Just hang on, for justice will prevail

A son of a former cabinet minister told me that he saw a certain ‘prominent person’ (name withheld) in prison clothes.

However, based on his description, the prison clothes were definitely not those worn by prisoners in in our local prisons (either purple or orange), but one with stripes of black and white.

The same gentleman had also told former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim that he would be sent to jail. This was before Anwar’s case ended with the federal Court sentencing him to five years imprisonment in February last year.

There were, of course, a number of other “visions” that this gentleman had had, and according to him, each vision came to past just as he saw them.

Whether you like it or not, there are people who have the special gift of vision. They can see things before they happen; but until it takes place, you just have to put your fingers crossed and wait.

That’s the only way to determine the source of the vision, especially when someone claims it comes from above. Six months ago, it appeared almost impossible, but in recent weeks it appears that the vision is slowly but surely becoming a reality. If it came from above, no one will be able to resist it.

The noose is tightening

Currently, with the investigations closing in on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, the noose is tightening.

It is not only Swiss attorney-general Michael Lauber who is seeking cooperation from our attorney-general Apandi Ali with regard to their on-going investigation into the 1MDB scandal.

Within the past few days, after Lauber issued the press statement, most Malaysians that I know are earnestly waiting to see the outcome of the Swiss investigation, and whether Apandi would give his full cooperation to Lauber.

Apandi cannot expect to still pay lip service, especially since he will not only be facing the censure from his fellow Malaysians, but also the international community. Anyone who is worth his salt and holding such a position would not want to disappoint his counterpart from Switzerland.

No reason to hide things from Lauber

In less than two hours, Apandi had ‘acquitted’ Najib at the press conference last Tuesday. Therefore, there is no reason to hide things from Lauber’s investigative team, unless Apandi himself is involved in the scandal.

Lauber’s job as the Swiss AG is to fight money laundering. Therefore, it would not look good on Apandi if he refuses to extend his highest level of cooperation and to show courtesy to a fellow AG who has been tasked to fight white collar crime.

Apandi’s failure to cooperate would throw the country’s image further in bad light. While Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has protested against Lauber’s open press statement, I personally think that Lauber had no other option but to bring things out in the light. It is the dark side that is afraid of the light.

Zahid himself had bypassed the proper channel when he wrote to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to give character reference for illegal kingpin Paul Phua, when Phua and his son were arrested by the FBI for illegal online gambling. Bukit Aman was not even aware of the letter being sent.

While we can fully appreciate that there are official protocols and channels, the situation warrants it that such, and more public statements, should be made in the interest of the public, especially when a warrant of arrest has been issued out against any individual.

Singapore is also zooming in on the flamboyant Malaysian billionaire Jho Low and his bank relationship manager, Yak Yew Chee. A number of bank accounts in Singapore had already been frozen; in short, those who are suspected of money laundering in the 1MDB case will soon become known.

Looks like this is money laundering

Face saving or “you scratch my back, I scratch your back” approach to foreign diplomacy will no longer be the excuse for setting aside the investigation. It looks like this is money laundering involving billions of US dollars, which the international community cannot ignore.

Thanks to former Umno Batu Kawan vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan, soon, others will be coming door-knocking on our AG’s office, especially since Apandi’s press conference last Tuesday.

Khairuddin and his lawyer Matthias Chiang were thrown into prison for a few days. Now, they will see justice being served as the investigation progresses.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak would now have a lot more explanations to make, compared to what were asked of him six to eight months ago. In fact, from the Swiss AG’s press statement, it is clear that misappropriations in the 1MDB scandal could be as high as US$4 billion.

And with more expose being made by Sarawak Report, thanks to Apandi’s own unintentional disclosure, we now know a lot more than what scanty information that we had six months ago.

For example, according to DAP publicist Tony Pua, he learnt from Apandi’s disclosure that another RM27 million from SRC International was used to pay Najib’s credit cards, making it now a total of RM69 million. There could be even more that we may not be aware of.

Therefore, those who had stood their grounds, such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s special operations director Bahri Mohd Zain, should hang in there until justice is served.

History has taught us that eventually, justice will prevail.

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008. -Mkini