Is Equanimity a ‘treasure chest’ belonging to a high ranking Malaysian politician that was sailed back by sea?

TTF: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has challenged Jho Low to “either come back and claim Equanimity or risk having the luxury cruise liner auctioned.”

The impression we’re being given here is that Low is desperate to claim the yacht back and may actually return to Malaysia to prevent the auction.

But read between the lines, and you will see just why Low isn’t the real owner of the yacht.

If indeed he was, the United States (US) Department of Justice (DoJ) would instantly have traced the ownership and included it in the department’s 2016 and 2017 reports.

More than that, Mahathir himself would have openly displayed proof of the ownership in the mainstream media or gotten Clare Rewcastle Brown to do the job for him as usual.

I assure you that TTF is currently in possession of documents that show two things:

1. that the yacht isn’t owned by Low or any of his immediate associates, and 

2. that the yacht is owned by a high ranking individual who is at this very moment residing on Malaysian soil

Given that Mahathir is the one all gong ho about wanting to auction the yacht, you should have a pretty good idea who the beneficial owner of the yacht is (no, it’s not Najib).

If indeed Low is the real owner and a fugitive as Mahathir claims, both he and Daim Zainuddin would never have needed to engage in a Skype conversation with the billionaire some weeks back to negotiate the return of “stolen Malaysian assets” and “ways to fix Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak up.”

As a matter of fact, Daim would not even have needed to meet Low during his recent trip to China.

All Mahathir needed to do was to request authorities in the US, China, Switzerland and Hong Kong to assist Malaysia by detaining Low on sight.

But to date, neither Daim nor Mahathir have made any such request to any one authority in any one nation.

On the 13th of July 2018, I wrote (in red):

Once again, we’re being fed with meaningless feeds regarding this so-called ‘hunt’ for Jho Low.

A report that surfaced on the 8th of July 2018 even went so far as to suggest that the billionaire was a fugitive on the run.

On that day, TTF pointed out that a person can only be referred to as a fugitive if he or she were to be in hiding. 

Low couldn’t possibly fit that description considering that the Government of Malaysia (GoM) admitted that it knew his whereabouts.

As a matter of fact, the GoM even confirmed that Low had communicated with Malaysian authorities and agreed to extend full cooperation.

And let’s not forget the fact that the GoM failed to file a formal request for his arrest in the country he is supposed to be ‘hiding’.

So how could it be that Low is being hunted?

Then, on the 8th of August 2018, I wrote (in red):

The luxury cruise liner is being held illegally by Malaysian authorities.

The illegitimacy of the seizure stems from the fact that the yacht, deemed material evidence by the United States (US) Department of Justice (DoJ), is being sought by the department pursuant to a controversial loophole in American jurisprudence.

Known as Civil Forfeitures, the law allows the DoJ to file forfeiture proceedings against any company or individual suspected – not convicted – of crime or illegal activity hinged solely on complaints that imply wrongdoing on American soil.

Not only does Malaysia have no such law, the filing of forfeiture proceedings and the subsequent order issued by a US court for the seizure of the yacht concerns crime that may have been committed on American soil, not Malaysian.

Thus, not only is the seizure of the yacht by Malaysian authorities suspect, so is the timing, which seems to coincide perfectly with charges brought against Najib by the Kuala Lumpur High Court. 

Finally, this morning, I added (in red):

Mahathir must remember that the controversy surrounding the yacht has to do with a civil suit filed by the DoJ with a US court.

Under the circumstances, Malaysia is not entitled to do anything with the yacht until such a time that the US court decides on its ownership.

If indeed the DoJ assured him that the yacht belongs to Malaysia, it would be incumbent upon him to furnish us proof of that assurance and for the DoJ itself to make an official announcement the way it did on the 20th of July 2016.

But I can assure you that the proof will never surface, as neither the DoJ nor the Malaysian government dares publish documents to verify the ownership of the yacht, which, for your information, is currently in my possession.

What this means, is that Mahathir just told you yet another one of his big, fat classic lies to shift the spotlight further away from the troubles the country is facing.

So you see, not only is Low not the hunted, the US court where the DoJ filed the civil suit has yet to rule on the yacht’s ownership.

However, the court has already issued an order seeking that the yacht be handed over to US authorities for investigative purposes.

Given that the suit was filed pursuant to complaints lodged in the US by persons associated with Mahathir, the onus is on him to hand over the yacht as per the court’s request and wait for the court to rule on its ownership.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, Mahathir has already begun talking about auctioning off the yacht and has clearly indicated that the GoM has absolutely no regard for the DoJ or rulings made by US courts.

Under the circumstances, we can safely assume that everything contained in the DoJ’s 2016 and 2017 reports may be fake and is of no concern to Malaysians.

What this means, is that the yacht can no longer be considered to have been purchased using funds stolen from 1MDB as the DoJ alleged in its report.

That leaves us the question of whose money was used to purchase the yacht and in which country the purchase was made.

It seems to me that the real ‘owner’ of the yacht has cleverly ‘sailed’ some of his ill gotten billions to Malaysia by sea without you having a clue he did.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has responded to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho’s allegation that he was “putting words into the mouth” of the US government in relation to Malaysia’s seizure of the Equanimity superyacht.

Low, also known as Jho Low, claimed in a statement on Sunday (Aug 12) that Malaysia was “putting words into the mouth” of the US authorities by saying the US$250 million (S$343 million) yacht’s arrival in the country last week was after negotiations with the Americans.

Asked for his comment on Mr Low’s statement, Dr Mahathir, with his trademark sarcastic wit, replied: “I am very proud that I can put words in the mouth of the US government. I must be greater than Trump (US President Donald Trump).”

“You can ask the US authorities whether I put words into their mouths, whether I typed out the words and shoved it down their throat,” Dr Mahathir said.

Dr Mahathir was responding to questions by the media after visiting an art exhibition at the Perdana University in Serdang on Sunday.

The exhibition organised by the university is entitled “Tun M: A Forever Legacy,” and showcases more than 100 artworks inspired by Dr Mahathir’s legacy. Dr Mahathir, who is the founding chancellor of the university, attended the event accompanied by his wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.

Earlier, a spokesman for fugitive businessman Jho Taek Low, said Dr Mahathir has once again showed that the proper legal process has no place in his regime.

On Saturday, Dr Mahathir said the  Equanimity would be sold as soon as possible to the highest bidder to recover stolen money used to buy the superyacht.

Dr Mahathir said the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had assured Malaysia that the yacht belongs to Jho Low, bought using money stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Responding to the Prime Minister’s remarks that the US had proven its case against Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd, the spokesman said that Jho Low had been declared guilty by Dr Mahathir’s regime before a single piece of evidence has been produced in US courts.

According to Jho Low’s spokesman, the US has not proven anything.

“The truth is this: the US filed unproven allegations in a civil forfeiture complaint more than a year ago – then halted the proceedings before any party had any meaningful chance to respond, said the spokesman in a statement released through Mr Low’s attorneys.

“The allegations have ricocheted around the world for more than a year, repeated thousands of times.”

“It is clear that the Malaysian government is lying and putting words into the US’ mouth. These repeated misstatements by Malaysia are embarrassing the US, which has stressed it has no involvement in the illegal seizure of the vessel and will update the US court on Aug 17.”

The Equanimity is currently docked at the Boustead Cruise Centre in Pulau Indah, Port Klang.

Source: NST Online