SABAH CM DENIES LINK TO TIMBER GRAFT SCANDAL
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KUALA
LUMPUR, April 12 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman today
denied corruption allegations linking him to an RM400-million timber
graft scandal as exposed recently by whistleblower site Sarawak Report.In a short statement here, the Umno leader also denied any link with Sabah timber trader Michael Chia, who was arrested and charged with money laundering after attempting to smuggle SGD16 million (RM40 million) back to Malaysia in 2008. According to media reports, Chia had allegedly told the Hong Kong authorities that the money belonged to Musa.
"I deny all these allegations. I wish to put it on record once again that I have no business association whatsoever with an individual named Michael Chia," the usually media-shy Musa (picture) said in a statement today.
Musa instead accused Sarawak Report of defaming him, claiming the graft allegations were likely part of a conspiracy by his detractors who wanted to topple Barisan Nasional (BN) in the east Malaysian state.
"If is unfortunate that there are people out there who will keep using recycled allegations to get to the top when election is near.
"The people of Sabah can decide for themselves based on my track record. Not faceless and nameless people who use blogs to serve their political interest," he said.
But Musa added that he would offer full cooperation to the authorities if he was required to but stressed that in the meantime, his focus was on serving the state instead of "entertaining these frivolous allegations".
Sarawak Report had claimed last week to be in possession of documents showing Musa's and his brother's, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, link to a multimillion-ringgit timber graft scandal.
Earlier this week, PKR leaders moved to claim the same, saying that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had already recommended a court case against the duo but this was allegedly blocked by the Attorney-General's Chambers.
PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli and deputy secretary-general Darell Leiking also issued a one-week deadline on the BN government to order both Musa and Anifah to take temporary leave from their duties and a suspension on A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who has also been linked to numerous other scandals.
By Clara Chooi
SABAH’S SMOKING GUN!
Sabah’s Smoking Gun! Bank Statements Show That Musa Aman’s Sons Accessed Dirty Money – National Exclusive!
Posted Monday, April 9th, 2012
This post is also available in: Iban
Documents
leaked from a Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) enquiry have
provided devastating evidence of the Sabah Chief Minister, Musa Aman’s,
personal involvement in a massive timber kickback scandal, which
insiders say has been subject to a high level political cover-up.
Aman has always denied that he was linked to allegations surrounding the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia, who was arrested in Hong Kong and charged with money laundering, as he attempted to smuggle SG$16million in bank notes back to Malaysia in 2008.
However, Sarawak Report has now obtained access to secret documents from the investigations by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and Malaysia’s MACC, which directly implicate the Chief Minister.
These include copies of bank statements, which record payments to Musa Aman’s own sons from suspect accounts linked to Chia’s business activities.
Chia was Musa Aman’s ‘adopted son’
Close relationship - Musa Aman (left) and his right hand man Michael Chia
Michael Chia, who referred to himself as Aman’s adopted son, played the role as facilitator for kickbacks to the Chief Minister, according to trade insiders.
They say that soon after Aman took office, Chia started approaching key timber industry players to make plain that major concessions would be available – but only if kickbacks were paid, through him as the connector to Musa Aman.
“Tampokong was instructed to follow Chia’s instructions”, say sources. Meaning that Yayasan Sabah’s Forest Manager, Mohd Daud Tampokong, had been instructed by the Chairman of the Board Trustees, Musa Aman, to do Chia’s bidding when it came to authorising logging licences.
Yayasan Sabah controls around a million hectares of remaining forest land, which it is suppose to protect and manage on behalf of the state and its people. Unwisely, the country’s top politician is also the head of Yayasan’s Board of Trustees, giving the Chief Minister unlimited personal control over the country’s major natural resource.
Such a lack of check and balances is a recipe for corruption and our evidence shows that Aman took spectacular advantage.
Smoking gun bank accounts
Dandy - Chia loved the fast life. According to one friend "he would spend $2k on his underwear"!
