Special Task Forces – there were 3, the first 2 in March, the latest in July – which one is no more, and which one is still in existence?
Charles Hector
Confronting Malaysia is perspectives that there is alleged 'interference with the administration of justice' and alleged failure of the application of constitutional guarantee that 'All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law'. Now, its seems that the law may be treating some persons and legal entities differently...
Should Tan Sri Apandi Ali be asked to resign as the Attorney General of Malaysia, who also is Malaysia's Public Prosecutor? His appointment was already questionable following the sudden removal of Ghani Patail as AG, who was to retire in October?
Personally, I feel that it is always best for an 'independent person' preferably from the AG's chambers or the Auditor General's office who should have been made the AG.
Not questioning the good character, personality, values or commitment to justice of Tan Sri Apandi Ali, the new AG, but taking into account the current 'concerns' and happenings in Malaysia, it may be best for Malaysia and the cause of justice, that Tan Sri Apandi Ali be removed as AG - preferably by resignation.
Tan Sri Apandi Ali, I believe, may be just a victim of timing and circumstances. But public perception of the administration of justice and the rule of law must be speedily restored for the overall good of the nation.
Maybe, Ghani Patail should be reappointed as AG, and his term of office extended for 6 months or a year so that all these allegations of corruption against Najib Tun Razak, possible breaches of law by 1MDB and other GLCs. etc may all be properly investigated and resolved.
The AG must also clarify now:-
a) Whether the investigation of the alleged acts of corruption against Najib Tun Razak is still ongoing OR has it also been dropped? Whilst the MACC may be investigating offences under the MACC Act, there are also offences under the Penal Code which the police and the AG's chambers should be investigating. So, is Najib still being investigated for corruption or not?
b) Besides corruption, there may be other offences related to the said RM2.6 billion - money laundering, etc.. involving other persons and legal entities, other than Prime Minister Najib. Are these investigations still ongoing?
c) Is the AG's chambers still investigating 1MDB and other GLCs - for possible violations of the law? ...
Now, the AG should also be advising the police and other members of the government about the right to freedom of peaceful assembly - especially the law as it stands now(taking into consideration judgements of the court). Clearly some of the statements of the police and others have been made in ignorance of the law...as it stands today. The AG seem to have not spoken out to clarify matters(or did he?)..., and this is sad.
Special Task Forces - there were 3, the first 2 in March, the latest in July - which one is no more, and which one is still in existence?
The New AG came in and announced the end of the Special Task Force(not sure which one?, the one set up in July? or the ones set up in March) investigating into the RM2.6 billion, 1MDB, ...
After that, now the AG's Chambers makes the announcement of the formation of a 'new' National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET) - Should the AG's chambers even make this announcement? This announcement really should have been made by the government - the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, etc .... (maybe with the presence of reps from the various bodies who will be sitting in this TEAM?).
When the AG's Chambers specifically mentioned that 'it won't probe 1MDB' - it hinted bias, and was wrong. It should be probing every legal entities without exception.
Let's go back to remember that the 'Special Task Force' that was created in July was specifically to look into the RM2.6 billion received by Najib, 1MDB...,
A special task force has been set up to investigate allegations that millions of dollars from a state investment company 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) have been channelled into Prime Minister Najib Razak's bank accounts.In a joint statement, the task force said it had frozen six bank accounts linked to the investigations and seized documents from 17 accounts at two banks in relation to the probe.The task force members comprise the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar and the Anti-Corruption Commission Abu Kassim Mohamed. - International Business Times, 8/7/2015
Wait, there were also other Task Forces set up earlier...to look into 1MDB?
A special task force will be set up to investigate troubled state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) operations and its staggering RM42 billion debt, Putrajaya announced today.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said he would be part of the task force, which also includes Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar; Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa; and Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
And before this, there was another ...
"The government has set up a task force. We are looking at it entirely including 1MDB's debts," he said in his winding up speech in Parliament today. - Malaysian Insider, 25/3/2015
This is besides the earlier task force announced by the Attorney-General (A-G), comprising the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the A-G Chambers and the police that will look into the fund's dealings following reports made against it. - Malaysian Insider, 25/3/2015
Now, the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET), it seems is also not new but something that have been in existence for some time now...
