Former Prime Minister Najib Razak is toast; in case there’s anyone out there who still think he can rise again. In fact, his situation is worse than initially thought. Newly sworn in 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia – Mahathir Mohamad – is not only going to roast him, but will publicly humiliate him to send a message to potential enemies trying to conspire to bring him down before his time is up.
The 93-year-old Mahathir, the world’s oldest prime minister, said he plans to remain in power for one of two years. Interestingly, Daim Zainuddin, one of 5 members of Mahathir’s “council of the elders”, has fired a warning shot at Anwar Ibrahim – don’t foolishly try to become prime minister immediately after his released, scheduled today. We’ll reserve this topic for another article for another day.
Since he took office 6 days ago, Mahathir has done so many things that it’s hard to keep up with the latest development. Between GST (goods service tax) and 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), two primary issues which contributed directly to the downfall of Mr. Najib, the new prime minister’s priority is clearly 1MDB scandal.
Since morning yesterday, people who were summoned to Perdana Leadership Foundation (Mahathir’s office post-retirement) have raised eyebrows as it included judiciary top guns such as Chief Justice Raus Sharif, Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Pattail and former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram.
The prime minister also met Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, former Bukit Aman Special Branch deputy director Abdul Hamid Bador (who criticised Najib’s 1MDB and was transferred to the Prime Minister’s Department in 2015), Bukit Aman Commercial CID director Amar Singh Ishar Singh and Bukit Aman Special Branch director Mokhtar Mohd Shariff.
In his first formal interview via video conference with The Wall Street Journal, Mahathir revealed that he would not offer Najib freedom in exchange for reclaiming the missing funds plundered by him. And he said criminal charges will be filed against his protégé-turned-rival. And if our source is correct, Najib will be arrested and charged – as soon as this week.
There’s a reason why Mahathir personally handles 1MDB scandal. The people are hungry for blood. They are willing to wait more than 100 days for GST to be cancelled. But they cannot wait for more than 10 days to see tyrant Najib being arrested and charged in court. After suppressed, oppressed, bullied and intimidated by the former premier for nearly a decade, people need to release their steam.
As a master strategist, Mahathir understands how to leverage on the sentiment of the people to boost his rating. Like the ancient Indian epic Ramayana – the divine prince Rama against demon king Ravana – Mahathir is set to play the role of the hero against the villain Najib. His popularity is expected to hit the roof when the bad guy Najib is finally paraded in court to be charged.
Yes, it’s a popularity contest between Mahathir and Anwar to see who will make it to the history books as the hero who defeated and imprisoned the country’s and world’s biggest crook. For that reason alone, Mahathir is not going to let prime minister-in-waiting Anwar steals the thunder. An extremely popular Mahathir will make it harder for Anwar to grab power, if the latter wishes to.
1MDB, which has been classified as a “Ponzi Scheme” by the Swiss Attorney General is not any common thievery. 1MDB is the world’s biggest financial scandal. In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledges the 1MDB represents the largest action brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, involving stolen money of more than US$4.5 billion.
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was the Chairman of 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), has denied any involvement in the scandal although he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar – a whopping US$681 million in his private banking accounts. Instead, Mr. Najib has claimed that the money was donations from Saudi royal family, a claim that could not be substantiated.
Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was also exposed to have had purchased a 22-carat pink diamond necklace – worth a stunning US$27.3 million – using money siphoned from 1MDB. According to U.S.-DOJ investigations, Jho Low had arranged for jewellery designer Lorraine Schwartz (also known as “Jewish Queen of Oscar Bling”) for the pink diamond on June 2, 2013.
Prime Minister Mahathir had personally ordered travel restrictions on Mr. Najib last Saturday after news spread that the latter was about to fly off to Jakarta for a short break. It appears that former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram will most likely play a major role in the 1MDB case involving Najib Razak’s corruption and money laundering.
With the declassification of 1MDB audit report by Auditor-General Madinah Mohamad yesterday, which corroborates with U.S.-DOJ findings, sending Najib to prison looks like a walk in the park. Mahathir administration also receives a boost when the Office of the Attorney-General of Switzerland (OAG) has expressed interest to exchange investigation papers between both countries in the 1MDB scandal.
It’s a matter of time before the U.S. Department of Justice and other countries investigating the same scandal approach the Prime Minister Office for cooperation. Without his diplomatic immunity as head of state, Najib Razak is a sitting duck. It’s up to Mahathir how he wishes to skin him. There will be very few who would have sympathy toward Mr. Najib.
While Mahathir and Lim Kit Siang read the “Sun Tzu Art Of War”, Najib read “Blue Ocean Strategy”. Obviously, Najib’s cash is king didn’t work anymore, and his ship is sinking into the blue ocean faster than he could pack his ill-gotten treasure. Poor Najib, if only he had taken Mahathir’s deal to resign and refused to listen to his toxic wife about fighting the old man. – Finance Twitter
Police conduct marathon search at Najib’s bungalow, all rooms inspected
Scores of police officers from Bukit Aman’s federal commercial crimes department conducted a search at former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s residence in Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur, which lasted into the wee hours of the morning.
The police team had arrived in more than a dozen cars as well as a Black Maria truck often used to transport detainees at about 10.30pm.
The marathon session is believed to have ended close to 5am. However, at the time of writing, the police were still present at the scene.
At 3.50am, the Black Maria truck was reversed to the front gates of the bungalow and officers loaded several boxes into the back of the vehicle.
Najib’s lawyer Harpal Singh Grewal later told reporters waiting outside that the police seized three to four boxes of handbags and personal belongings.
He also believes that the former premier is being investigated for money laundering.
Harpal (right in photo) said the operation took several hours because of the size of the bungalow and the officers had checked all the rooms.
Earlier, a source close to Najib had criticised the marathon operation and shared a photograph with Malaysiakini showing the former premier asleep on a sofa as police officers combed the house.
Star Online had quoted commercial crimes investigation department director Amar Singh Ishar Singh as stating that the police were searching five locations. This included the upscale Pavillion Residence in Kuala Lumpur and the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.
He also insisted that it was not a raid.
At about 11am, Harpal had arrived at the house followed by Najib’s press aide Tengku Shariffuddin Tengku Ahmad some 20 minutes later.
Sentul district deputy police chief Mohamed Rafiq Mohamed Mustafa was also spotted at the scene.
As he left the scene around 11.40pm, the senior police officer told the media “wait and see” when quizzed on the police presence.
As news of the operation spread, scores of journalists, photographers, and curious onlookers gathered outside the house. This led the police to cordon off the area with yellow tape.
On Sunday, the police disclosed that CCTV footage of the Pavillion Residence was reviewed after a report was lodged.
The report had alleged that a government vehicle delivered dozens of boxes of designer handbags and other items to the condominium for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Last night, Najib tweeted that he was performing his Terawih prayers at the Kampung Baru Mosque in conjunction with the month of Ramadhan.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Najib might be charged soon with regard to the 1MDB scandal and ruled out the possibility of striking a deal with his predecessor. – MKINI
Mohd Najib Tun Razak@NajibRazak
Hadis Riwayat Bukhari, “Sesiapa yang menghidupkan malam Ramadan dengan penuh keimanan dan mengharapkan ganjaran dari Allah, diampunkan dosa-dosanya yang lalu.” Alhamdulillah malam ini dapat solat sunat terawih di Masjid Kg Baru. Semoga kita semua sentiasa diberkati Allah SWT.
– FINANCE TWITTER / M’kini
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