Discrepancies in letter a tell-tale sign of a bigger sinkhole?

Very few people can beat former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his ability to spot the needle in the haystack.

I want to pick up from where he had stopped. According to Dr Mahathir, the letter purportedly written by one HRH Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud is “full of inconsistencies with regard to dates, amounts of money and frequency of disbursement.”

Dates do not tally

Firstly, the letter was dated Nov 1, 2011. This was written about four-and-half years ago and only now are we told that there is such a letter.

Why was it never produced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak when he was urged to clarify how the amount of US$681 million that went into his personal accounts were from Prince Saud Abdulaziz, who is among others the donor?

Why only now, after all the investigations have been activated by several countries, does the letter suddenly appear? Do they appear to believe in such a letter purportedly written by a Saudi prince?

If yes, why then did Singapore freeze a number of bank accounts? Why did Luxembourg jump onto the bandwagon to investigate the money trail involving 1MDB?

Why did several people who were once with 1MDB, and currently placed on Bank Negara’s wanted list, suddenly disappear and could not be traced? They should come out from hiding and tell us the full story, especially since the money had nothing to do with 1MDB.

After all, Prince Saud Abdulaziz’s has “clarified” the matter way in one simple letter. He understands that there is a major controversy involving his donation; therefore, he has taken the trouble to clarify the current issues.

I repeat: The letter was written even before the amount of US$375 million was channelled into Najib's private accounts. According to investigators, the money from Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partner LTD (BVI) was only funnelled into Najib’s accounts in 2013.

This does not make sense at all. What is also puzzling to me is that the letter was “issued as a gesture of good faith and for clarification.” (emphasis, mine).

What clarification, if at the point of writing, the “donation” had not even become a controversial issue, and questions about 1MDB had not been raised by the Wall Street Journal? It is like putting the cart before the horse.

I concur with Dr Mahathir who said: “It is as if the writer, purported to be ‘HRH Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud’, knew in 2011 that in 2015 the existences of the ‘gifts’ would be discovered, exposed and explanations would be required. It is an amazing case of prescience.”

Since the money is supposed to be a donation or a gift, and if there is nothing to hide, why did the government place the auditor-general's report under the Official Secrets Act (OSA)? Now that investigators have identified the names of the possible donors, it is perhaps time for the full audit report be made public as well, no?

On Dec 3 last year, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said it was planning to record a statement from Najib about the amount of RM42 million from SRC International. This is at least 10 times more than what Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s bungalow had presumably cost, and the Conference of Rulers had wanted investigation to be expedited, why is there no urgency or the public informed about the outcome of the investigation?

In the same breath, one has to ask: What is the outcome of the investigation? Why is there silence despite the statement being recorded nearly four months ago?

Besides the so-called donation that came from the Middle East ‘donor’, why did this amount of RM42 million enter into Najib’s personal account? Was this also a donation from the subsidiary of 1MDB?

It does not augur well for Najib or any of his cabinet ministers to say that all the monies received was a form of donation, when such claims are not even backed by the auditor-general’s report.

Prince, why all the silence?

It is also interesting that, after his letter was exposed, the said ‘prince’ did not come forward to clarify his letter further.

Is he too shy to even speak to the media? Why are we not hearing anything from Prince Saud Abdulaziz? His silence is indeed too deafening.

What business is he involved in? Is there something that he has to hide as well with regards to the source of his great wealth? Why was he never listed on Forbes’ richest men in the Middle East?

How long has he known Najib and how often did they get a chance to meet in person? How did he acquire such great wealth, as to be able to give away the huge sum of money? These are bigger questions for the investigators to start looking into to see if there is a link. Usually, they say, birds of the same feather flock together.

If it were true that Prince Saud Abdulaziz had wanted to reward Najib for his good work, why did Najib not immediately announce it to the country at a time when Malaysia was gearing up for the 2013 general election? This would have boosted Najib and therefore Barisan Nasional’s image.

Why was the money channelled into a personal account instead of giving it into a trust or organisation such as Global Movement of Moderates (GMM)? Since Najib was ‘rewarded’ for championing GMM, was its former chief Saifuddin Abdullah even told about it? No? Why not?

Why did Najib keep very silent about it especially when it involves such a huge donation? Even if one were to ‘donate’ RM1,000 worth of goodies to a civil servant, the recipient is expected to declare the gift to his department head, what more over US$1 billion, which have allegedly gone into one man’s personal accounts?

This is the code of integrity. Does this code then not apply to the prime minister himself? I hope Minister of Integrity in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low would have the courage to ask the question to Najib to obtain a frank answer on behalf of the Malaysian public.

By returning a big chunk of the money, Najib also proved himself to be a poor manager of the money. A good steward of the money would have used it wisely to beef up both the military and the police, equip them to face the terrorist attacks, especially those who were involved in safeguarding Sabah against Sulu invasion. Yet, we are hearing of more kidnap cases.

My conclusion

Personally, I think Prince Saud Abdulaziz’s letter raises a lot more questions than providing an answer to the donation gate.

There is also a possibility that the letter was falsified, because it has suddenly appeared in the thick of things, as we have seen in the case of Teoh Beng Hock’s suicide note.

By not denying the authenticity of the letter, Putrajaya’s official stand with regards to the origin on the letter may find itself suddenly caught in a pit with quicksand. This may well be a trap, not forgetting that investigations are ongoing and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) may spring a surprise once more information is in its hands.

Therefore, what Australian journalist Linton Besser and his colleague Louie Eroglu have put together in ABC Four Corners is worth reviewing again, as they have put together one of the best commentary pieces on the 1MDB saga. Instead of arresting them and threatening Besser, Najib should have requested for a full interview and tell us his full story.

(My contention is that it was a big mistake to put two international journalists behind bar. This was the worst nightmare that any public relations person could ever dream of, as we all know that the fraternity of the media practitioners would immediately turn against both Najib and the country. Is this not what we are witnessing now as the international media have started putting the spotlight on Malaysia now?)

Until Najib gives a comprehensive answer (which is again highly unlikely as he chose not even to appear before a small audience at the Nothing2Hide seminar and the Malaysian Parliament), the questions about 1MDB and the scandal plagued prime minister will continue to haunt him.

So, Mr Prime Minister, it is not about 1MDB being able to settle its debts, but how such a humongous amount of money had gone into one person’s private accounts from various sources. Even Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar has admitted that the 1MDB model was unsustainable right from the beginning.

All we want to ask you to do, Mr Prime Minister, is to give a comprehensive answer for all to decide. How can a Bugis warrior run away from facing all the allegations and not providing concrete evidence that prove once and for all that the money was from different donors, instead of coming from 1MDB? I do not see why it is so difficult!

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