Shamsul Iskandar Akin's Spook-tacular Stunt

Sadly, Malaysia remains shackled by a legacy of corruption. 

More so, its politics is just as contaminated, stained and tainted. Malaysians know all too well that our system is deeply rooted in systemic "money politics" and high-profile embezzlement scandals. 

Who doesn't know about the corporate mafia issue (highly publicized allegations first reported by Bloomberg on February 11, 2026, concerning a web of businessmen colluding with enforcement officials to launch hostile takeovers of public-listed companies). 

Or the Jana Wibawa government contracts scheme (introduced as a Covid-19 economic stimulus program for Bumiputera contractors that resulted in ongoing corruption and money-laundering trials involving former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and other political figures). 

Or the Littoral Combat Ship scandal (the multi-billion ringgit ⁠defence procurement failure in which substantial public funds were spent but major delivery delays occurred. Severe mismanagement was reported, including "dummy" payments to shell companies, overlapping contracts, and the destruction of records to hide irregularities. Millions in project funds were diverted or misused). 

Or the monumentally infamous 1MDB (the gargantuan global kleptocracy scheme, leading to multiple corruption convictions and the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Najib Razak). 

This is just a very SMALL sample to get me started! 

Actually, I want to vent about something which is, in a way, relatable. I reckon it is the most ludicrous thing that just went down. You can't make this stuff up. Prepare yourselves for a very farcical story...

Keadilan (PKR) member Shamsul Iskandar Akin took a dark approach to campaigning for the Johor state polls (July 11), transporting voters into his macabre version of beyond the veil when he delivered a message talqin-style in hopes it’ll sink in. All very theatrical!

In a video posted on social media on Monday, Shamsul, clad in a white robe (jubah) under sombre lighting and with an echoing voice for the full effect, assured voters not to be afraid when approached by BN, Perikatan Nasional, and Parti Bersama Malaysia as they too are just God's creatures (makhluk Allah jua). 

The former senior political secretary to the Prime Minister not only encouraged voters to accept bribes from those parties, but to squeeze as much as they can, so long as they still vote for Pakatan Harapan come polling day. 

"When you are given RM100, ask for RM500”, he said.

[FYI, he, himself, faces a total of five corruption charges totalling RM241,753.03 linked to businessman Albert Tei (Tei Jiann Cheing)!] 

The video, however, did not go down well with the living. Many netizens and even politicians criticised what they saw as an insensitive take on the Islamic ritual traditionally held at a gravesite after a burial. The absurdity of this politician acting to make it as an election gimmick. A big fail!

He has since deleted the video.

Legal Actions Against 1MDB-involved Global Financial Institutions Stepped Up

Malaysia is focusing on global financial institutions accused of facilitating misappropriation of funds linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd. 

The government are requesting courts in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong to set early hearing dates in 2026 to “fast-track” existing suits against the financial firms, said Johari Abdul Ghani, who chairs a task force set up to recover assets of the state-owned company also known as 1MDB. 

“We are also reviewing other banks and financial intermediaries involved in the flow of funds from 1MDB”, he was quoted as saying. Malaysia has filed lawsuits at home and abroad against Deutsche Bank AG, Standard Chartered plc, Julius Baer Group Ltd, and RBS Coutts. 

As well as specialised corporate management Amicorp and law firm White & Case. 

1MDB had earlier dropped suits against Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Coutts and Co after the firms agreed to pay billions of dollars as settlement. Malaysia, nevertheless, is open to settlement negotiations, Johari was reported as saying. 

On October 14, the Finance Ministry reported that more than RM20 billion had been reclaimed through settlements with several financial institutions involved in the scandal. 

Separately, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had recovered about RM8 billion in cash and assets, which were already returned to the government’s consolidated fund under the Finance Ministry. 

The Malaysia Open jinx continued to haunt Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan after the second seeds crashed out in the second round on Thursday. 

The Malaysian pair went down 26-24, 21-17 to Indonesia's world No. 60 pair Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma–Meilysa Trias Puspitasari. 

