Is Taib guilty of money laundering?

By keeping quiet, the Sarawak chief minister is admitting that the news reports are true, says Sarawak DAP.

KUCHING: Taib Mahmud’s “deafening silence” over the probe by German authorities into his alleged money-laundering activities is lending weight to speculations that the claims are true.

Sarawak DAP is now demanding that Chief Minister Taib Mahmud explain the latest allegations which come barely four months after Switzerland began its own investigations.

“Taib’s silence is deafening. Silence is not the answer. It gives the impression that he (Taib) is admitting to the truth of the news report.

“With such allegations, Taib owes the people of Sarawak an explanation as he is the head of the state administration,” state DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said.

Chong was commenting on reports that the German government had launched an investigation into allegations that its Deutsche Bank was involved in dubious dealings with Taib.

The German probe comes just months after Switzerland launched its own investigations into Taib’s assets.

The German authorities have also been asked to freeze Taib’s assets in Germany.

In May this year, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) said it was investigating Taib assets in Switzerland.

The move was said to have been at the instigation of Swiss president Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Yesterday Chong, who is Kota Sentosa assemblyman, said since Taib had denied that he had assets in Switzerland he must now explain the German’s allegations.

“Since he has provided an explanation to the first case, he ought to give a clear and concise explanation on such allegation,” he said.

What did Swiss government say?

During the sitting of the State Legislative Assembly on June 22, Taib briefly said that he had no secret Swiss bank account nor any asset or investment of any description in Switzerland.

He said he had written to Calmy-Ray in May asking her to confirm if she had ordered an investigation by Finma as alleged by the Swiss-based NGO, Bruno Manser Fund (BMF).

“I also pledged to render my fullest cooperation to the Swiss federation to swiftly bring the truth to light so as to nail down all malicious reports,” Taib had said.

But it has been two months since Taib’s clarification, and no new developments have been heard.

“Taib said he had written a letter to the Swiss government. We want to know the answer from the Swiss government.

“Has the Swiss government accepted his explanation in relation to the freezing of his account?

“Even before we hear anything from the Swiss government, now another allegation has come in, this time it comes from Germany,” Chong said.