At the time of his arrest in Hong Kong, clutching the bundle of Singapore bank notes worth SG$10,000 each, Chia was suspected of smuggling dirty money, with the intention of bringing it back to Sabah to finance election bribery by BN.
The money and related bank accounts were frozen in Hong Kong by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for the maximum period of 3 years, while investigators sought to get vital cooperation from Malaysia’s Attorney General, Abdul Gani Patail, in order to be able to get the evidence they needed from the Malay authorities.
Simultaneously the MACC began their own investigation, seizing 9 lorry loads of material and documents from the premises of Michael Chia and his timber business associates, including timber magnates Andrew Lim and Admond Looh.
The investigators discovered that Chia had been running a number of related bank accounts through HSBC, Singapore and the Swiss Bank UBS, based in Hong Kong. We have copies of statements from these bank accounts showing that the sons of Musa Aman were taking money out of one of them on a regular basis, based on a standing instruction.
This account was set up as an Australian Dollar account in Singapore, apparently because the boys were then studying in Perth, Australia. Money was also removed from the account by Imbarine Bujang, who was the man delegated by Musa Aman to take care of the boys’ needs while away at University in Perth.
How can Musa deny his link to Chia's activities when his own sons were taking money out of accounts that were being managed by Chia and his associates?
Mohammed Hayssam Musa and Hazem Mubarak Musa are both offspring of the Chief Minister. Sarawak Report has numerous copies of statements from this bank account, showing that their expenses were being regularly paid from it during 2006 and 2007.
A payment was also made to the Australian property company, Riverstar Investment Pty Ltd, to cover the rental costs of the boys’ apartment in Perth.
Payment for the rental for Musa's sons in Australia also came out of the same account controlled by Chia
Statements in our possession from connected USD$ accounts with the same UBS Hong Kong bank (managed through the Singapore branch) show how money was transferred to cover the payments. Our evidence is that the money flowing into these accounts was directly linked to the granting of major timber licences by Yayasan Sabah.
Chia himself paid directly to Musa’s boys
Any attempt by the Chief Minister to distance himself and his family from the evidence that he has been receiving money through Michael Chia is made even less convincing by the fact that other bank statements, made available to the MACC enquiry, show that Chia himself had been covering these regular payments to the boys in the period before setting up the UBS account in 2006.
These payments were made through his personal HSBC account!
Money for the boys was going through Michael Chia's own bank account in 2005 - Why?
SG 85,000 payment to Mohammed Tampokong!
The leaked documents in our possession also show that Yayasan Sabah’s Forest Manager, Mohd Daud Tampokong (instructed to cooperate with Chia) also received an enormous payment from another related account run by Chia and his associates, this time from a company based in the British Virgin Islands, Zenique Investments Ltd.
We question on what grounds the salaried civil servant in charge of managing Sabah’s timber concessions could legitimately accept a SD85,000 payments from an offshore British Virgin Island account?
Explanation needed? Why did Sabah's Forest Manager receive a SG85,000 payment from a BVI account in November 2006?
This evidence strongly corroborates allegations that Michael Chia was receiving kickbacks from timber companies receiving concessions from Yayasan Sabah, which had been authorised by Mohd Daud Tampokong, and that Chia was then forwarding money from his web of bank accounts to Musa and to the Forest Manager.
Musa Aman has till now distanced himself from this kickback investigation, in which case he needs to come up with convincing explanations about these payments.
Cover up
Protecting his powerful family and political allies? Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail
So far, the Chief Minister has been protected from prosecution, according to our sources, by the deliberate obstruction of the official investigation by Malaysia’s top law enforcement authority, the Attorney General.
Abdul Gani Patail is a fellow Sabahan and has close family connections with the Aman family and he has blocked the pressing of all charges.
We have learnt that the Hong Kong Anti-Corruption Commission investigators initially approached the Malaysian authorities in 2008 with a request for assistance in pursuing their enquiries after Michael Chia’s arrest.