It meant Pearly-Thinaah have now failed to progress beyond the second round in all five of their Malaysia Open appearances. They exited in the second round on debut in 2022, before suffering first-round defeats in the next three editions.

Chinese Santa

Move over, Santa! 

Here's the Chinese version and he's merrily sprinkling joy with an extra, extra dose of “nián nián yǒu yú” (年年有余), a popular Chinese New Year blessing meaning "May you have abundance year after year"! 😆😆😆

The "Chinese Santa" is a character based on the Qing dynasty military figure Oboi (鳌拜) and portrayed by actor Xu Jinjiang, who appeared at a tourist resort in Zhanjiang, China this month. The exact date was around mid-December, as the story went viral on social media around December 10-20, 2025. 

The character's appearance was part of a festive Christmas event at the Chikan Guangdong Overseas Chinese International Tourism Resort. 

Oboi, known for his thick white beard and imposing presence, was featured sitting in a sleigh and waving to visitors, creating a unique, local version of Santa Claus that became a pop culture phenomenon online.

My Sunday's post "1MDB Verdict: Najib Razak Is Guilty" pertains. In his verdict on December 26, judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah delivered a damning rejection of the former prime minister's narrative that billions in his account were from an Arab donor. 

At the height of the 1MDB scandal a decade ago, however, this story had many other proponents – some of whom are still holding office in senior government positions. 

Among them is Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. In 2015, Zahid told delegates at an UMNO divisional meeting that he had personally met the chief investment officer and wealth trustee of the Arab royal family allegedly behind the RM2.6 billion donation in Najib’s personal account. 

“When I asked them why they donated $700 million to Malaysia, they said, ‘Malaysia is not the only country we are channelling our money to. There are many more friendly Muslim countries to which we are donating’. They want UMNO and BN to continue ruling the country”. He even claimed to have seen the original documents of the transfer. 

The MACC similarly described the funds as a donation, not from 1MDB. Moreover, Azam Baki told reporters on December 07 that year that their investigators had met with the supposed donor. The MACC chief commissioner at the time was Abu Kassim Mohamed, while Azam was the investigation director at the time and has since taken over the top position. 

The stance was echoed by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, who told Parliament in 2016 that the MACC confirmed that the money came from a donation. 

“In the RM2.6 billion case investigation, MACC had confirmed that the funds given to the prime minister personally indeed came from the Saudi royal family, based on testimonies by witnesses and supporting documents. Based on the overall facts and testimonies, the attorney-general was happy that there was no element of crime in these cases”, she said in a written reply. 

Another proponent was former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin. As the UMNO Youth chief at the time, he had argued that the “political donation” into Najib’s account is not a crime and rallied party members to come to Najib’s defence. 

Shouldn't these people be hauled up?!?! 

FYI, the court had dismissed the Arab donation letters presented by Najib’s defence team in his 1MDB trial as “forgeries”. 

“(The) Arab donation narrative is not meritorious. The Arab donation letters were forgeries, and the evidence pointed unmistakably to the fact that the money was, in fact, derived from 1MDB funds. This court has found the Arab donation defence to be incapable of belief and has not succeeded in rebutting the presumption of gratification under Section 23 of the MACC Act”, the judge said in delivering his guilty verdict.

1MDB Verdict: Najib Razak Is Guilty

Malaysia’s High Court found former prime minister Najib Razak guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving nearly RM2.2 billion on December 26 in the biggest trial yet in the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. 

Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, the Federal Court judge who previously presided over the trial at the High Court, delivered his judgment after finding that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. 

Najib’s conviction comes after the court delivered a lengthy judgment, taking nearly four and a half hours to read, following a High Court trial that lasted over 300 days across more than six years. 

Under the four charges of abuse of power, Najib is accused of using his three positions — as prime minister, finance minister and chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers — to obtain financial benefits totalling RM2.22 billion for himself. 

Sequerah also convicted Najib on 21 counts related to the alleged laundering of illicit funds through the latter’s personal AmIslamic Bank account. 

For each of the four power abuse charges, Sequerah sentenced Najib to 15 years’ imprisonment and imposed the minimum statutory fine of five times the gratification amount, totalling RM11,387,888,067.05. 

