KINIGUIDE | Two years after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed civil forfeiture suits to recover assets and properties linked to the 1MDB scandal, the first criminal charges were finally made on Thursday.
As per its usual practice, the DOJ anonymised the names of individuals and entities who are not essential to the particular charge being brought against an accused.
By studying the history of the 1MDB scandal and comparing it against allegations made in the charge sheet, it is nevertheless possible to identify the anonymous individuals and entities.
Here is a quick rundown of who they might be:
Low Taek Jho, Ng Chong Hwa, and Tim Leissner
The financiers - Jho Low, Roger Ng, and Tim Leissner - are referred as anonymous co-conspirators in each other’s charge sheets.
In the Low & Ng charge sheet, Leissner is referred as “Co-Conspirator #1”. In the Leissner charge sheet, Low is referred as “Co-Conspirator #1” while Ng is referred as “Co-Conspirator #2”.
This can be established by simply comparing how the trio are described in the two charge sheets.
The trio is alleged to have used Low’s relationships to obtain and retain business for a US financial institution (likely to be Leissner’s former employer Goldman Sachs Group Inc) through the promise and payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes.
This includes ensuring that 1MDB awards Goldman Sachs with a role in its bond issuances.
Leissner has pleaded guilty, while Ng had been arrested in Malaysia and would be extradited to the US to face charges. Low is still at large and claimed that he is innocent.
The DOJ has reminded that the charges against Ng and Low are allegations, and they are presumed innocent until and unless they are proven guilty.
Najib Abdul Razak
The infamous codename “Malaysian Official #1” appears again in the charge sheets, and once again, it is likely to refer to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
In the two charge sheets, “Malaysian Official #1” is described as “a Malaysian national and high-ranking official in the Malaysian government and the Ministry of Finance from in or around at least 2009 until in or around 2018 with high-level authority to approve 1MDB business decisions”.
The time period coincides with Najib’s rise and fall as prime minister, during which he also held the finance portfolio. Najib (photo) was also the 1MDB advisory board’s chairperson until its dissolution.
The charge sheet against Leissner claims that he and other co-conspirators had facilitated the siphoning of 1MDB funds raised through a 2012 bond issuance codenamed “Project Maximus” while knowing that Malaysian Official #1 would receive kickbacks from it.
Some US$1.3 million allegedly siphoned from another bond issuance purportedly went to a New York jeweller to pay for jewellery for “the wife of Malaysian Official #1”.
Previously, it was alleged that Najib received US$681 million, which had been transferred to his personal bank account, of which US$620 million was returned.
Najib had maintained innocence, but the DOJ had previously alleged in its civil forfeiture suits that the returned funds were used by Low’s associate Eric Tan to buy several artworks, plus a 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace for “the wife of Malaysian Official #1”.
Riza Aziz
The Co-Conspirator #3 described in the Low & Ng charge sheet is described as “a Malaysian national who was a close relative of Malaysian Official #1 and owned US Motion Picture Company #1, a US legal entity in the business of film production”.
This is likely to refer to Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz (photo) and his film production company Red Granite Pictures.
Previously, the DOJ alleged in its civil forfeiture suit that Red Granite Pictures had used funds originating from 1MDB to finance movies, The Wolf of Wall Street, Daddy's Home, and Dumb and Dumber To.
The fact that US Motion Picture Company #1 was involved in the production of The Wolf of Wall Street was also mentioned in the Low & Ng charge sheet.
Red Granite Picture has since settled the suit by paying US$60 million with no admission of guilt, while Riza was only allowed to draw a limited salary to pay for his health insurance until the settlement was fully paid on Sept 20.
According to the charge sheet against Low & Ng, about US$133 million of 1MDB’s first bond issuance (Project Magnolia) ended up in an account controlled by Co-Conspirator #3.
Mohamed Ahmed Badawy al-Husseiny
Co-Conspirator #3 in the Leissner charge sheet and Co-Conspirator #2 in the Low & Ng charge sheet are the same individual.
He is described as “a US citizen who was a high-ranking official of Foreign Investment Firm A from at least in or around 2012 until in or around 2014”.
Foreign Investment Firm A is likely to be the International Petroleum Investment Company’s (IPIC) subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS, where the likely candidate for this co-conspirator is its former CEO, Mohamed Ahmed Badawy al-Husseiny (photo).
Previously, it was alleged that Badawy and then IPIC chairperson Khadem Abdulla al-Qubuisy had set up the British Virgin Islands company Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (Aabar-BVI)
Despite the similarities in name, it was alleged that Aabar-BVI is not affiliated with IPIC but was instead meant to disguise 1MDB payments destined for the genuine Aabar.
The charge sheet against Leissner said a relative to Co-Conspirator #3 (Badawy) also benefited from the misappropriation of 1MDB funds raised from a 2012 bond issuance.
Khadem Abdulla al-Qubuisy
The former IPIC chairperson is the likely candidate for “Abu Dhabi Official #1” named in both charge sheets.
He is described as “a high-ranking official of Foreign Agency A between at least in or around 2012 until in or around 2014, and a high-ranking official of Foreign Investment Firm A”.
Foreign Agency A is likely to be IPIC, while Foreign Investment Firm A is likely to be the IPIC subsidiary Aabar.
As mentioned above, Khadem (photo) and Badawy had allegedly set up an Aabar-lookalike company to siphon 1MDB funds intended for the genuine IPIC subsidiary.
According to the two charge sheets, Khadem had allegedly received money siphoned from 1MDB’s bond issuances.
It also mentions a shell company account where “Abu Dhabi Official #1” and “Co-Conspirator #2/3” (Bawany) are signatories, but is in fact controlled by Low and another co-conspirator.
Andrea Vella
Co-Conspirator #4 in the Leissner charge sheet is described as “an Italian national who was employed as a Participating Managing Director and acted as an agent of US Financial Institution #1 from approximately 2007 to present”.
He is likely to be former Goldman Sachs co-head of investment banking in Asia. According to reports by Bloomberg and New York Times, Vella is indeed one of the co-conspirators mentioned in DOJ’s charge sheets and has been put on leave.
Bloomberg also mentioned that Vella (photo) had been demoted from an executive position last month.
According to the charges against Leissner, Leissner had conspired with Co-Conspirator #2 (Ng) and Co-Conspirator #4 (Vella) to circumvent Goldman Sach’s internal checks.
Anyone else?
There are other anonymised individuals who are mentioned in the two charge sheets, but scant information is available to identify them.
There are 1MDB Official #1, 1MDB Official #2, and 1MDB Official #3 mentioned in both charge sheets, and “Co-Conspirator #5” mentioned in the Leissner charge sheet.
1MDB Official #1, #2, and #3 are each described as “a high-ranking official at 1MDB from at least in or around 2012 until in or around 2014”. Further, 1MDB Official #1 and #3 are supposed to be a principal point of contact between Goldman Sachs and 1MDB.
The DOJ had previously implicated five 1MDB officials in its civil forfeiture suits. Some of these were anonymised, but their identities could still be inferred from other available information.
Those previously implicated include former 1MDB executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee, former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, former 1MDB general counsel and executive director of group strategy Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, former 1MDB chief investment officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, and former 1MDB executive director of finance Terence Geh.
As for Co-Conspirator #5, he is described as “a Chinese national, resident of Hong Kong and a close relative of the defendant Tim Leissner”.
The charges against Leissner mention several occasions where money from 1MDB was allegedly transferred to accounts jointly controlled by him and Co-Conspirator #5.
Leissner charge sheet:
Low & Ng charge sheet:
This instalment of KiniGuide is compiled by Koh Jun Lin.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.