It said the task force has been in place since 2011........
Would such a Team really interfere, or facilitate, with the functioning of the various different agencies/department? I wonder
If MACC, for example, have completed their investigation, they should just proceed with prosecution - and not wait for the approval of the NRRET, or even the PM and Cabinet...
What has happened to the other Task Forces on 1MDB - are any still operating? Or have they all been dismantled?
The other question that we should ask, is whether the current Attorney General should resign, or alternatively be removed, for the good of Malaysia?
No probe on 1MDB, AGC says of ‘new’ government team that now includes MACC
Tuesday August 25, 201504:39 PM GMT+8UPDATED:
August 25, 2015
06:30 PM GMT+8
The Attorney-General’s Chambers said the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team would be taking over the role of the previous Special Task Force that was probing 1MDB matters. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) announced today the line-up of an eight-agency task force that includes national graftbusters, saying the team will investigate revenue losses but not have anything to do with debt-riddled state company 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The AGC also said the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET) would take over the role of the previous Special Task Force, which was probing 1MDB matters, and is not “new” but a rebranding of the previous task force with the same aims, except that it won’t probe 1MDB.
“NRRET is not in any way involved with any investigations involving 1MDB and its related companies,” it said in a statement.
It said the task force has been in place since 2011.
The AGC said the NRRET will carry out the same functions of assisting the government in dealing with evasion of custom duties and tax by individuals and corporate bodies; smuggling activities; and misuse of subsidized goods.
This taskforce will also deal with illegal outflow of funds; and acts of corruption that lead to the above actions.
Amid recent outcry over the purported omission of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from this task force, the anti-graft agency’s name was included in the list of the NRRET’s name list today.
The other members of the NRRET are the AGC, the police, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Inland Revenue Department, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department, the Domestic Trade Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry and the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
This task force will primarily streamline and coordinate enforcement actions by these multiple agencies, the AGC said.
Last Thursday, Chinese vernacular daily Sin Chew Daily reported MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Shukri Abdull as saying that the anti-graft commission has no problem if it was indeed left out of the NRRET, saying that it would continue to carry out its work as usual as it is an independent body.
Sin Chew Daily had then reported of a new taskforce that comprises the AGC, the police, Bank Negara, the Customs Department and the Inland Revenue Board.
Early last month, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on government investigators finding an alleged US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) money trail that was moved around firms linked to state-owned 1MDB, including its former subsidiary SRC International, before ending up in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts.
Following the WSJ report, the special task force comprising the AGC, which was headed then by Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, the Bank Negara Malaysia, the police and the MACC - confirmed the subsequent raid of the offices of 1MDB, as well as several companies mentioned in the alleged money trail.
But shortly after Tan Sri Apandi Ali’s appointment as the new Attorney-General, MACC said he had said that the Special Task Force was no longer required, with the agencies’ internal teams to carry out their investigation separately.
In the same statement indicating the dismantling of the Special Task Force, the MACC had reiterated that RM2.6 billion was deposited into Najib’s accounts as a donation, saying that it was from Middle East donors and not from 1MDB.
The MACC statement then came after a series of crackdowns, where police arrested and questioned several of the anti-corruption body’s senior officers, while also raiding their homes and offices over an alleged leak of official information related to the money trail.
Najib has denied using public funds for personal gain.- Malay Mail.
Malaysia: Task force set up to probe corruption allegations against Prime Minister Najib Razak
A special task force has been set up to investigate allegations that millions of dollars from a state investment company 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) have been channelled into Prime Minister Najib Razak's bank accounts.
In a joint statement, the task force said it had frozen six bank accounts linked to the investigations and seized documents from 17 accounts at two banks in relation to the probe.
The task force members comprise the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar and the Anti-Corruption Commission Abu Kassim Mohamed.
On 4 July, the Attorney-General confirmed the receipt of documents linked to allegations that $700m was channelled into what is believed to be the personal bank accounts of Najib, through entities linked to IMDB, ChannelNewsAsia reported.