But this does not mean that Najib will have to serve a total of 60 years in jail, as Sequerah said the jail sentences will run concurrently, or at the same time. Meaning, Najib needs to spend only 15 years in prison. 

And should he fail to pay the fine, Sequerah also imposed an additional 10 years’ imprisonment in default for each power abuse charge.

The Friday decision will not affect Najib’s current imprisonment. This is because he is currently serving a jail sentence in a separate case involving the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd. 

Bersih have cautioned that the guilty verdict against Najib should not mark the end of the fight against kleptocracy and corruption.  

In a statement on Friday, the Bersih steering committee said the High Court decision, as well as an earlier guilty verdict in the SRC case, will mean little if the government fail to act to prevent the emergence of new kleptocrats.

Najib Razak To Remain In Kajang Prison

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak (left) failed in his court bid for house arrest on Monday, which means he has to continue serving the rest of his six-year jail term at Kajang Prison. 

High Court judge Alice Loke Yee Ching decided that the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s add-on order for Najib’s house arrest is invalid and cannot be carried out. This is because the Yang di-Pertuan Agong did not follow the requirements under the Federal Constitution’s Article 42 when he made the addendum order (Titah Adendum) for Najib to be placed under house arrest. 

“The addendum order was not deliberated nor decided in the 61st Pardons Board meeting (held on January 29, 2024). There was no compliance with Article 42, consequently it is not a valid order”, the judge said. 

She explained that this means the Malaysian government have no duty to enforce the house arrest order. 

Najib had sought the court verify that an addendum order granting him house arrest, reportedly issued by Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah during his last hours as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is real. If it existed, then he wanted the order executed, releasing him from prison. Najib’s prison sentence – which was halved by the Pardons Board last year – is due to end on August 23, 2028. However, he might be eligible for early release on good behaviour in August 2026 after serving two-thirds of his sentence. 

For context, Najib is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

Immediately after the decision, Najib’s lead defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the High Court that his client would be appealing against the said decision.

That's not all. On Friday, December 26, in Putrajaya, Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, now elevated to the Federal Court, is scheduled to deliver his verdict in Najib's 1MDB corruption trial, involving four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28 billion in gratification from 1MDB’s funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.

Malaysian Police Reiterate There's No Evidence of Jho Low in Shanghai

Malaysian police maintain the manhunt for the elusive Jho Low (right) is still very much active!

The country continues to work with international law enforcement agencies to track down and bring him back to face charges over the 1MDB scandal. 

Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), in a statement on Monday, said the effort is being carried out through the Home Ministry.

CCID reiterated that todate, there is no verified evidence linking Jho Low to the use of a fake Australian passport or to his presence in Shanghai, China, as claimed in media reports. [You may already have read about it in my July 25 post titled "No Credible Proof, Says Malaysian Home Minister"].                                      

Fresh off their silver-medal feat at the BWF World Championships, Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan launched their Hong Kong Open title defence in commanding fashion on Tuesday. 

The world No. 2 needed just 25 minutes to outclass Hong Kong's Chu Weng Chi-Yu Yi Kiu 21-9, 21-9 in the opening round.

US Student Visa Arrivals Continue to Decline

The number of international students arriving in the US on student visas continued to fall in July, marking the fourth straight month of year-on-year declines. 

Asian countries, particularly India and China, have been hit hardest by restrictive immigration policies and processing delays introduced under the Trump administration. 

According to the International Trade Administration, an agency in the United States Department of Commerce, student visa arrivals fell 28% from a year earlier to below 79,000, the steepest monthly drop so far this year. 

Arrivals from India plunged 46%, while those from China dropped 26%. Together, the two countries account for more than half of international student enrollments in the US, a critical revenue source for many universities, Bloomberg reported. 

Last year, India and China made up 54% of international enrollments, while Nigeria and Japan ranked seventh and 13th, respectively. 

US institutions are already projecting a 30% fall in new international student enrollments this fall, which could cost the higher education sector an estimated $2.6 billion in tuition revenue. 