However, the Attorney General refused to sign the necessary mutual legal assistance documents to enable inter-country cooperation on the case. We understand that Gani even went to Hong Kong seeking to negotiate with his opposite number there to close the case.
After 3 years the Hong Kong authorities were forced by statutory limitations to unfreeze the Chia accounts and shelve the investigation owing to Malaysia’s refusal to cooperate. The millions of dollars in these accounts were released towards the end of last year and it is believed a great deal of the money will be channelled into Sabah, in order to attempt to buy votes for UMNO/BN in the coming federal election.
MACC investigation was also blocked by Gani
A parallel MACC investigation, which unearthed huge amounts of information about Sabah timber kickbacks, has also been blocked.
The Malaysian investigators, who are understood to have been extremely thorough, took evidence from numerous business associates of Chia and timber traders, who admitted to paying kickbacks. The MACC is believed to have recommended that no less than 40 charges be brought against Sabah’s Chief Minister and yet once again the Attorney General has refused to recommend a prosecution of the case.
Sarawak Report has now received much of that evidence and over the coming days we will be sharing it with the public and inviting people to make their own judgement on the case which Malaysia’s Attorney General is refusing to bring to court.
Posted Monday, April 9th, 2012
This post is also available in: Iban
Documents
leaked from a Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) enquiry have
provided devastating evidence of the Sabah Chief Minister, Musa Aman’s,
personal involvement in a massive timber kickback scandal, which
insiders say has been subject to a high level political cover-up.Aman has always denied that he was linked to allegations surrounding the Sabah timber trader Michael Chia, who was arrested in Hong Kong and charged with money laundering, as he attempted to smuggle SG$16million in bank notes back to Malaysia in 2008.
However, Sarawak Report has now obtained access to secret documents from the investigations by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and Malaysia’s MACC, which directly implicate the Chief Minister.
These include copies of bank statements, which record payments to Musa Aman’s own sons from suspect accounts linked to Chia’s business activities.
Chia was Musa Aman’s ‘adopted son’
Close relationship - Musa Aman (left) and his right hand man Michael Chia
Michael Chia, who referred to himself as Aman’s adopted son, played the role as facilitator for kickbacks to the Chief Minister, according to trade insiders.
They say that soon after Aman took office, Chia started approaching key timber industry players to make plain that major concessions would be available – but only if kickbacks were paid, through him as the connector to Musa Aman.
“Tampokong was instructed to follow Chia’s instructions”, say sources. Meaning that Yayasan Sabah’s Forest Manager, Mohd Daud Tampokong, had been instructed by the Chairman of the Board Trustees, Musa Aman, to do Chia’s bidding when it came to authorising logging licences.
Yayasan Sabah controls around a million hectares of remaining forest land, which it is suppose to protect and manage on behalf of the state and its people. Unwisely, the country’s top politician is also the head of Yayasan’s Board of Trustees, giving the Chief Minister unlimited personal control over the country’s major natural resource.
Such a lack of check and balances is a recipe for corruption and our evidence shows that Aman took spectacular advantage.
Smoking gun bank accounts
Dandy - Chia loved the fast life. According to one friend "he would spend $2k on his underwear"!
At the time of his arrest in Hong Kong, clutching the bundle of Singapore bank notes worth SG$10,000 each, Chia was suspected of smuggling dirty money, with the intention of bringing it back to Sabah to finance election bribery by BN.
The money and related bank accounts were frozen in Hong Kong by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for the maximum period of 3 years, while investigators sought to get vital cooperation from Malaysia’s Attorney General, Abdul Gani Patail, in order to be able to get the evidence they needed from the Malay authorities.
Simultaneously the MACC began their own investigation, seizing 9 lorry loads of material and documents from the premises of Michael Chia and his timber business associates, including timber magnates Andrew Lim and Admond Looh.
The investigators discovered that Chia had been running a number of related bank accounts through HSBC, Singapore and the Swiss Bank UBS, based in Hong Kong. We have copies of statements from these bank accounts showing that the sons of Musa Aman were taking money out of one of them on a regular basis, based on a standing instruction.
