegations that he ended up with $700 million in his personal accounts from a state investment bank that he founded.
The Malaysian leader’s wife Rosmah Mansor has been derided for her alleged penchant for luxury and free-spending ways – claims that her husband has dismissed as political assaults.
And Riza Aziz, her son from her first marriage and Mr Najib’s step-son, is also a staple in the gossip as well as financial pages.
He has emerged as a major Hollywood film producer with multi-million property deals in Manhattan and Los Angeles since becoming close friends with a Malaysian playboy investor during their education in London.

So who is Najib Razak?
He’s the 61-year-old scion of Malaysian political royalty with UMNO, the Malay nationalist party that has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1957. His father was the country’s second prime minister and his uncle its third. Mr Najib inherited his late father’s seat as an MP at 23 and later rose through the party ranks as chief minister of his home state and the serving in the Cabinet portfolios of education, defence and finance as well as deputy prime minister.
It is an impressively lifelong dedication to public service that has coincided with his family becoming one of the country’s richest. His personal profile was low until he married his second wife in 1987.

And Rosmah Mansor?
Ms Rosmah has repeatedly been criticised for her love of the good things in life. Earlier this year, she said she was the victim of “wildly exaggerated” allegations, published by the Sydney Morning Herald, describing her the “first lady of shopping” after reports that she had spent $75,000 on a single trip to a designer boutique.
She was also widely assailed for a reported claim that she lamented about having to pay $300 for a house call by hair stylist. And series of photos showing her holding at least nine Birkin handbags – items that normally sell for between $10,000 and $150,000 each - went viral on social media.
And she has denied allegations that she ever intended to buy a diamond ring worth $24 million that was shipped under her name to Malaysia in 2011 but then returned to the US jeweller. Mr Najib also went public to deny that that his wife bought the diamond ring for his Kazakh in-laws or that they had any links to the “Russian mafia”, as a regional media outlet had claimed.

And the Hollywood connection?
Riza Aziz, his British-educated step-son, has emerged in the film business as a major Hollywood player with his production company Red Granite Pictures (most notably with The Wolf Of Wall Street blockbuster).
He has also made the headlines in the US over complex property deals reportedly conducted with Jho Low, a Malaysian financier whom he met while studying at the London School of Economics and who became famous for sharing jeroboams of champagne with the likes of Paris Hilton.
As the New York Times documented, Mr Low began making some very expensive property deals in the United States in 2010. Those deals included acquiring a $24 million apartment in Manhattan that three years later was sold to a shell company controlled by Mr Aziz for a reported $33 million, according to the newspaper.
A similar transaction was playing out on the West Coast, the investigation continued. “Mr Low bought a contemporary mansion in Beverly Hills for $17.5 million, then turned around and sold it, once again to the prime minister’s stepson.”

And what about 1MDB?
That is the state investment fund that Mr Low encouraged Mr Najib to found and oversee. He helped channel Arab investment into a series of deals with the Malaysian government.

And how’s that going?
1MDB has reported debts of $11 billion. And $700 million of its funds allegedly ended up in Mr Najib’s personal accounts, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation that has been widely reported elsewhere. Mr Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing or making any financial benefit from the operations of 1MDB.
This week, he sacked his deputy prime minister for breaking ground and saying publicly that the scandal was damaging their party He also replaced his attorney-general who was overseeing the investigation into the allegations.


Prime Minister Najib Razak, right, has sacked his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin, left
 
So why does the family seem to be doing so well financially?
Mr Najib’s office, in a statement, told the New York Times that the prime minister does not track how much Mr Aziz earns or how such earnings are reinvested. As for the prime minister himself, the statement said he had “received inheritance”.
It noted that the family’s lifestyle was not unusual for a person of the "prime minister's position, responsibilities and legacy (of) family assets".
No allegations of wrongdoing have been confirmed against Mr Najib. But it is not the first time that he has been the subject of intense questions about his finances as political opponents have previously focussed on a long-running bribery inquiry in France involving a submarine order that Mr Najib commissioned while he served as defence minister.