The decline stems from a series of policy shifts, including heightened visa scrutiny, interview backlogs, and social media background checks rolled out during peak application season. 

Zuzana Cepla Wootson, deputy director of federal policy at the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, told India's The Economic Times that expanded screening measures and uncertainty around visa issuance are raising serious concerns, particularly for Chinese and Indian students. 

Although the US State Department paused student visa interviews in late May before resuming them in June, the new screening requirements further complicated the process. These disruptions, occurring during the busiest period for student arrivals, may also weigh on August numbers, Wootson added. 

International student enrollment in the US reached a record 1.1 million in the 2023–24 academic year, with India leading at nearly 332,000 students and China following at around 277,000, according to Open Doors. 

But from March 2024 to March 2025, overall enrollment fell 11%, based on data from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), run by the US Department of Homeland Security. 

Preliminary projections by NAFSA: Association of International Educators and JB International, an education technology partner, warn that visa bans, interview disruptions, and processing delays could deal a heavy blow to local US economies. 

Their analysis suggests the US could face a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollments this fall, resulting in an estimated $7 billion loss in spending and more than 60,000 jobs. 

Students from key markets including India, China, Nigeria, and Japan continue to face limited visa appointment availability, forcing many to abandon plans to study in the US this fall semester, the report added. 

Malaysia’s successful recovery of around 70 percent so far of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) RM42 billion assets is the highest recovery rate when compared against other corruption scandals globally, a senior officer from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has said. 

MACC’s special operations division’s senior director Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin, who is also head of MACC’s 1MDB Asset Recovery Task Force, credited the success to a joint effort by Malaysian agencies. 

“Currently, Malaysia has successfully recovered approximately 70 percent of 1MDB assets, amounting to about RM30 billion out of the total RM42 billion. This recovery rate is significantly higher than the international average of around 30 percent, reflecting the effectiveness of the multi-agency effort led by MACC”, he asserted.

Najib Razak's 3 Court Victories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Former Malaysian prime  minister Najib Abdul Razak and former Treasury sec-gen Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah were granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on November 27, 2024. 

 

This is for their criminal breach of trust case involving the IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company). The DNAA was granted after the prosecution failed to hand over several classified documents crucial to the two accused to prepare their defence!

 

This is Najib's third court victory to date. 

 

In March last year, Najib and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy were acquitted of abuse of power involving the audit of the sovereign wealth fund. The High Court ruled then that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the duo. 

 

Najib's next victory was in Sept 2023 when the prosecution failed to file their petitions of appeal in the audit case on time. 

 

At the $207,500 Hong Kong Open on Monday, world No. 10 Sivasangari Subramaniam (left) was the only Malaysian to survive the first round. She was stretched to the limit by world No. 12 Fayrouz Aboelkheir of Egypt before prevailing 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-5 in 48 minutes.

 

But yesterday, the Asian champion went down fighting to Belgium's world No.7 Nele Coll in the second round.

 

Sivasangari started off well by winning the first two sets 11-6, 11-8, but she could not continue her momentum, and lost the next three, 11-6, 11-5, 11-7. The gruelling match lasted 71 minutes.

Shenzhou-19 Up, Up and Away

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China launched the Shenzhou-19 manned spaceflight mission on Wednesday. Commander Cai Xuzhe, a veteran taikonaut who previously flew on the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022 leads the mission. Joining him are two astronauts making their first journey into space – Song Lingdong and female astronaut Wang Haoze. 

 

The Shenzhou-19 team will undertake 86 science and technology experiments, covering everything from trying to grow plants in space to conducting genetics studies. Perhaps most intriguing is the "space farm": Cai may pick up his lettuce-growing project from two years ago, while Song plans to cultivate sweet potatoes, giving the mission a gardening touch.

 

The mission will also test how fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) – a common model in genetic research due to their short lifespan and high genetic similarity to humans – react to microgravity and low magnetic environments. About 75 percent of human disease genes exist in fruit flies, making them ideal for studying the biological impacts of space travel. 