This account was set up as an Australian Dollar account in Singapore, apparently because the boys were then studying in Perth, Australia. Money was also removed from the account by Imbarine Bujang, who was the man delegated by Musa Aman to take care of the boys’ needs while away at University in Perth.
How can Musa deny his link to Chia's activities when his own sons were taking money out of accounts that were being managed by Chia and his associates?
Mohammed Hayssam Musa and Hazem Mubarak Musa are both offspring of the Chief Minister. Sarawak Report has numerous copies of statements from this bank account, showing that their expenses were being regularly paid from it during 2006 and 2007.
A payment was also made to the Australian property company, Riverstar Investment Pty Ltd, to cover the rental costs of the boys’ apartment in Perth.
Payment for the rental for Musa's sons in Australia also came out of the same account controlled by Chia
Statements in our possession from connected USD$ accounts with the same UBS Hong Kong bank (managed through the Singapore branch) show how money was transferred to cover the payments. Our evidence is that the money flowing into these accounts was directly linked to the granting of major timber licences by Yayasan Sabah.
Chia himself paid directly to Musa’s boys
Any attempt by the Chief Minister to distance himself and his family from the evidence that he has been receiving money through Michael Chia is made even less convincing by the fact that other bank statements, made available to the MACC enquiry, show that Chia himself had been covering these regular payments to the boys in the period before setting up the UBS account in 2006.
These payments were made through his personal HSBC account!
Money for the boys was going through Michael Chia's own bank account in 2005 - Why?
SG 85,000 payment to Mohammed Tampokong!
The leaked documents in our possession also show that Yayasan Sabah’s Forest Manager, Mohd Daud Tampokong (instructed to cooperate with Chia) also received an enormous payment from another related account run by Chia and his associates, this time from a company based in the British Virgin Islands, Zenique Investments Ltd.
We question on what grounds the salaried civil servant in charge of managing Sabah’s timber concessions could legitimately accept a SD85,000 payments from an offshore British Virgin Island account?
Explanation needed? Why did Sabah's Forest Manager receive a SG85,000 payment from a BVI account in November 2006?
This evidence strongly corroborates allegations that Michael Chia was receiving kickbacks from timber companies receiving concessions from Yayasan Sabah, which had been authorised by Mohd Daud Tampokong, and that Chia was then forwarding money from his web of bank accounts to Musa and to the Forest Manager.
Musa Aman has till now distanced himself from this kickback investigation, in which case he needs to come up with convincing explanations about these payments.
Cover up
Protecting his powerful family and political allies? Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail
So far, the Chief Minister has been protected from prosecution, according to our sources, by the deliberate obstruction of the official investigation by Malaysia’s top law enforcement authority, the Attorney General.
Abdul Gani Patail is a fellow Sabahan and has close family connections with the Aman family and he has blocked the pressing of all charges.
We have learnt that the Hong Kong Anti-Corruption Commission investigators initially approached the Malaysian authorities in 2008 with a request for assistance in pursuing their enquiries after Michael Chia’s arrest.
However, the Attorney General refused to sign the necessary mutual legal assistance documents to enable inter-country cooperation on the case. We understand that Gani even went to Hong Kong seeking to negotiate with his opposite number there to close the case.
After 3 years the Hong Kong authorities were forced by statutory limitations to unfreeze the Chia accounts and shelve the investigation owing to Malaysia’s refusal to cooperate. The millions of dollars in these accounts were released towards the end of last year and it is believed a great deal of the money will be channelled into Sabah, in order to attempt to buy votes for UMNO/BN in the coming federal election.
MACC investigation was also blocked by Gani
A parallel MACC investigation, which unearthed huge amounts of information about Sabah timber kickbacks, has also been blocked.