Didn’t Mr Cameron just speak out on corruption during his Asian tour?
He did indeed, during a speech in Singapore on Tuesday delivered just a few hours after Mr Najib purged his government ranks of officials raising questions about the 1MDB scandal.
David Cameron in Indonesia
 
The British prime minister warned that foreign fraudsters and corrupt officials can no longer “stash dodgy cash” in London’s luxury property market as he announced a major review of ownership rules.
He said that the international community has “looked the other way for far too long” when it comes to corruption“, which he called “one of the greatest enemies of progress in our time.
He continued: “We simply cannot afford to side-step this issue or make excuses for corruption any more. We need to step up and tackle it."

So will he be “side-stepping” such allegations in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday?
Malaysian opposition MPs have urged the British prime minister to use his visit to press Mr Najib on the allegations, warning that otherwise the trip would appear to be a vote of support for the beleaguered leader. Privately, one senior opposition figure told The Telegraph that the timing of the visit was “nuts” and “boggled the mind”.
But this tour is all about the realpolitik of international trade for Mr Cameron. He is visiting Malaysia to try and drum up British business deals and secure Malaysian co-operation in security measures to combat Islamic radicals. And he knows he won’t get far with that if he embarrasses his host, however embattled he may be.
Elias Hj Idris
Governor Bank Negara menjadi sasaran seterusnya Asia Sentinel pada semalam telah melaporkan isteri perdana menteri, Rosmah Mansur sedang merangka perancangan untuk menyingkirkan Zeti Akhtar Aziz dari posisi gabenor bank negara. 

Maklumat katanya didapati dari sumber berpengaruh yang berpengkalan di Kuala Lumpur. Laporan tersebut menyebut ; Baca laporan seperti berikut:-

1. Rosmah marah dengan kebocoran maklumat berkenaan account banknya dan mengenai kemasukkan wang ke dalam account peribadinya.

2. Sekaligus cakap2 mengenai gaya hidup dan perbelanjaan mewahnya menjadi sasaran rakyat dan menjejaskan persepsi terhadap pentadbiran Najib.

3. Susulan dari penyebaran tersebut, Rosmah telah mengarahkan Zeti untuk menyiasat dan memaklumkan padanya pihak yang mendedahkan maklumat peribadi account banknya atau meletak jawatan dalam masa 72 jam.

4. Zeti enggan melayan permintaan Rosmah dan sejak itu Zeti dijadikan target untuk dijatuhkan.

5. Selain itu, isu mengenai siasatan 1MDB juga menjadi antara punca kenapa Zeti perlu disingkirkan menurut sumber.

6. Ini kerana Zeti akan menyerahkan semua bukti berkaitan perbankan dan transaksi2 yang melibatkan syarikat2 yang berkaitan dengan pelaburan 1MDB kepada pasukan khas. Zeti dikatakan akan memberikan kerjasama penuh kepada pasukan khas. Walaupun Zeti tidak mendedahkan sebarang maklumat kepada media.

7. Perkara inilah yang merisaukan pentadbiran Najib memandangkan Zeti tidak boleh dipecat sewenang2nya apatah lagi tidak pula Zeti mahu berkompromi dengan sesiapa demi pertahankan kedudukannya.

8. Pada tahun 2009, Najib meluluskan satu usul yang mana bank negara dikecualikan dari terlibat dengan sebarang tekanan/pengaruh politik ini termasuklan soal perlantikan ke atas jawatan tertinggi.

9. Cadangan ini dikemukakan oleh Zeti atas alasan bagi memastikan bank negara bersikap telus dan bebas dari sebarang unsur2 politism dalam mengambil atau membuat sebarang keputusan.

10. Jawatan gabenor bank negara hanya boleh dipecat, ditukar atau dilantik oleh agung semata2nya.

11. Agong (dari Kedah) dilaporkan berkata kepada Mahathir bahawa dia bersikap berkecuali dan tidak mahu melibatkan diri dan biarkan undang2 menjalankan prosesnya.

12. Selepas seketika muncul satu blog yang memaparkan artikel kononnya Zeti terlibat dalam skandal. Dipercayai berkaitan Rosmah Mansur.

13. Blog tersebut menamakan Zeti telah menggunakan kedudukannya untuk memperolehi tender berkaitan kementerian pendidikan mengenai pembekalan air. Tender tersebut diserahkan kepada syarikat yang berkaitan suami dan anak2 Zeti.