 

In an exciting sneak peek into the future, Shenzhou 19's crew will expose lunar soil bricks to the harsh elements of space. These soil bricks, replicas created from samples returned by the Chang'e 5 and 6 lunar missions, will face space radiation and extreme temperature fluctuations. The ultimate goal is to someday build structures on the moon from locally sourced materials.

The Malaysian High Court ruled that Najib Razak (right) had admitted to having full control and authority over transactions in his AmBank account. As reported by New Straits Times on October 30.

 

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said neither fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, former 1MDB director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, nor Najib's former principal private secretary, the late Azlin Alias, had any control over Najib's account. He said according to the accused's statement, he had the knowledge as to the transactions that took place and the purposes for which it was intended. 

 

"The accused stated pursuant to an event dubbed as "peristiwa 916" (on Sept 16, 2008), there was a need for him to find political funding to avoid any members of parliament from Barisan Nasional (BN) from jumping ship to another party and thus causing him to lose political power. This admission by the accused lent credence to the evidence of (former chief secretary to the government) Sidek Hassan who testified that 1MDB was initiated as a political fund for BN. 

 

Najib's former aide Amhari Efendi Nazarudin's evidence also reiterated the fact that 1MDB was used as a fund for the accused's political purposes. The evidence has shown that the accused could not have obtained the funds were it not for his positive action with regard to 1MDB in which he had vested interests", he said in his judgment at the end of the prosecution case on Wednesday. 

 

Meanwhile, Sequerah noted that the accused's actions brought no benefits to the government, nor did they result in any interest or advantage accruing to it. 

 

"This court therefore finds that a prima facie case has been made out against the accused in respect of all the four abuse of power charges and calls upon the accused to make his defence", he said. 

 

Najib faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. He was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the amount or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty. 

 

For the 21 charges of money laundering, Najib is accused of committing the offences between March 22, 2013, and August 30, 2013. All these charges are under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act, which carries a maximum fine of RM5 million and imprisonment of up to five years, or both, upon conviction.

Brexit Finally Hits UK Food Imports

"Brexit" border controls on food imports to the UK are now being applied, reports CNN, a consequence of it leaving the European Union. Expect food prices to rise further, Britons!

 

According to the UK government's own estimates, the checks – including physical inspections from April – will cost their businesses about £330 million ($419 million) annually and increase food inflation by about 0.2 percentage points over three years. Some industry experts are warning of a greater impact on inflation. 

 

The new controls mark the first time EU food producers must face the hassle of post-Brexit border bureaucracy since Britain exited the bloc's vast internal market and customs union in January 2021. The country quit the EU a year earlier, in January 2020, following a divisive referendum in 2016. 

 

And the UK government delayed the imposition of these controls for five years to postpone the pain. Europe accounts for a quarter of the food eaten in the country. 

 

The good Brexit news is that Britain is now fully self-sufficient in turnips! 😀😁😂

 

Malaysia’s Pardons Board, headed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Friday halved the 12-year prison sentence of former Prime Minister Najib Razak who is incarcerated for corruption. 

 

Najib (left), whose sentence would end August 23, 2028, under the decision, also saw the board drastically reduce the fine the court imposed on him after he was found guilty in July 2020 of illegally receiving RM42 million ($9.4 million) in a 1MDB-linked case. The Pardons Board lowered his fine to RM50 million ($10.5 million) from RM210 million ($44 million). 

 

The board’s statement did not explain the rationale behind granting what amounts to a partial royal pardon, but noted that the former prime minister would be required to serve another year in prison if he fails to pay the fine. 

 

The Pardons Board had decided on Najib’s pardon application on Monday during King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah’s last days on the throne. The king has the discretion to allow or disallow a pardon application.

 

Najib remains on trial in separate cases directly linked to 1MDB, a state fund he set up to spur the economy, including one connected with RM2.3 billion ($487 million) that allegedly went missing from 1MDB and into the ex-PM’s accounts. 

 

Investigators estimate that more than $4.5 billion was plundered from 1MDB, or 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, through fraudulent shell companies to corrupt government and bank officials and their associates.

 

Reactions, at best, have been mixed.

But for Syaza Shukri (right), an associate professor of political science at the International Islamic University Malaysia, the Pardons Board’s decision took her by surprise. 

