MO1 poser, or, when did Rahman Dahlan cease to be an idiot

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My first reaction to the startling statement by the BN strategic communications director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU Abdul Rahman Dahlan that only an idiot doesn’t know who 'Malaysian Official 1' is, was to wonder when the Umno supreme council became an 'idiots’ council'.

This is because an Umno supreme council member, the MP for Kinabatangan Bung Moktar Radin had said on Wednesday that the Umno supreme council meeting the previous Friday (July 29) did not discuss the 'Malaysian Official 1' mentioned 36 times in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits “because nobody knew who ‘MO1’ was”.

Bung told Malaysiakini: "DOJ did not name the person, so it is difficult to predict (who the person is)."

Abdul Rahman is a member of Umno supreme council, which means he was an “idiot” by his own definition - at least up to July 29 when the Umno supreme council met.

When did Abdul Rahman cease to be an idiot, and realise who is 'Malaysian Official 1'?

Maybe what is more appropriate is to say that only an idiot does not know that 'Malaysian Official 1' is implicated in the “criminal conduct” of embezzlement, money-laundering and misappropriation of 1MBD funds which formed the basis of the US DOJ lawsuits to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, and there is nothing to be proud of such incriminating mention - 36 times in the DOJ lawsuit.

Too clever?

Abdul Rahman tried to show off his “cleverness” when he said that “There is no mystery about Malaysian Official 1, only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was”, adding that those who are familiar with the issues and read the court documents would know who MO1 is.

In fact, he seems to be quite proud that although 'Malaysian Official 1' clearly referred [someone obvious], Prime Minister Najib Razak was not specifically named.

Abdul Rahman said: “The most important question is why they put Malaysian Official 1 (in the court papers instead of directly naming one)?

“They used the nickname because Najib is not part of the investigation and this is a good thing.”

Abdul Rahman cannot be more wrong.

At least, his colleague the Umno Youth leader and Youth Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, was more frank when he admitted that the DOJ complaint was the outcome of year-long investigations by the DOJ and various US agencies and authorities, and that the prime minister would not be mentioned in code in a manner where only idiots could mistake as to his actual identity without solid grounds and evidence - especially as it involved the government leader of a “friendly” nation.

Even without the prime minister mentioned in code in a manner “only an idiot doesn’t know who he is”, no self-respecting prime minister, government or nation would have allowed their reputation and good name to be smeared, besmirched or tarnished in the way the 136-page DOJ lawsuits have done to Malaysia involving multi-billion dollar embezzlement, money-laundering and misappropriation of the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, and what is worse, to be elevated to the stratosphere of global kleptocracy.

Essential reading for idiots

Abdul Rahman is right. Only an idiot doesn’t know who 'Malaysian Official 1' is, or would not know that he is implicated in the “criminal conduct” of embezzlement, money-laundering and misappropriation of 1MBD funds, as set out in the following paragraphs of the DOJ lawsuits:

“Para 259. Shortly after proceeds of the 2013 bond sale were diverted to the Tanore account, $681,000,000 was sent from the Tanore Account to a bank account belonging to Malaysian Official 1.

“260. On or about March 21, 2013, Tanore transferred $620,000,000 into an account at AmBank in Malaysia, whose beneficiary was listed as ‘AMPrivate Banking-MR.’ On or about March 25, 2013, an additional $61,000,000 was wired from the Tanore Account to the same account at AmBank, for a total of $681,000,000.

“261. This account belonged to Malaysian Official 1 and is the same account that in 2011 received $20 million from the Petrosaudi co-founder that was traceable to the Good Star Account, as set forth in Section II.G. It is also the same account that in 2012 received at least $30 million from the Blackstone Account that was traceable to the Aabar-BVI Swiss Account and the 2012 bond proceeds, as set forth in Section III.E.3.

“262. On or about August 26, 2013, $620,010,715 was wired from a different account at AmBank to the Tanore Account. This AmBank account also belonged to Malaysian Official 1, and the transfer represented funds from the $681 million payments that were being returned to Tanore.

“263. The attorney-general of Malaysia publicly stated that he conducted an inquiry into the $681 million payments. In a press release issued on January 26, 2016, the Malaysian Attorney-General confirmed that, ‘the sum of USD681 million (RN2.08 billion) [was] transferred into the personal account of [Malaysian Official 1] between 22.03,2013 and 10.04.2013,’ and that, ‘in August 2013, a sum of USD620 million (RM2.03 billion) was returned by [Malaysian Official 1]…” The Malaysian attorney-general ultimately characterized the payment of $681 million as a ‘personal donation’ to [Malaysian Official 1] from the Saudi royal family which was given to him without any consideration.”

In five paragraphs, the DOJ complaint contradicted and shot down Najib’s repeated assertions about the origins and purpose of hundreds of millions of dollars that ended up in his personal accounts.

How can the Malaysian prime minister and government stay silent in the past 18 days since the filing of the DOJ lawsuits, which had so tarnished the reputation and good name of the prime minister, the government and the nation, involving Malaysia in the largest kleptocracy forfeiture action in the history of the United States and the world, and propelling Malaysia to the stratosphere of a global kleptocracy?

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LIM KIT SIANG is Gelang Patah MP and DAP parliamentary leader. - Mkini