• IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here.

    The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.

Serious 1MDB in brief

SNTCK

Alfrescian
Loyal
As the scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) faces mounting scrutiny this week, we break down the facts and figures related to the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund

WHAT IS 1MDB?

1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is a state-owned fund established in 2009 by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, 62, for strategic investments to boost the nation's economy.

He has been under fire since last July after allegations that US$700 million (S$950 million) was transferred into his personal accounts.

He was cleared by Malaysian authorities of any wrongdoing when it was said that these funds were a political donation from the Saudi royal family.

He has denied accusations of fraud and corruption linked to the debt-ridden fund.

WHAT IS THE LATEST UPDATE?

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed civil lawsuits to recover over US$1 billion in assets purchased with money believed to be siphoned off 1MDB.

Among those explicitly mentioned in the suit include Mr Najib's stepson Riza Aziz, Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho and two other Abu Dhabi government-linked officials.

There were also 32 references to Malaysian Official 1, which sources told US media is Mr Najib.

In Singapore, assets worth $240 million were seized, with half of that belonging to Mr Low and his immediate family.

This follows ongoing investigations of various 1MDB-related fund flows through Singapore for possible money laundering, securities fraud, cheating, and other offences committed here.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore also found lapses in anti-money laundering controls at DBS Bank, the Singapore branches of UBS and Standard Chartered Bank, Falcon Private Bank Singapore and Raffles Money Change.

KEY FIGURES

$950m

Amount found in Mr Najib's personal accounts, believed to be diverted from 1MDB funds

$14.9b

The amount of debt 1MDB chalked up

$1.36b

The worth of the assets the US Department of Justice wants to seize, believed to be pilfered from 1MDB funds. This is the amount that went through the US banking system.

Some of the assets allegedly include:

• A Bombardier 700 private jet ($47 million)

• Investment in The Wolf Of Wall Street film (at least $136 million)

• Walker Tower Penthouse in New York ($69 million)

• Nympheas Avec Reflets de Hautes Herbes painting by Claude Monet ($78 million)

• Beverly Hills mansion ($53 million)

$4.75b

The total amount laundered from the fund, according to the DOJ.

$240m

The worth of assets seized by Singapore authorities believed to be linked to 1MDB.

*All figures are in Singapore dollars


WHO IS JHO LOW?

Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low (above), has been named as one of the key players in this scandal.

Said to be close to the Prime Minister's Najib Razak's family, the Penang-born 34-year-old calls himself 1MDB's "occasional adviser".

The following are the some of the figures believed to be linked to him.

KEY FIGURES

*all figures in Singapore dollars

$120m

The total assets related to Mr Low and his family that were seized by Singapore authorities

$54m

The cost of two apartment units at TwentyOne Angullia Park in Orchard, purchased in 2013

$1.4b

The amount his company Good Star allegedly received from 1MDB

$1.56m

The amount he withdrew to gamble at a Las Vegas casino with several individuals, including Mr Riza Aziz and a lead actor of Hollywood film The Wolf Of Wall Street, believed to be Leonardo DiCaprio

- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/world-news/1...cial&utm_source=Facebook#sthash.RN3TrWoy.dpuf

- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/world-news/1...cial&utm_source=Facebook#sthash.RN3TrWoy.dpuf








- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/world-news/1...cial&utm_source=Facebook#sthash.RN3TrWoy.dpuf
 

garlic

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Somehow, i can't help but feel that there will be an interesting twist and the DOJ will be satisfied with the twist and all will be hunky dory again. Behind the curtains and under the table will be some compromise and exchange of interests between both countries to settle the dispute as this is a civil case, not a criminal suit and all can be settled with a plea and settlement under yankee's justice system. Let's see...
 

garlic

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Why US DOJ chose to do something now when there were other financial failings including the CLOB saga previously and the below financial scandals is something to be scrutinized upon. Perhaps this time the money flowed through US or perhaps the US fancy to do some arm-twisting on jib-kor, who knows. What i am quite sure of is come next few years, jib-jor will still be peachy..

"Following the civil forfeiture filing by the US DOJ, seeking to seize assets acquired from stolen 1MDB funds, UMNO Supreme Council member Ahmad Shabery Cheek said that the DOJ action is "nothing out of the ordinary" when it comes to the Malaysian government
"What happened is a normal matter in the country's administration. In fact, we have been faced with a situation which is bigger, like the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal," Shabery was quoted as saying by Bernama, the national news agency.
says.com

Eee4Image via customstoday
Shabery is also Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister.
The BMF scandal, which Shabery was referring to, was one of the largest financial scandals to rock the country back in the 80s.
It made headlines around the world for its RM2.5 billion collapse.
Shabery's dismissal of the US DOJ's action against 1MDB as something "normal" shows how the Malaysian political system has been, since the early 80s, in and out of a number of high-level financial scandals where public funds were used by the government for private and corporate gains.

In fact, Malaysians have seen so many financial scandals that one is bound to lose track of them. In view of which, we decided to take a brief look back at some of the major financial scandals that have hit the country.
says.com

The Maminco scandal that cost taxpayers about RM1.6 billion
Back in 1981, after Husein Onn retired from active politics and relinquished his prime minister post due to health concerns and was succeeded by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, a company called Maminco Sdn Bhd was set up to spike and control tin prices on the London Stock Exchange with loans from Bank Bumiputra (BBM).

However, it resulted in the collapse of the tin prices, with consequent huge losses to Malaysia's exchequer. Following which, the company went into debts of RM1.5 billion.