The Malaysian investigators, who are understood to have been extremely thorough, took evidence from numerous business associates of Chia and timber traders, who admitted to paying kickbacks. The MACC is believed to have recommended that no less than 40 charges be brought against Sabah’s Chief Minister and yet once again the Attorney General has refused to recommend a prosecution of the case.
“The report with all the evidence is still sitting on his desk”, one source has told us.This situation supports the clear frustration expressed publicly just last week by the MACC Deputy Commissioner, Mohd Shukri Abdull, who admitted that the Attorney-General has refused to bring many “valid cases”, claiming lack of evidence.
Sarawak Report has now received much of that evidence and over the coming days we will be sharing it with the public and inviting people to make their own judgement on the case which Malaysia’s Attorney General is refusing to bring to court.
AMAN-GATE: ‘CHARGE IN COURT, OR WE BRING TO PUBLIC COURT’
Aman-gate: ‘Charge in court, or we bring to public court’
PKR wants Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and his brother Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman to resign pending investigation into their alleged involvement in a scandal.
KUALA
LUMPUR April 9, 2012: PKR today demanded that both Foreign Minister
Anifah Aman and his brother Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman take leave
from their respective posts pending further action on their alleged
involvement in a tens of millions of ringgit worth of secret timber
concessions and money laundering.
Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail should also be suspended from his duties for his reluctance to bring charges against the two despite a two-year-old Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation which had recommended prosecution.
“We
are giving Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the government the
opportunity, one week to be exact, to respond to this. Bring these
people to court or we will bring this issue to the public courts, like
how we did to the National Feedlot Corporation [NFC] scandal. In fact,
this is bigger than NFC,” PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said at the Parliament lobby.
PKR deputy secretary-general Darell Leiking, who was with Rafizi, is also leading a special task force formed specifically to obtain information into this emerging scandal and he has since interviewed many witnesses.
“We
can reveal documents to the media involving thousands of pages,
including bank slips that show the various transfer of monies.”
“We are confident that the evidence that we have in our hands implicate the three public figures… this evidence will be revealed in stages until all those involved have been brought to book,” Leiking said.
Several days ago, leaked Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) documents revealed that Gani had allegedly shelved files on the investigation and refused to prosecute Anifah or Musa over allegations that the Sabah chief minister had corruptly issued timber licences to his brother worth tens of millions of ringgit.
Investigations were prompted after Musa’s “agent” Michael Chia was arrested in Hong Kong in 2008 and MACC investigations later unearthed details of the secret timber concessions within the family and Gani’s close ties to the Aman family.
Insufficient evidence
MACC investigations into the Chia case led to the revelations of tens of millions of ringgit worth of timber concessions which Musa had awarded his brother Anifah and nephew Hairul from the time he assumed power in 2003.
Gani himself is from Lahad Datu, one of many entry points for illegal immigrants in Sabah. Gani’s wife is connected to Musa’s close associate, Johan Abdul Samad who is also the deputy director of
Yayasan Sabah. Anifah’s wife is Samad’s sister. Musa himself is chairman of Yayasan Sabah, which holds monopoly over Sabah’s forest.
Chia was detained by the Hong Kong authorities at the Hong Kong International Airport for alleged money trafficking. He was caught trying to smuggle out of Hong Kong some S$16 million (RM40 million).
Apparently when he was caught, Chia told the Hong Kong authorities that the money was for Musa.
Revealing the depth of the “secret” deals, online news portal, Sarawak Report, posted that Gani had refused to allow charges to be brought against Musa and Najib was “scandalously turning a blind eye to the affair”.
“Gani had forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah,which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit, siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level.”
Last week, MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull had complained that the Attorney-General’s Chambers had refused to bring many “valid cases” the commission had investigated to court due to “insufficient evidence”.
Teoh El Sen
PKR wants Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and his brother Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman to resign pending investigation into their alleged involvement in a scandal.
KUALA
LUMPUR April 9, 2012: PKR today demanded that both Foreign Minister
Anifah Aman and his brother Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman take leave
from their respective posts pending further action on their alleged
involvement in a tens of millions of ringgit worth of secret timber
concessions and money laundering.Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail should also be suspended from his duties for his reluctance to bring charges against the two despite a two-year-old Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation which had recommended prosecution.