 

“I really thought Najib’s court case was and the people had spoken [to punish those guilty of corruption], so to allow any kind of pardon doesn’t really make sense”, she told BenarNews. 

 

She said Malaysians will point to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also from UMNO, and who walked free from a corruption case in September 2023. The Kuala Lumpur High Court had granted Zahid a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on 47 graft charges in connection with the alleged misuse of funds linked to his charitable organization. 

 

“This will appear as a compromise to keep the unity government together and that this government (are) not serious on fighting corruption as (they) claim”, Syaza said.

When What Americans Say Doesn't Mean What They Said

The Americans are an inventive lot. 

They just love to muck around with language. The vocabulary is readily changed in order to suit their own political agenda.

Goldman Sachs Group sued Malaysia in the London Court of International Arbitration on Wednesday amid rising tensions over a settlement agreement reached in connection with the bank’s role in the multibillion-dollar corruption scandal at state fund 1MDB.

 

The lawsuit comes less than two months after Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar threatened to take Goldman to court. The two sides are in disagreement over the 2020 deal, in which Goldman Sachs had agreed to pay $3.9 billion to settle Malaysia's criminal probe over their role in the scandal.

 

On Thursday, Malaysia’s 1MDB task force chairperson Johari Abdul Ghani described the bank’s move to arbitration as “premature”, because the “parties are still considered to be in the amicable good faith discussions stage”. 

 

Authorities in Malaysia and the United States say $4.5 billion was stolen from the now-defunct fund in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Goldman executives and senior officials elsewhere.

 

Najib is presently serving a 12-year prison term for his part in misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International which are linked to 1MDB, while Goldman Sachs’s former partner and Southeast Asia chief Tim Leissner agreed to work with prosecutors in the US after pleading guilty in 2018 to money laundering and bribery charges. His Malaysian-based former colleague, Roger Ng, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on similar charges.

One Day They'll Wake Up

Yesterday, Malaysia's High Court acquitted Najib Razak and former 1MDB president and chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy in the 1MDB audit report tampering trial.

 

In the said matter, Najib was charged with abuse of power as a public officer in his capacity as the then prime minister and finance minister in altering the 1MDB audit report prepared by the National Audit Department, which was to be tabled to the Public Accounts Committee in March 2016. This was allegedly so that no action could be taken against him by Parliament. 

 

And Arul Kanda had been charged with abetting Najib. 

 

Court of Appeal judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, who presided over the case in the High Court, ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against Najib. And he was satisfied that Arul Kanda had made a "true and full discovery" of all things for which he was examined.

Lady Justice Has No Rest

In Malaysia, Lady Justice has no rest! 

Hard on the heels of the judgements against Najib Razak and Rosmah Mansor – my yesterday's post “Jail Sentences And Hefty Fines” refers – Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin and his wife, Zizie Izette Samad, have been ordered to enter their defence on charges of corruption and abetment over a RM150 million FELCRA investment. 

Sessions court judge Rozina Ayob said on Friday, the prosecution have established a prima facie case against the couple. 

Besides this particular case, former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (right) is standing trial on 47 charges, namely 12 of them for criminal breach of trust in relation to more than RM31 million of charitable foundation Yayasan Akalbudi’s funds, 27 counts of money laundering, and eight counts of bribery charges over RM21.25 million of alleged bribes. And then, there is Najib's 1MDB trial. 

Truly, Lady Justice has her work cut out for her.

Yesterday, Everton produced a battling display to frustrate Liverpool in the first Merseyside derby of the season – and it ended in a goalless draw. Another poor performance from the Reds! 

Six points off the top after six games played, with others (Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Manchester United) having a game in hand, I am inclined to admit it’s already too late for Jürgen Klopp's men to catch up. 

Also yesterday, Celtic laid down an ominous marker in the Scottish Premiership title race as they dismantled rivals Rangers 4-0. 

The first goal came from a quick throw-in from Jota, a quick delivery from Matt O'Riley, and a quick strike from Liel Abada in the eighth minute. 

