Salleh: No need for Musa to quit

Sabah Umno is firmly behind Chief Minister Musa Aman who is facing 'whispers' within Barisan Nasional to step down over money-laundering allegations.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno has brushed off calls for Chief Minister Musa Aman to step down from his post while investigations continue into undeclared money worth hundreds of millions of ringgit in bank accounts said to be linked to him.

Musa’s deputy chief in Sabah Umno, Salleh Said Keruak, when contacted, said: “Musa is doing a good job for Sabah and there are leaders who are power-crazy and jealous of his achievement.”

Salleh, who is also the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Speaker, and a former chief minister himself, was speaking after outspoken local politician, Daniel John Jambun, of the State Reform Party (STAR), called on Musa to step down as he is embroiled in what appears to be an international banking scandal that has caught the attention of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Jambun made the call following earlier statement by PKR vice-president, Tian Chua, earlier this week demanding Najib to clarify the “leaked” investigation paper that about US$100 million in a Swiss bank account under Musa’s name purportedly belongs to Umno.

Tian, who claimed to have been tipped off by authorities, said that Musa had during the ongoing investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) told its officers that the money in question which has been traced to a bank in Zurich, Switzerland, is not his but Umno’s.

“Najib must explain Musa’s alleged statement linking Umno and therefore the government to the hitherto secret party fund,” Tian Chua had said.

The money in question is part of a large sum being traced by international investigative reporters who published details of transactions connecting Musa, Sabah businessman Michael Chia as well as many in Malaysian and Swiss banking in questionable financial deals criss-crossing several countries.

“Musa should step down. In other countries, the leader would have relinquished his government posts, until his name is cleared,” Jambun said two days ago following Tian Chua’s exposé on the leaked information.

‘It’s all lies’

However Salleh, an Umno loyalist from Kota Belud, and considered an influential warlord in Sabah Umno, described the allegations as merely “slanderous lies”.

“There is no reason [for Musa] to resign just because of slanderous lies being hurled against him. Musa has been chosen by our president [Najib] to lead the party in Sabah and we will back him all the way and deliver comfortable majority to BN in the coming general election,” he said.

Besides Jambun, Sabah Umno kingmaker, Lajim Ukin, who is also the federal local government and housing deputy minister, had last week openly called for replacement of Musa with whom he has been at loggerheads lately amidst allegation that Musa was dropping him as Umno’s candidate and replacing him with his (Musa’s) relative in the coming general election due by next April.

Despite the scandal gaining worldwide publicity and the embarrassment brought on by the investigations both overseas and at home, Musa appears to be immune at the moment from all attacks within and outside Umno.

The rainforest-based advocacy group, Bruno Manser Fund, has filed a criminal complaint against the Swiss bank, UBS, over its close ties with Musa, for allegedly helping him launder US$90 million in corruption proceeds from logging in Sabah.

BMF accused UBS of having breached its due diligence duties and called on the Swiss authorities to take criminal action against the bank and those responsible for its relationship with Musa.

According to the Swiss media, UBS declined to comment on the accusations and its spokesman Yves Kaufmann said the bank complied with the legal requirements in the markets where it operated.

BMF has convinced the Swiss state prosecutor to take action in Switzerland under Swiss law against UBS and against UBS employees who have allegedly disregarded their due diligence duties in the Musa case.

“How UBS ought to handle banking relationships with politically exposed persons is stated in the law and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority’s regulations. These rules were blatantly disregarded in that no suitable measures were taken for enforcing them,” the complaint states.

The complaint was filed on behalf of BMF by Swiss lawyer and compliance expert Monika Roth.

‘Govt must counter lies’

Local newspapers have been reluctant to grill Musa on the allegations while he himself has on at least three recent occasions called for Umno’s cyber troopers to counter “lies” being hurled by the opposition against the government.

In his home-bastion of Sandakan last Saturday, Musa, who is Sungai Sibuga assemblyman, told government supporters to counter or rectify whatever misconceptions that may have been created by “irresponsible quarters” in cyber space.

“These slanderous attacks and stories from doubtful sources by irresponsible quarters must be answered wisely by social media friends who can provide the real explanation or give a better picture in that the government is sincere in keeping its promises,” Musa told 915 participants of a one-day inaugural “1Malaysia Social Media Convention Road Show” at the Sandakan’s Dewan Sri Libaran.

Musa also called on strengthening the relationship between those using the social media, bloggers and the government to help deflect lies on the Internet.

He acknowledged that the social media had become an increasingly crucial part of the BN’s machinery to combat the opposition at the coming general election.

“You have to assist the government in disseminating policies of the government and directly thwart the lies propagated by irresponsible people,” he told supporters.

At the centre of the money-laundering scandal are documents that allegedly prove that hundreds of millions of US dollars traced to several accounts in Swiss banks, allegedly belonged to Musa or his proxies.

The documents were uploaded by Sarawak Report, an online news portal, following the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption’s (ICAC) three-year long investigation into Sabah businessman Michael Chia, who was caught in Hong Kong allegedly carrying S$16 million in a bag.

The leaked ICAC investigation papers initially linked Chia and the money to Musa but has now also implicated Najib as well as the MACC and the Malaysian Attorney-General’s office for refusing to initiate charges against those exposed by scandal.

Also in the public domain now are various details, including bank slips of transactions involving Musa, Chia, Musa’s son and also lawyer Richard Barnes, who is said to be a close associate of both Musa and Chia.

Musa’s ‘family ties’ with A-G

Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the journalist behind Sarawak Report which has published exposé of questionable dealings by Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud in public projects and his growing wealth both here and abroad, also published details of the family connection between Musa and the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail.

According to Brown, since Gani’s wife is a sister of the wife of Anifah Aman, Musa’s younger brother, who is also Foreign Minister, this could be a reason why no punitive action has been taken against Musa at federal level.

So far Najib has not responded to Tian Chua’s call for clarification on the matter.

Najib, however, had on June 21 said that MACC had cooperated fully with the Hong Kong’s ICAC and had completed the investigation and said that the file had been sent to the A-G for further action.

Meanwhile, a senior leader of opposition party, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), lawyer Peter Marajin, has questioned the timidity of the local media over the issue.

“Let third parties like Monica Roth and Suaram in the case of French submarine deals, be encouraged to take up these cases against those ‘pirates’ masquerading as caring leaders of the people,” he had said.

“I believe the powers-that-be are equally determined to put this under wraps as is always the case in this ‘bolehland’ Malaysia, when accountability of state money is an issue.”