Although the prime minister is facing mounting pressure to take a leave of absence pending the investigations, he has maintained his innocence.
IMDB, whose advisory board is chaired by the premier, has debts of nearly $11.6bn (£7.52bn, €10.56bn) .
It has been under separate investigations by the central bank, auditor-general, police and the parliament's Public Accounts Committee.
The Wall Street Journal, citing documents from a government investigation, alleged that there were five deposits made into the prime minister's account. The two largest transactions, worth $620m and $61m were made in 2013 from a company registered in the British Virgin Islands via a Swiss bank.
Najib has called the allegations "political sabotage" and said he is considering suing the newspaper, ChannelNewsAsia said.
"I did not betray the people. I will find ways to uphold the truth. Be calm, the truth will prevail," he said.
Najib's political party, the United Malays Organisation or Umno, has backed him over the issue.
Separately, opposition lawmakers who had organised an emergency meeting in Parliament on Tuesday (7 July) to discuss the allegations against the prime minister, were prevented from entering a meeting room.
About 100 lawmakers, activists and lawyers were left sitting on the steps of the building after officials said the meeting room had been double booked and was being used by the Youth and Sports Ministry.
"It's fairly obvious what the authorities are doing. They are in cahoots to stop any discussion about the allegations the prime minister is facing," said Tony Pua, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Action Party.
The former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan has urged the prime minister to step aside to facilitate the on-going investigations.
"The reason why a leave of absence is important is because you have an ongoing investigation. You cannot have the subject matter as the leader of the country. You will not get an impartial investigation," she said, according to ChannelNewsAsia.
She also urged for national election to be held within a year while others wanted Najib to stand down immediately. _International Business Times, 8/7/2015
Troubled state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad will now be investigated by a special government task force. The team will look into its RM42 billion debt and operations. – The Malaysian Insider pic, March 25, 2015.
A special task force will be set up to investigate troubled state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) operations and its staggering RM42 billion debt, Putrajaya announced today.
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said he would be part of the task force, which also includes Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar; Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa; and Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
"The government has set up a task force. We are looking at it entirely including 1MDB's debts," he said in his winding up speech in Parliament today.
Besides the government task force, Husni also announced that the government has asked CIMB Group, as a "third party", to perform an evaluation of 1MDB, which is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's brainchild, for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of its power assets.
Husni today reiterated his previous notion that the debt-ridden 1MDB's main issue was its cash-flow problems as it was deep in debts, noting that the company's woes would be resolved once the IPO takes off, expected in the second quarter of this year for its power plant assets.
"We have no problems with the principal as they are long-term debts. But the interests... we are confident that once the IPO is done, the interests will decrease.
"With proceeds from the land that can be sold off and from the joint ventures, we hope to not only pay off the interests but also the debts, that is the principal," he added.
Reuters had reported in December that the IPO is aimed at helping the state investor reduce a debt burden that exceeds US$11 billion (RM40 billion).
Plans for the sale have been delayed several times, bankers say, due to a longer-than-expected due diligence process and debt refinancing negotiations.
However, critics of the strategic investment fund have said that the IPO was not enough to solve 1MDB's cash-flow problems, as the exercise would barely raise RM18 billion against its RM42 billion debt.
Even in the event where 1MDB is able to successfully list its energy subsidiary and sell its landbank at premium prices, the financially stricken company can only raise barely RM18 billion to repay its RM42 billion debt recorded as at 31 March 2014," said DAP's Tony Pua on March 13.
Husni had also announced then that 1MDB had used up some RM600 million of the RM950 million standby credit provided by Putrajaya, adding that 1MDB is expected to recover from the cash flow problems that it is currently facing, by the end of this year.
Prior to that, Najib had ordered the Auditor-General to "independently verify 1MDB's accounts", with the findings to be passed to a bipartisan parliamentary public accounts committee. – March 25, 2015. - See more at:http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/putrajaya-sets-up-task-force-to-investigate-1mdb#sthash.O1141WBC.dpuf
In a joint statement, the task force said it had frozen six bank accounts linked to the investigations and seized documents from 17 accounts at two banks in relation to the probe.