O'Riley's ball to Jota for the second was sumptuous – taking out two centre-backs – and Jota's finish in the thirty-second minute did it justice. One touch to tee it up, another to dink it over the Gers goalkeeper. Lethal. 

The third was from another quick throw in, Greg Taylor drilled one across the penalty area, O'Riley touched it on and Abada knocked it in, in the fortieth minute. 

And the fourth was a gift from the goalie – he mistakenly passed the ball to David Turnbull, and who then put it into the net in the seventy-eighth minute. 

As BBC Scotland’s Tom English wrote, “playing Celtic in their pomp must feel like that amusement arcade game where you whack one frog on the head only for another to pop up, whack that one out of the road and another one appears. It's an endless and futile exercise, a joyless pursuit, which summed up Rangers' day at an electrified Celtic Park”.

Covid Reminds Us It Has No Intention of Going Away

Covid is reminding us that it has no intention of going away. In fact, in many countries, the pandemic has gotten worse! 

In the UK, Covid infections are continuing to rise across the country, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show. In the last week of June, about one in 30 had the virus and in the following week, it was one in 25. And this week, nearly 3.5 million people, or one in 18, has the virus. 

The increase is being driven by fast-spreading sub-variants of Omicron – called BA.4 and BA.5. People are still able to catch the infection even if they have had Covid before. 

Malaysia is not spared too – we’re seeing rising cases. The last time I reported on Covid, the number of infections stood at 3,934 cases as at July 13. A check on CovidNow this morning shows 5,047 cases as at July 16. 

Still on Malaysia, the 1MDB saga looks like becoming a never-ending story. 

The Attorney-General's Chambers confirmed yesterday that fugitive financier Jho Low (left) had earlier this year attempted to settle the charges against him for his alleged role involving the grand larceny. He was reported to have offered to make payment of RM1.5 billion to have the case settled – but the moves were all rebuffed. 

On the same day, former attorney-general Apandi Ali had come out to say he had been contacted by a Washington legal firm representing Jho Low to arrange meetings with the Attorney-General’s Chambers, which were held in May. 

Apandi said the meetings were to discuss the repatriation of monies allegedly siphoned by Jho Low from 1MDB. However, he said the negotiations fell through for reasons unknown to him. 

I don’t think we can expect to see an ending to this long-drawn case anytime soon! And Jho Low can expect to remain in hiding for a long time to come.

Goldman Sachs Submit DPA to Settle 1MDB Case

Goldman Sachs submitted a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) on Thursday with the US Department of Justice over the 1MDB corruption scandal. 

Under terms of the deal, they agreed to pay a $2.3 billion fine for breaking anti-bribery laws and to disgorge $600 million of ill-gotten gains. 

The move followed a $3.9 billion settlement the bank reached with Malaysia in July 2020 to settle all charges against the bank there related to the matter.

The said scandal dates to the government of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak (right), which set up the 1MDB fund in 2009. 

Between 2009 and 2014, Goldman Sachs bankers paid more than $1.6 billion in bribes to foreign officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to win 1MDB business, including underwriting $6.5 billion in three bond sales (2012-2013) for the Malaysian government's sovereign wealth fund – and which earned them $600 million in fees. 

The US Justice Department have said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by high-level officials at the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2015 to pay for real estate, art and other luxury items, with the help of those bankers. 

While the massive impropriety has proved a humbling and costly saga for the Wall Street giant, the long-awaited settlement should allow Chief Executive David Solomon to accelerate his plans to turn the bank around after a decade of under-performance, analysts said. 

The bank also indicated that they will recoup or withhold $174 million in compensation awarded to executives, including retired boss Lloyd Blankfein, under whose watch the wrongdoing happened.

The FinCEN Files Scandal

Rogue banks are in the spotlight again. 

Leaked documents from the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – the people at the US Treasury who combat financial crime – involving about $2 trillion of suspicious transactions have revealed how some of the world's biggest banks have allowed criminals to move dirty money around the world.

These banks such as JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of New York Mellon and more, not only turned a blind eye but they have immensely profited from the dirty money transactions. 

