After 5 years, China’s complicity in 1MDB still unresolved

Despite considerable evidence that China was complicit with both Najib Abdul Razak and fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) over deals to bail out 1MDB through nefarious schemes, the government has been silent about developments in the area, despite Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent visit there.

Another thorny issue is the extradition of Low, the alleged mastermind together with former prime minister Najib behind the 1MDB theft, as well as the attempted bail-out of 1MDB involving China, which includes the controversial East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project. Low is widely reported to be in China, although Beijing has denied it.

Anwar himself said earlier this month the government was working on extraditing Low. He added that talks were being held with “several countries”. That’s puzzling because Low can’t be in several countries at the same time. If he is indeed in China, then there really is no need to talk to anyone else.

This reflects a dangerous stepping around of key issues by successive leaderships when it comes to China at a great cost to the nation of literally tens of billions of ringgit. I had estimated these costs to be nearly RM30 billion, raising total losses from 1MDB to at least RM60 billion, in addition to the estimated RM30 billion lost due to thefts.

As I explained in this article written in June 2018 - weeks after the Harapan government came into power with Dr Mahathir Mohamad returning as PM - that losses at 1MDB could be a further RM30 billion due to overpricing of the ECRL contract by RM20 billion, a pipeline to nowhere costing some RM9 billion, and consultancy fees of RM1 billion (see table).

That was five years ago and the issue remains unresolved, with nothing from the previous Harapan government, the two subsequent backdoor governments, and the current administration on what happened to the money channelled out from payments made for the ECRL and pipeline projects. Is anyone even looking at these issues?

These have been validated at subsequent court hearings. The latest is a court hearing in Kuwait held in March which was reported by The Edge Weekly.

Courts bare all

According to the report, quoting court proceedings in Kuwait in March: “Former prime minister Najib signed mega infrastructure contracts, including the ECRL, with China in 2016 at inflated prices, in return for which Chinese state-owned companies undertook to pay the massive debts of 1MDB - the payments for which were routed through several bank accounts owned by Kuwaiti individuals in a bid to hide the true intent.

“... Other projects mooted were a proposed Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur high-speed rail, a multi-product pipeline, and the development of federal territory Labuan into an offshore banking and tourism hub.”

There was also substantiation from Malaysian court proceedings relating to Najib’s 1MDB-Tanore trial. The Edge Financial Daily, in an article titled ECRL, pipeline projects offered to China to bail out 1MDB, reported the issue in September 2019 citing court proceedings.

It said: “In an attempt to extricate and salvage 1MDB from the mounting debts that financier Low and his cohorts had plunged the company into, Najib assembled in an astonishingly quick time, a handful of mega infrastructure projects that Malaysia could offer to China’s state-owned enterprises.

“He then sent Low - now in hiding - and his then special officer Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin to Beijing to cut infrastructure deals involving rail and gas pipelines with the Chinese.

“Amhari said 1MDB-related assets of which equities were sold included My City Ventures Sdn Bhd, 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, and Brazen Sky Ltd. He believed that Najib knew about the bailout plan and gave Low the mandate to work on it.”

Just like any other superpower

These indicate that there was clear evidence that China conspired in an attempt to defraud Malaysia. The very least that the Malaysian government should do, even if behind the scenes, is to track the money that was paid and secure its return, aside from insisting on the extradition of Low.

Anything less is foregoing a further RM30 billion in losses - a huge amount by any standards - and our sovereignty as a nation by sacrificing our right to get back money stolen from us and bringing to justice those responsible.

Such a deal with the Chinese which has seriously hurt Malaysian interests also warrants another investigation and further charges to be laid out against Najib, who appears to have considerably undermined national priorities. 

Under the circumstances, it is ridiculous that people in high places can even consider a pardon for Najib.

One thing is very clear - Malaysia needs to be very careful in its dealings with China, which has shown itself capable of engaging and working with the corrupt, so long as its own interests are furthered.

Let’s remember that it’s no different from any other superpower. - Mkini

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P GUNASEGARAM says you can’t keep sweeping garbage under the carpet - sooner or later, it spills out.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.