The Government then set up another company, a dummy called Makuwasa Sdn Bhd, creating new shares supposedly reserved for ethnic Malays, which were converted to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

The plan was to sell these cheaply acquired shares, supposedly reserved for poor bumis, at market price for a profit to cover Maminco's losses.

In fact, for a whole five years until 18 September 1986, the Malaysian Government denied that it was the mystery tin buyer in the London Metal Exchange.

During a UMNO General Assembly, Dr. Mahathir, for the first time, was forced to admit that the Government was, in fact, involved in the whole Maminco Affair.

In short, Makuwasa was created by the Malaysian Government to recoup the Government's losses from the Maminco debacle and to repay loans to Bank Bumiputra.
says.com

The Perwaja Steel scandal that resulted in RM10 billion losses
36d7Image via 青蛙 Frog
Perwaja Steel was established in 1982 as a USD465 million joint-venture between then-state-owned Heavy Industries Corporation of Malaysia Bhd., or Hicom, and the Japanese company Nippon Steel Corporation.

It was to be the centerpiece of a state-led industrialisation drive Dr. Mahathir began in the early 1980s. However, it soon became a colossal disaster.

To quote Leslie Lopez from this WSJ piece, Perwaja is Malaysia's most costly industrial failure and the biggest financial fiasco to befall Dr. Mahathir's administration.

According to the Wastage of Taxpayer Funds Report, Perwaja Steel lost RM10 billion.
says.com

The Bumiputra Malaysia Finance scandal that lost RM10 billion
It was the first major financial scandal that rocked Malaysia and the world.

In 1983, it was discovered that Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF), a unit of Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd, had lost as much as USD1 billion which had been siphoned off by prominent public figures into private bank accounts.

The whole scandal involved not just corporate shenanigans and officials at the very top of the Malaysian government, but also the murder of Jalil Ibrahim, an auditor who was sent to Hong Kong by BMF’s parent company BBMB (Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd).

Ultimately, the government had to bail out the floundering BBMB amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. BBMB was eventually absorbed into CIMB.
says.com

The Deposit-taking co-operative scandal that lost RM1.5 billion
The deposit-taking cooperative (DTCs) scandal was the first get-rich-quick scheme (also known as a type of pyramid scheme) that involved 24 co-operatives, 522,000 depositors and about RM1.5 billion in deposits.

In 1986, 5 directors of 3 DTCs were charged in court, and in 1987 a further 17 directors of another 5 DTCs were also charged. The government was requested to bail out risk-taking investors, which the Malaysian cabinet eventually approved. However, the co-operative sector of the economy never recovered.
says.com

The Pan-Electric Industries scandal that lost SD480 million
6be4Image via Getty Images
The scandal involved a Singapore-based company, Pan-Electric Industries that collapsed in 1985 due to unsettled forward contracts, forcing the stock exchanges of both Singapore and Malaysia to shut down for three days.

Tan Koon Swan, the former president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), had signed an interim rescue agreement for the troubled company that had triggered a crisis on the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur stock markets.

He was jailed for two years and fined USD232,000 for his part in the financial scandal.
says.com

The Bank Negara forex scandal resulted in RM30 billion loss
The scandal took place between 1991 to 1994, when Bank Negara engaged in large-scale speculation activities in the international foreign exchange market, landing it in serious trouble and resulting in a loss estimated to be as high as RM30 billion.

It left Bank Negara splattered with red ink and implicated both Dr. Mahathir and Anwar.

Technically bankrupt, Bank Negara had to be rescued by the Ministry of Finance. However, none of the top executives in the Bank Negara Malaysia were accused of trading activities as the government fully absorbed the losses.
says.com

The MAS financial scandal resulting in losses of RM9.4 billion
Fc75Image via sinarharian
Tajuddin Ramli took a loan from a government-linked company to buy a controlling stake, as per his own admission by the instruction of Dr. Mahathir, in MAS. He bought the share much higher than the market price - RM8 per share, that were trading at RM3.50 in 1994.

MAS had cash reserves of RM600 million when he had taken over, but it accumulated losses of RM9.4 billion by the time Ramli left it in 2001. However, despite the huge loss, the government bought back the MAS shares from him at twice the market price.
says.com

The above are just a few of the major financial scandals where public funds were used or misappropriated to protect corporate allies and its own vested interest by the country's government
As Tom Pepinsky, the Associate Professor of Government at Cornell University, and Dan Slater, the Associate Professor of political science at the University of Chicago, have separately written, meaningful reform in Malaysia's political economy requires a more fundamental change to the logic of rule and stability that the BN has pursued since 1971, either by a new generation of leadership within UMNO, or by Malaysia's repressed but resilient political opposition."

http://says.com/my/news/major-financial-scandals-in-malaysia
 

bigboss

Alfrescian
Loyal
Somehow, i can't help but feel that there will be an interesting twist and the DOJ will be satisfied with the twist and all will be hunky dory again. Behind the curtains and under the table will be some compromise and exchange of interests between both countries to settle the dispute as this is a civil case, not a criminal suit and all can be settled with a plea and settlement under yankee's justice system. Let's see...

More explosive fireworks of this case will come when Donald Trump becomes President of USA. This bloke will pursue the matter with criminal action to highlight his intention to make America safe from crime. All those now involved will pray hard Trump is defeated in Nov 2016 or else, it will be a huge fire on their arse.
 
Top