Pakatan Harapan Is Trying To Create 1MDB 2.0

 

If they want to make police reports based on rumours, then what about the rumour that Ananda Krishnan, Vincent Tan and Francis Yeoh are all Dr Mahathir’s proxies and that Dr Mahathir is now taking back all his shares in Maxis, Berjaya and YTL and that the CEOs of these companies are resigning and are being replaced with Dr Mahathir’s people?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The 1MDB issue is one of the factors that brought down Najib Tun Razak and the Umno-Barisan Nasional government in May 2018. The AMC (Anti-Muhyiddin Campaign), which comprises of Pakatan Harapan and those in Umno who are opposed to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and PPBM, are trying to see if they can create 1MDB 2.0 and use that to hurt the government.

Basically, they have hardly anything to use to hurt the government so they are trying to see if 1MDB 2.0 can be that weapon. It may be a very weak weapon but then that is the only thing they have at the moment and a weak weapon is better than no weapon at all.

The story they are spinning is that 1MDB should have gone for a settlement of US$9.6 billion instead of just US3.9 billion. Actually, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tommy Thomas had agreed on a settlement of just US$1.5 billion. Hence US$3.9 billion is far higher than the US1.5 billion that the Pakatan Harapan government had agreed on.

Dr Mahathir and Tommy Thomas had agreed on just US$1.5 billion

Another issue they are raising is regarding the confidentiality clause in the settlement agreement. The AMC is suggesting that if there is nothing to hide, then in the interest of transparency, why have this confidentiality clause in the settlement agreement?

A confidentiality clause in an out-of-court settlement agreement is actually quite normal and very often done. If I am not mistaken, even in the Clare Rewcastle Brown-Abdul Hadi Awang out-of-court settlement agreement there was a confidentiality clause regarding the compensation for the legal fees she received.

The issue the AMC is raising is regarding the rumour that 1MDB’s lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, received RM2 billion in legal fees, of which RM500 million was kick-backed to PPBM to fund the next general election or GE15.

They are saying Rosli received RM2 billion and kick-backed RM500 million to PPBM

The implication here is not only Umno-Barisan Nasional stole money from 1MDB but PPBM is also stealing money from 1MDB. Hence PPBM is no different from Umno. PPBM is also a thief just like Umno.

Actually, Rosli’s law firm was paid only its cost, which was RM2.4 million. It was not allowed any profit, let alone paid RM2 billion. But they are suggesting that since there is a confidentially  agreement between 1MDB and Goldman Sachs, that means something is not right.

But then the confidentially agreement is between 1MDB and Goldman Sachs, not between 1MDB and its lawyers. So, what has the legal fees that 1MDB pays its lawyers got to do with Goldman Sachs?

Then there are those who say RM2.4 million is too much for legal fees. Then how much should it have been? Below cost?

Even Clare Rewcastle Brown’s legal fees in her case against Abdul Hadi Awang came to RM1.4 million. And if she had not settled out of court and had proceeded with the case till the end, it is estimated that her legal fees would finally come to RM6 million or more.

Lawyer Shafee Abdullah received RM9.5 million for the legal work he did for Umno. And yet they insist that RM2.4 million to recover almost RM20 billion in stolen money is too much? Saja nak buat cerita.

In Lokman Noor Adam’s video broadcast and in the police report that the Pejuang DUN made, they refer to the RUMOUR that 1MDB paid RM2 billion in legal fees and that RM500 million was kicked back to PPBM.

If they want to make police reports based on rumours, then what about the rumour that Ananda Krishnan, Vincent Tan and Francis Yeoh are all Dr Mahathir’s proxies and that Dr Mahathir is now taking back all his shares in Maxis, Berjaya and YTL and that the CEOs of these companies are resigning and are being replaced with Dr Mahathir’s people?

What about the rumour regarding what is going on in Maxis, Berjaya and YTL? 

That also is a rumour but since rumours are enough grounds for police reports then go lodge a police report or a report with the MACC regarding the Maxis, Berjaya and YTL rumours. Clearly there appears to be a crime being committed here, at least based on rumours.

The AMC does not have any issues, so they are creating issues and are trying to give birth to a new scandal that they are calling 1MDB 2.0. Why not also create Altantuya 2.0, Bank Negara Forex 2.0, Perwaja 2.0, Memali 2.0, etc., and blame PPBM for all these as well? After all, it is not that difficult to con Malaysians who are ready to believe any rumour you spin.

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DAP’s Tony Pua is at it again and is trying to create 1MDB 2.0

(MMO) – Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should stop his “elegant silence” in the face of claims that his party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) benefited through kickbacks from the government’s recent settlement with Goldman Sachs, former DAP ally Tony Pua said warned today.

The Damansara MP said Muhyiddin is at risk of tainting his legacy if he continued to do so.

He said that if Muhyiddin was really in favour of a transparent government, he should clarify if certain professionals had been paid for their part in the settlement and how much.

“The failure to do so will only ensure that Muhyiddin’s legacy will soon be as tainted as that of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s.

“There can be no bigger irony if funds which were painstakingly recovered from Goldman Sachs, a process which started under the Pakatan Harapan administration, to repay the enormous debts of 1MDB caused by Najib’s kleptocracy, are now being siphoned in part for the benefit of Muhyiddin and Bersatu’s political interest,” Pua said in a statement.

This was after Rosli Dahlan, the lead counsel for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) lodged a police report against a trio of politicians who alleged that he received massive payouts for his role in the deal, funds which were later channeled to Muhyiddin’s Bersatu.

Pua said the lawyer stopped short of revealing the true amount of fees he received in his police report.

He hoped the government would disclose the amount of legal fees paid, asserting that such information is not bound by any confidentiality clause, despite de facto law minister Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan’s insistence that the government cannot divulge the settlement terms.

“While his government may have unnecessarily signed an NDA with Goldman Sachs over the settlement, the fees 1MDB had paid to its professionals would not be covered under the NDA and can be revealed to Malaysians,” Pua said, using the abbreviation for non-disclosure agreement.

He contrasted the current Muhyiddin government to the one it displaced, asserting that the PH administration practised what it preached about transparency by making information surrounding contracts and mega-project agreements available to the public.

“However, the Perikatan Nasional government is behaving exactly like the Najib administration by hiding secrets and protecting vested interests,” he said.

Pua also dismissed the recent attempt by Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan who leapt to Muhyiddin’s defence in denouncing the allegations as slander and character assassination against his party president.

“Most laughably, he emphasised that Bersatu ‘was formed to fight for integrity and transparent governance’,” Pua said of Wan Saiful’s defence.

“If it was really about ‘transparent’ governance, then why is the Muhyiddin government hiding behind the veil of secrecy?” the DAP man questioned.

He added all such conduct and silence from the government only added onto a growing unsettling concern among the public that the settlement was not done by the book.