14. Selain itu, dilaporkan suami Zeti telah memperolehi komisen yang sangat tinggi dalam 'bank deal' sebagai third party antara pihak bank dengan pelabur. Suami Zeti, Tawfiq Ayman mengambil manfaat kedudukan Zeti untuk memperolehi maklumat dalaman yang kemudiannya digunakan untuk menjayakan perjanjian perniagaan tersebut.

 
The Plot Thickens, Special branch is currently investigating Governer Zeti, Datuk Shamsiah, Datuk Shamsuddin and Abdul Rahman of Bank Negara Malaysia under section 124 of the penal code.
 
15. Suami Zeti agak goyang dengan perkembangan terbaru ini.

16. Sumber Asia Sentinel juga berkata agak sukar untuk menjatuhkan Zeti dari kedudukannya memandangkan Zeti bukan sahaja diakui berkredibliti dan berkeupayaan mentadbir kewangan dalam negara bahkan turut diiktirafkan di pentas antarabangsa.

17. Zeti telah berkhidmat dalam dunia perbankan selama 36 tahun dan mula diangkat sebagai gabenor pada tahun 2000.

18. Pada tahun 2009, bakat dan keupayaan Zeti diiktirafkan menerusi pentas antarabangsa menerusi award antara ketua (gabenor) bank negara terbaik dunia dan terus menerima pengiktirafan yang lebih kurang pada tahun2 selepasnya.

19. Melihat kepada ketokohan yang dimiliki Zeti, sumber memaklumkan kepada Asia Sentinel, rakyat mungkin tidak akan mempercayai dakwaan terhadap keluarga Zeti yang tersebar menerusi blog.

Elias Hj Idris
  • Peristiwa-peristiwa penting AmBank

    21 Mac 2013. Akaun Ambank Najib menerima deposit sebanyak USD620 juta.

    22 Mac 2013. Pengasas AmBank. Hussain Ahmad melaporkan kepada Bank Negara Malaysia bahawa sejumlah besar wang telah dimasukkan ke dalam akaun peribadi Najib.

    25hb Mac 2013. Akaun Najib AmBank menerima deposit sebanyak USD60juta.

    26 Mac 2013. Pengasas AmBank Hussain Ahmad melaporkan kepada Bank Negara Malaysia bahawa sejumlah besar wang telah dimasukkan ke dalam akaun peribadi Najib.

    5 Mei 2013. Pilihan raya umum Malaysia.

    Hampir setiap bulan AmBank melaporkan kepada BNM bahawa sejumlah wang telah ditarik keluar dari akaun Najib.

    28 Julai 2013. Pengasas AmBank memfailkan laporan polis berkaitan hal tersebut berikutan tiada sebarang tindakan yang diambil oleh BNM.

    29 Julai 2013. Pengasas AmBank, Ahmad Hussain telah ditembak mati di tempat letak kereta.

    30hb Ogos 2013. Semua akaun Najib di AmBank telah ditutup dan pemindahan wang ke luar negara.

    September 2013. Semua Ketua Jabatan IT AmBank dipecat dan digantikan.

    Ikuti temu bual dalam video di bawah antara Martin Soong dengan Ken Brown, Ketua Biro HK WSJ.


    http://video.CNBC.com/Gallery/?video=3000393721 tonton sebelum ia disekat!

Elias Hj Idris
Son of murdered AmBank founder, the late Hussain Najadi, wrote about the connection between his father’s death and traces of corruption among Malaysian political leaders.

This article was originally published under the title of Quo vadis Malaysia on July 4, 2015.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been urged to answer to the latest allegations reported in the Wall Street Journal today that investigators have found links between the scandal ridden 1MDB and the PM’s bank accounts.

1. He Brought Up The Halted Investigations of His Father’s Death In 2013

Source | ABP Live

Written by Pascal Najadi, the Malaysian Chronicle article stated that:


My late father Hussain Najadi, the founder of AM Bank Group, Malaysia’s fifth largest bank, was brutally assassinated on July 29, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur in broad daylight, the investigation and police work on finding the masterminds stopped long time ago back in 2013.