PKR deputy secretary-general Darell Leiking, who was with Rafizi, is also leading a special task force formed specifically to obtain information into this emerging scandal and he has since interviewed many witnesses.
“We are confident that the evidence that we have in our hands implicate the three public figures… this evidence will be revealed in stages until all those involved have been brought to book,” Leiking said.
Several days ago, leaked Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) documents revealed that Gani had allegedly shelved files on the investigation and refused to prosecute Anifah or Musa over allegations that the Sabah chief minister had corruptly issued timber licences to his brother worth tens of millions of ringgit.
Investigations were prompted after Musa’s “agent” Michael Chia was arrested in Hong Kong in 2008 and MACC investigations later unearthed details of the secret timber concessions within the family and Gani’s close ties to the Aman family.
Insufficient evidence
MACC investigations into the Chia case led to the revelations of tens of millions of ringgit worth of timber concessions which Musa had awarded his brother Anifah and nephew Hairul from the time he assumed power in 2003.
Gani himself is from Lahad Datu, one of many entry points for illegal immigrants in Sabah. Gani’s wife is connected to Musa’s close associate, Johan Abdul Samad who is also the deputy director of
Yayasan Sabah. Anifah’s wife is Samad’s sister. Musa himself is chairman of Yayasan Sabah, which holds monopoly over Sabah’s forest.
Chia was detained by the Hong Kong authorities at the Hong Kong International Airport for alleged money trafficking. He was caught trying to smuggle out of Hong Kong some S$16 million (RM40 million).
Apparently when he was caught, Chia told the Hong Kong authorities that the money was for Musa.
Revealing the depth of the “secret” deals, online news portal, Sarawak Report, posted that Gani had refused to allow charges to be brought against Musa and Najib was “scandalously turning a blind eye to the affair”.
“Gani had forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah,which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit, siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level.”
Last week, MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull had complained that the Attorney-General’s Chambers had refused to bring many “valid cases” the commission had investigated to court due to “insufficient evidence”.
Teoh El Sen
‘MAFIA’ TRIO GANI, MUSA, ANIFAH CORNERED MACC FILES
‘Mafia’ trio Gani, Musa, Anifah cornered MACC files
Even as new revelations surface about MACC thwarting investigations in Sabah, infighting within Sabah Umno is threatening Najib's influence.
KUALA
LUMPUR April 9, 2012: Sabah’s most influential men – Attorney-General
Abdul Gani Patail, Chief Minister Musa Aman and his brother Foreign
Minister Anifah – allegedly blocked the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission’s (MACC) investigations into tens of millions of ringgit
worth of secret timber concessions and money laundering.
Leaked MACC documents revealed that Gani had allegedly shelved files on the investigation and refused to prosecute.
MACC’s investigation into Musa nominee Michael Chia’s arrest in Hong Kong in 2008 had allegedly thrown up details of the secret timber concessions within the family and Gani’s close ties to the Aman family.
Gani himself is from Lahad Datu, one of many entry points for illegal immigrants in Sabah. Gani’s wife is connected to Musa’s close associate, Johan Abdul Samad, who is also the deputy director of Yayasan Sabah.
Anifah’s wife is Johan’s sister. Musa himself is chairman of Yayasan Sabah, which holds monopoly over Sabah’s forest.
MACC investigations into the Chia case led to the revelations of tens of millions of ringgit worth of timber concessions which Musa had awarded his brother Anifah and nephew Hairul from the time he assumed power in 2003.
Chia was detained by the Hong Kong authorities at the Hong Kong International Airport for alleged money trafficking. He was caught trying to smuggle out of Hong Kong some S$16 million (RM40 million).
Apparently when he was caught, Chia told the Hong Kong authorities that the money was for Musa.