It’s alleged that BNY Mellon, for example, moved more than $1 billion for the financier behind Malaysia’s 1MDB political scandal, and JPMorgan processed more than $50 million for Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for US President Donald Trump.  

The FinCEN files are more than 2,500 documents, most of which were files that banks sent to the US authorities between 2000 and 2017. They raise concerns about what their clients might be doing. 

These documents are some of the international banking system's most closely guarded secrets. Banks use them to report suspicious behaviour but they are not proof of wrongdoing or crime. 

They were leaked to Buzzfeed News and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which distributed them to 108 news organizations in 88 countries – and disclosing activities that banks don't want the public to know about. 

A BBC News report had given us insights into some of these activities: 

HSBC allowed fraudsters to move $80 million of stolen money around the world, even after it learned from US investigators the scheme was a Ponzi scam. 

JP Morgan allowed a company to move more than $1bn through a London account without knowing who owned it. The bank later discovered the company might be owned by a mobster on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. 

Evidence that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest associates used Barclays bank in London to avoid sanctions which were meant to stop him using financial services in the West. Some of the cash was used to buy works of art. 

The husband of a woman who has donated £1.7m to the UK's governing Conservative Party's was secretly funded by a Russian oligarch with close ties to President Putin. 

The UK is called a "higher risk jurisdiction" and compared to Cyprus, by the intelligence division of FinCEN. That's because of the number of UK registered companies that appear in the SARs. Over 3,000 UK companies are named in the FinCEN files - more than any other country. 

Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich once held secret investments in footballers not owned by his club through an offshore company. 

Deutsche Bank moved money launderers' dirty money for organised crime, terrorists and drug traffickers. 

Standard Chartered moved cash for Arab Bank for more than a decade after clients' accounts at the Jordanian bank had been used in funding terrorism. 

The above illustrates all too clearly that existing regulations and bank compliance processes are grossly inadequate. 

And according to the ICIJ, in the US, almost 200 banking entities filed suspicious transactions.

Part of the list of 200 US banking entities. Data from ICIJ

By law, these banks have to know who their clients are – it's not enough to file SARs and keep taking dirty money from clients while expecting enforcers to deal with the problem. If they have evidence of criminal activity, they should stop moving the cash.

Scandalous – that’s what it is!

The Naive and Gullible Americans

LOL, I just came across this report! 

It may seem hard to believe but it's true! It's from the Centers of Diease Control and Prevention, a US federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. 

A May 04 online survey of 502 US adults conducted by the CDC have informed that more than a third of Americans misused cleaners and disinfectants to try to prevent infection by the coronavirus. 

Some Americans can really be so naïve, so gullible, so easily taken in! 

They actually believed Donald Trump (right) after he publicly asked whether injecting such products could treat Covid-19. 

Some 39 percent of people surveyed reported intentionally engaging in at least one high-risk practice not recommended by the CDC to prevent coronavirus infection, including using bleach to clean food or misting the body with a disinfectant spray. Four percent drank or gargled with diluted bleach solutions, soapy water or disinfectants. 

And a quarter of those surveyed reported having at least one adverse health effect during the previous month that they believed resulted from using these products. 

CDC said the poll was undertaken following a "sharp increase" in calls to poison control centers for exposure to cleaners and disinfectants during the pandemic. 

Limitations to the survey included that it was for a single point in time and was opt-in rather than a random sampling, the agency said.

What is befuddling me is the fact that these people don't trust the CDC but they are ready to put their faith in Donald Trump!

Malaysia’s High Court has freed former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman (left) of his 46 corruption and money laundering charges in relation to timber concessions in the state. 

Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin made the decision during case mention today after the prosecution, represented by deputy public prosecutor Azhar Abdul Hamid, said they were withdrawing all charges against Musa! 

Malaysians should know those forty-six charges framed against Musa were merely for the heck of it!

I pray I'm not seeing a pattern here. Already, on May 14, 2020, Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz (right), the stepson of Najib Razak, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the Sessions Court over five counts of money laundering charges involving $248 million (RM1.25 billion) linked to 1MDB in exchange for a forfeiture of over $100 million in assets.

Yup, the circus has come to town.