We, as a family in fear of our wellbeing, left Malaysia early 2014 for good, sold all our assets and now feel safe in Switzerland and the Russian Federation. And so on and so forth.

Pascal Najadi is the founder president of the international private Swiss merchant banking advisory firm A.S. Najadi & Partners.


2. Who Is Hussain Najadi?

Source | The Star


Hussain was the founder of the AmBank group, where PM Najib Razak is alleged to have opened a personal bank account, into which some RM2.6 billion was illicitly channeled, according to the WSJ.

Razak is regarded widely as been a thorough honest man, died not rich and my late father dealt with him when helping to develop post-British ruled Malaysia back then by founding the Arab-Malaysian Development Bank in 1974 – today’s fifth largest bank, AmBank Group.

Ironic, epic, is the fact that my late father founded that bank with the blessings of Tun Razak in 1974. Bank Negara then being the majority shareholder with my father bringing it in the early 1980s to the public via the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange and today, the corruption money of Najib being uncovered in the media on private accounts held by him with AmBank.
Karma was at heavy duty work.


2. Allegedly, Malaysian Investigators Have Traced Nearly $700 million of Deposits

Source | WSJ

The Wall Street Journal reported that:


Malaysian investigators scrutinizing a controversial government investment fund have traced nearly $700 million of deposits into what they believe are the personal bank accounts of Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, according to documents from a government probe.

The documents was said to have proved movement of cash among government agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB before it ended up in Najib’s personal accounts.


They also claim that original source of the money is unclear and the government investigation doesn’t detail what happened to the money that went to his personal accounts.


According to WSJ, the investigation documents mark the first time Najib has been directly connected to investigation into the troubled state investment fund.


Investigators have identified five separate deposits into Najib’s accounts that came from two sources, according to the documents viewed by the Journal.

Son of murdered AmBank founder, the late Hussain Najadi, wrote about the connection between his father’s death and traces of corruption among Malaysian...
greatermalaysia.com


Related Article... (Ojay Khoo)

Shameless Pariah,
NO MALU IN THE FACE OF THE WORLD, SUCH iGNOMINY....

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, has come under pressure to quit after claims that nearly $US700 million ($932 million) was paid into his personal bank accounts from a government investment fund.

He has denied the allegations, calling them “political sabotage”.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the money was paid from accounts connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), an investment fund founded and run by Mr Najib which in the six years of its existence has accumulated more than $US11 billion of debt.

Mr Najib was already under pressure over the failures of 1MDB.
The claims made by The Wall Street Journal were also carried by the Sarawak Report, a campaigning website.

They cited documents supplied by Malaysian government investigators revealing five deposits allegedly made into accounts in Mr Najib’s name.

The biggest payments, of $US620 million and $US61 million, were made in March 2013, weeks before a general election.

Another payment of $US11.1 million allegedly came from an energy company owned by Malaysia’s finance ministry. Mr Najib also serves as the country’s finance minister.

The money was allegedly channelled through a company in the British Virgin Islands and a Swiss bank owned by the Abu Dhabi government, which has invested in 1MDB.

Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister and a commanding figure even at the age of nearly 90, is campaigning for the resignation of his former protege in the most personal terms.
He has denounced the “extravagant” lifestyle of Mr Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and has raised questions about the Prime Minister’s alleged links after the murder of a Mongolian model by two of his former police bodyguards in 2006. He has also demanded a full inquiry into the accounts of 1MDB.

A member of the opposition party, said yesterday that Mr Najib should step aside as prime minister and order a full investigation into the allegations.

“In order to protect whistleblowers and allow a free and independent investigation, he cannot hold the post of prime minister,” he said.

“He must set himself aside; it would show that he is confident of his innocence. If he refuses, there will be suspicion that someone is trying to cook the books.”

Mr Najib’s party, United Malay National Organisation, has governed Malaysia since its independence in 1957, but its popularity and majority have declined steadily in recent years.

The Times
 
 
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, has come under pressure to quit after claims that nearly $US700 million ($932 million) was paid into his personal bank accounts from a government investment fund.
theaustralian.com.au


Nota: Ia berlaku 4 bulan sebelum pengasas Am-Bank dibunuh (Julai, 29 2013) - seminggu sebelum  pilihanraya umum - Elias.