Gani’s “protective” instinct and the fact that Musa himself had a “close” relationship with former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin has kept Musa above the law.
At the time of the incident, rumours were that Musa had promised Abdullah the money in time for the Permatang Pauh by-election which saw Anwar Ibrahim return as MP.
However, such comfort has long since vanished. Musa and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak are not pals. The only link between them is Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor, who is said to be “close” to the Aman family.
Najib losing control in Sabah
Najib, however, prefers to put his own man Shafie Apdal – Umno vice-president – at the top seat if he can squeeze Musa out and this is no longer a closed-door secret.
Infighting within Sabah Umno is now rumoured to be at a “dangerous” level that even Najib is said to be losing control.
According to Sabah blogger Selvarajah Somiah, the 2009 allegation listed out by PKR Youth in its report lodged with Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) “threatened not only Musa but Najib’s credibility as well”.
“The central core of the exposé is Musa’s corruption of the state and the many questionable business deals linked to his relatives and cronies.
“The infighting in Sabah Umno is now in the open and numerous factions within are plotting to overthrow him. It’s all to do with money, ” he said.
In its 2009 complaint to ICAC, opposition Youth chief Shamsul Akmar had revealed that four Musa nominees had been linked to “corrupt and shady practices” involving funds belonging to the Sabah state government and several government-linked companies including Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd and the Yayasan Sabah group.
“The public funds were illegally obtained and were siphoned out from Malaysia. They were deposited into various accounts in Hong Kong at UBS AG, Bank of East Asia Ltd, HSBC, Credit Suisse and Citibank,” Shamsul had reportedly said.
Revealing the depth of the “secret” deals, online portal, Sarawak Report, posted that Gani had refused to allow charges to be brought against Musa and Najib was “scandalously turning a blind eye to the affair”.
“Gani had forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah, which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit, siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level,” said the portal.
Pushparani Thilaganathan
Even as new revelations surface about MACC thwarting investigations in Sabah, infighting within Sabah Umno is threatening Najib's influence.
KUALA
LUMPUR April 9, 2012: Sabah’s most influential men – Attorney-General
Abdul Gani Patail, Chief Minister Musa Aman and his brother Foreign
Minister Anifah – allegedly blocked the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission’s (MACC) investigations into tens of millions of ringgit
worth of secret timber concessions and money laundering.Leaked MACC documents revealed that Gani had allegedly shelved files on the investigation and refused to prosecute.
MACC’s investigation into Musa nominee Michael Chia’s arrest in Hong Kong in 2008 had allegedly thrown up details of the secret timber concessions within the family and Gani’s close ties to the Aman family.
Gani himself is from Lahad Datu, one of many entry points for illegal immigrants in Sabah. Gani’s wife is connected to Musa’s close associate, Johan Abdul Samad, who is also the deputy director of Yayasan Sabah.
Anifah’s wife is Johan’s sister. Musa himself is chairman of Yayasan Sabah, which holds monopoly over Sabah’s forest.
MACC investigations into the Chia case led to the revelations of tens of millions of ringgit worth of timber concessions which Musa had awarded his brother Anifah and nephew Hairul from the time he assumed power in 2003.
Chia was detained by the Hong Kong authorities at the Hong Kong International Airport for alleged money trafficking. He was caught trying to smuggle out of Hong Kong some S$16 million (RM40 million).
Apparently when he was caught, Chia told the Hong Kong authorities that the money was for Musa.
Gani’s “protective” instinct and the fact that Musa himself had a “close” relationship with former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin has kept Musa above the law.
At the time of the incident, rumours were that Musa had promised Abdullah the money in time for the Permatang Pauh by-election which saw Anwar Ibrahim return as MP.
However, such comfort has long since vanished. Musa and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak are not pals. The only link between them is Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor, who is said to be “close” to the Aman family.
Najib losing control in Sabah
Najib, however, prefers to put his own man Shafie Apdal – Umno vice-president – at the top seat if he can squeeze Musa out and this is no longer a closed-door secret.