The task force members comprise the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar and the Anti-Corruption Commission Abu Kassim Mohamed.
On 4 July, the Attorney-General confirmed the receipt of documents linked to allegations that $700m was channelled into what is believed to be the personal bank accounts of Najib, through entities linked to IMDB, ChannelNewsAsia reported.
Although the prime minister is facing mounting pressure to take a leave of absence pending the investigations, he has maintained his innocence.
IMDB, whose advisory board is chaired by the premier, has debts of nearly $11.6bn (£7.52bn, €10.56bn) .
It has been under separate investigations by the central bank, auditor-general, police and the parliament's Public Accounts Committee.
The Wall Street Journal, citing documents from a government investigation, alleged that there were five deposits made into the prime minister's account. The two largest transactions, worth $620m and $61m were made in 2013 from a company registered in the British Virgin Islands via a Swiss bank.
Najib has called the allegations "political sabotage" and said he is considering suing the newspaper, ChannelNewsAsia said.
"I did not betray the people. I will find ways to uphold the truth. Be calm, the truth will prevail," he said.
Najib's political party, the United Malays Organisation or Umno, has backed him over the issue.
Separately, opposition lawmakers who had organised an emergency meeting in Parliament on Tuesday (7 July) to discuss the allegations against the prime minister, were prevented from entering a meeting room.
About 100 lawmakers, activists and lawyers were left sitting on the steps of the building after officials said the meeting room had been double booked and was being used by the Youth and Sports Ministry.
"It's fairly obvious what the authorities are doing. They are in cahoots to stop any discussion about the allegations the prime minister is facing," said Tony Pua, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Action Party.
The former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan has urged the prime minister to step aside to facilitate the on-going investigations.
"The reason why a leave of absence is important is because you have an ongoing investigation. You cannot have the subject matter as the leader of the country. You will not get an impartial investigation," she said, according to ChannelNewsAsia.
She also urged for national election to be held within a year while others wanted Najib to stand down immediately. _International Business Times, 8/7/2015
Putrajaya sets up task force to investigate 1MDB
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said he would be part of the task force, which also includes Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar; Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa; and Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
"The government has set up a task force. We are looking at it entirely including 1MDB's debts," he said in his winding up speech in Parliament today.
This is besides the earlier task force announced by the Attorney-General (A-G), comprising the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the A-G Chambers and the police that will look into the fund's dealings following reports made against it.
"So we will also look at how much 1MDB can be valued at, how to use the land that it has, and joint ventures and more, which we believe, will solve 1MDB's cash-flow problems," he said.
Husni today reiterated his previous notion that the debt-ridden 1MDB's main issue was its cash-flow problems as it was deep in debts, noting that the company's woes would be resolved once the IPO takes off, expected in the second quarter of this year for its power plant assets.
"We have no problems with the principal as they are long-term debts. But the interests... we are confident that once the IPO is done, the interests will decrease.
"With proceeds from the land that can be sold off and from the joint ventures, we hope to not only pay off the interests but also the debts, that is the principal," he added.
Reuters had reported in December that the IPO is aimed at helping the state investor reduce a debt burden that exceeds US$11 billion (RM40 billion).
Plans for the sale have been delayed several times, bankers say, due to a longer-than-expected due diligence process and debt refinancing negotiations.
However, critics of the strategic investment fund have said that the IPO was not enough to solve 1MDB's cash-flow problems, as the exercise would barely raise RM18 billion against its RM42 billion debt.
Even in the event where 1MDB is able to successfully list its energy subsidiary and sell its landbank at premium prices, the financially stricken company can only raise barely RM18 billion to repay its RM42 billion debt recorded as at 31 March 2014," said DAP's Tony Pua on March 13.
Husni had also announced then that 1MDB had used up some RM600 million of the RM950 million standby credit provided by Putrajaya, adding that 1MDB is expected to recover from the cash flow problems that it is currently facing, by the end of this year.
Prior to that, Najib had ordered the Auditor-General to "independently verify 1MDB's accounts", with the findings to be passed to a bipartisan parliamentary public accounts committee. – March 25, 2015.
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