Here is the link folks.
Go and read it yourself.
It is dated March 9th, 2018 - just FOUR DAYS ago.
Here is the heading:
Here are some points that I picked up:
- embattled premier plays down evolving scandal
- new overseas asset seizures keeping it in the headlines
- US$4.5b misappropriated by high-ranking Malaysian officials since 2009
- one of the world’s largest ever financial fraud cases
- biggest ever under DoJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
- Najib, believed to be “Official 1” in DoJ’s ongoing case
- avoided charges at home by sacking critics, including his deputy
- appointing AG who exonerated him and
- clamping down on media
- a new string of foreign asset seizures bringing issue back to the fore
- Last week, Indon and FBI seized US$250m luxury yacht
- belonging to fugitive JoLo - central to 1MDB scandal
- DoJ also recovered proceeds from “The Wolf of Wall Street”
- made by Red Granite, co-owned by Riza Aziz and friend of Low
- March 7, Red Granite agreed to pay US$60m
- analysts widely regard Riza’s compliance as admission of guilt
- 1MDB probes in 6 countries, S'pore, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hong Kong.
- Malaysian authorities quietly started to wind down scandal.
- Speculation rife, Bank Negara funding 1MDB bailout through inflated purchases of state land
- “if Singapore or US press charges against Jho Low or Reza …Najib may retaliate” (How??)
- as long as Najib in power unlikely there will be any accountability said Bridget Welsh
- “most tragic dimension of scandal is burden passed to ordinary Malaysians, have to pay for abuse of power by their leaders.”
My comments :
Pay attention to these THREE points.
- new overseas asset seizures keeping it in the headlines
- a new string of foreign asset seizures bringing issue back to the fore
- March 7, Red Granite agreed to pay US$60m
The wheels of justice are indeed moving overseas - a bit slowly but quite surely.
On March 7, that Red Granite fellow has agreed to pay the DOJ US$60 million.
Then just last week, the FBI seized that yacht in Indonesia.
For those of you who are confused between a civil suit and criminal suit in this case let me explain. Although I am NOT a lawyer, I have worked this out all by myself, between lunch and tea. (Somewhere during my career, I did study law (LLB) for about a year).
To prosecute a murder case, among other things the prosecution must have a dead body and the murder weapon.
No dead body, almost impossible to prosecute a murder case. Blowing up with C4 or burning bodies and scattering the ashes are some ways of hiding the evidence.
No murder weapon, also very difficult to prosecute a murder. If you hit someone on the head with a huge ice cube and then the ice melted away, it will be difficult to prove the murder too.
Similarly, to prosecute money laundering, the prosecution must bring the money to Court and present the money as evidence.
Say the Court prosecutes Dawooood Batcha Sheikh Abdooool Kader for laundering RM10 million.
Surely Dawooood's lawyer will ask, 'Where the hell is that money which you say my client has ilegally laundered?"
So the prosecution must bring to Court the laundered money (in cardboard boxes, a signed statement from a bank where the money was seized, other bank statements etc) and show to the Court as well as to Dawooood's defense lawyers "Here is the money that you laundered".
If the Prosecution cannot show the illegally laundered money to the Court, then how can they prosecute the case? Kes kena buang lah.
But what if the illegal money had already been used to buy yachts, houses, jet planes, diamonds etc?
Then the prosecution must go and confiscate or seize (rampas atau sita) all those assets.
Then the confiscated or seized assets must be brought to the Court and presented as evidence.
To confiscate or seize those assets the Prosecution uses a Civil suit.
Lets say Dawooood Batcha paid Saleeeeemudin Diamond Merchant RM10 million as downpayment for a 10 carat rare diamond. But the diamond has not been delivered yet. The Diamond Merchant is holding the illegal money in his own bank account as a deposit for the 10 carat diamond.
This means the Prosecutor must take a Civil Action against Saleeeeeemudin Diamond Merchant to confiscate or seize that RM10 million.
These are the Civil Suits that are going on at the moment by the US Department of Justice.
They are using Civil Suits to recover art works by Picasso, the yacht, jet, movie royalties etc which have all been bought or acquired by using illegally laundered, stolen money.
(I think that) ONLY after the US DOJ have seized ALL those assets which they have LISTED in their Court filings in California, then and only then can they begin their CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. (Or maybe their system will allow for a partial recovery, gua tak tahu lah).
Maybe they will also have to confiscate or seize that PINK DIAMOND which has been included in their Court filings. Otherwise they cannot accuse someone of laundering illegal money to buy a PINK DIAMOND and then fail to produce the PINK DIAMOND in Court.
So whoever owns PINK DIAMONDS do take note.
Just blow it up with C4. Or smash it to pieces with a hammer.
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