Infighting within Sabah Umno is now rumoured to be at a “dangerous” level that even Najib is said to be losing control.
According to Sabah blogger Selvarajah Somiah, the 2009 allegation listed out by PKR Youth in its report lodged with Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) “threatened not only Musa but Najib’s credibility as well”.
“The central core of the exposé is Musa’s corruption of the state and the many questionable business deals linked to his relatives and cronies.
“The infighting in Sabah Umno is now in the open and numerous factions within are plotting to overthrow him. It’s all to do with money, ” he said.
In its 2009 complaint to ICAC, opposition Youth chief Shamsul Akmar had revealed that four Musa nominees had been linked to “corrupt and shady practices” involving funds belonging to the Sabah state government and several government-linked companies including Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd and the Yayasan Sabah group.
“The public funds were illegally obtained and were siphoned out from Malaysia. They were deposited into various accounts in Hong Kong at UBS AG, Bank of East Asia Ltd, HSBC, Credit Suisse and Citibank,” Shamsul had reportedly said.
Revealing the depth of the “secret” deals, online portal, Sarawak Report, posted that Gani had refused to allow charges to be brought against Musa and Najib was “scandalously turning a blind eye to the affair”.
“Gani had forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah, which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit, siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level,” said the portal.
Pushparani Thilaganathan
Aman brothers involved in Sabah timber graft?
The whistleblower website said it has in its possession leaked Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) documents showing its investigators had concluded that the Sabah chief minister had corruptly issued timber licences to his brother worth tens of millions of ringgit.
According to Sarawak Report, the documents form part of a major investigation by the MACC into timber corruption after an agent and nominee for Musa Aman, Michael Chia, was caught attempting to smuggle RM16 million out of Hong Kong in 2008.
“However, the investigation has been blocked at the highest levels and its findings kept secret, until now.
“Our informants say that the brothers’ relative and fellow Sabahan, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, has refused to allow charges to be brought and PM Najib Razak has scandalously turned a blind eye to the affair.”
Sarawak Report claimed that Abdul Gani, who is closely connected to the Aman family, has refused to pursue the case.
“Indeed the attorney-general has forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah, which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body, and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level.”
Last week, MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull lamented that Attorney-General's Chambers had refused to bring many “valid cases” the commission had investigated to court due to “insufficient evidence”.
Major conflict of interest
“In such cases where there is a plain conflict of interest, the government’s top law officer has to be seen to be acting from a position of impartiality.”
The website detailed documents in their possession that named Anifah and a nephew, Hairul Aman as beneficiaries of two major timber concessions through two companies allegedly linked to them.
One, Aktif Syabas Sdn Bhd, had licence to harvest 4,336 hectares of timber in land belonging state-owned agency Yayasan Sabah, and purchase residual timber from another 3,000 hectares.
“The other deal, made with the company Para Era Sdn Bhd, is even more shocking. It allows the concessionaire to extract timber from 2,000 hectares of virgin forest at the Pinagah Forest Reserve (right),” it said.
Sarawak Report lamented that the forest reserve was “totally razed by 2007".
“Tragically, our information is that the forest reserve was totally razed by 2007, despite the strictures about only felling trees over 60cm.
“This MACC information substantiates complaints from within the industry that Musa Aman has turned existing corruption in Sabah’s timber business into a full-scale rape of the remaining forests in the state.”
The Anifah connection
Sarawak Report added that it was noteworthy that both deals were awarded shortly after Musa became chief minister and chairperson of the board of trustees of Yayasan Sabah in 2003.
It said while Musa was not named directly in any of the companies’ public documents, the practice of employing nominees was a “standard” practice in Sabah.
“...insiders claim that the use of nominees is standard in the Sabah timber business and clearly the investigation by MACC officials led them to conclude, after months of investigation, that the foreign minister was the true concessionaire," it said.
It added that the leaked papers in their possession show that the MACC investigators "did believe there was such a corrupt link and that Aman was the beneficiary”.
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