Friday 3 July 2015

WALL STREET JOURNAL - 1MDB money in Najib's pocket?


Investigators Believe Money Flowed to Malaysian Leader’s Accounts

Prime Minister Najib’s bank accounts are scrutinized in probe of investment fund 1MDB


KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysian investigators scrutinizing a controversial government investment fund have traced nearly $700 million of deposits into what investigators believe are the personal bank accounts of Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, according to documents from a government probe.
The investigation documents mark the first time Mr. Najib has been directly connected to the probes into state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB.
Mr. Najib, who founded 1MDB and heads its board of advisors, has been under growing political pressure over the fund, which amassed $11 billion in debt it is struggling to repay.
The government probe documents what investigators believe to be the movement of cash among government agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB before it ended up in Mr. Najib’s personal accounts. Documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal include bank transfer forms and flow charts put together by government investigators that reflect their understanding of the path of the cash.
The original source of the money is unclear and the government investigation doesn’t detail what happened to the money that went into Mr. Najib’s personal accounts.
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“The prime minister has not taken any funds for personal use,” said a Malaysian government spokesman. “The prime minister’s political opponents, unwilling to accept his record or the facts, continue to try to undermine him with baseless smears and rumours for pure political gain.”
Mr. Najib has previously denied wrongdoing in relation to 1MDB and has urged critics to wait for the conclusion of four official investigations that are ongoing into 1MDB’s activities.
Investigators have identified five separate deposits into Mr. Najib’s accounts that came from two sources, according to the documents viewed by the Journal.
By far the largest transactions were two deposits of $620 million and $61 million in March 2013, during a heated election campaign in Malaysia, the documents show. The cash came from a company registered in the British Virgin Islands via a Swiss bank owned by an Abu Dhabi state fund. The fund, International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC, has guaranteed billions of dollars of 1MDB’s bonds and in May injected $1 billion in capital into the fund to help meet looming debt repayments. A spokeswoman for IPIC couldn’t be reached for comment. The British Virgin Islands company, Tanore Finance Corp., couldn’t be reached.
ENLARGE
Another set of transfers, totaling 42 million ringgit ($11.1 million), originated within the Malaysian government, according to the investigation. Investigators believe the money came from an entity known as SRC International Sdn. Bhd., an energy company that originally was controlled by 1MDB but was transferred to the Finance Ministry in 2012. Mr. Najib is also the finance minister.
The money moved through another company owned by SRC International and then to a company that works exclusively for 1MDB, and finally to Mr. Najib’s personal accounts in three separate deposits, the government documents show.
Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, a director of SRC International, declined to comment. Mr. Kamil had power of attorney over Mr. Najib’s accounts, according to documents that were part of the government investigation.
A 1MDB spokesman said, referring to the transfers into Mr. Najib’s account: “1MDB is not aware of any such transactions, nor has it seen any documents to this effect.” The spokesman cautioned that doctored documents have been used in the past to discredit 1MDB and the government.
For months, concerns about 1MDB’s debt and lack of transparency have dominated political discussion in Malaysia, a close ally of the U.S. and a counterweight to China in Southeast Asia.
When he founded 1MDB in 2009, Mr. Najib promised it would kick-start new industries and turn Kuala Lumpur into a global financial center. Instead, the fund bought power plants overseas and invested in energy joint ventures that failed to get off the ground. The fund this year has rescheduled debt payments.
The Journal last month detailed how 1MDB had been used to indirectly help Mr. Najib’s election campaign in 2013. The fund appeared to overpay for a power plant from a Malaysian company. The company then donated money to a Najib-linked charity that made donations, including to local schools, which Mr. Najib was able to tout as he campaigned.
“We only acquire assets when we are convinced that they represent long-term value, and to suggest that any of our acquisitions were driven by political considerations is simply false,” 1MDB said last month.
The four probes into 1MDB are being conducted by the nation’s central bank, a parliamentary committee, the auditor general and police. A spokeswoman for Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, declined to comment. Malaysia’s police chief and a member of the parliamentary committee also had no comment. The auditor general said this week it had completed an interim report on 1MDB’s accounts and would hand it to the parliament on July 9.
The prime minister is facing increasing pressure over 1MDB. The country’s longest-serving prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, who left office in 2003, publicly has urged Mr. Najib to resign.
This week, Malaysia’s home minister threatened to withdraw publishing licenses from a local media group, citing what he said were inaccurate reports on 1MDB.
The $11.1 million of transfers to Mr. Najib’s bank account occurred at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, according to the government investigation. Among the companies that investigators say it passed through was Ihsan Perdana Sdn. Bhd., which provides corporate social responsibility programs for 1MDB’s charitable foundation, according to company registration documents. Attempts to reach the managing director of Ihsan Perdana weren’t successful.
Documents tied to the transfer said its purpose was for “CSR,” or corporate social responsibility, programs. The Wall Street Journal examination of the use of funds tied to 1MDB for Mr. Najib’s election campaign showed that the money was slated to be used for corporate social responsibility programs as well.
The government probe documents detail how investigators believe SRC International transferred 40 million ringgit on Dec. 24 last year to a wholly owned subsidiary. This company on the same day wired the money to Ihsan Perdana, according to the documents. Two days after receiving the money, Ihsan Perdana wired 27 million ringgit and five million ringgit in two separate transfers to two different bank accounts owned by Mr. Najib, the government documents show.
In February, 10 million ringgit entered the prime minister’s account, also from SRC International via Ihsan Perdana, the documents show.
The remittance documents don’t name Mr. Najib as the beneficiary but detail account numbers at a branch of AmIslamic Bank Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. Two flow charts from the government investigation name the owner of these accounts as “Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Bin Hj Abd Razak,” the prime minister’s official name. A spokesman for AmIslamic Bank declined to comment.
In another transaction, Tanore Finance, the British Virgin Islands-based company, transferred $681 million in two tranches to a different account at another Kuala Lumpur branch of AmIslamic Bank. The government probe said the account was owned by Mr. Najib, according to the documents.
The transfers came from an account held by Tanore Finance at a Singapore branch of Falcon Private Bank, a Swiss bank which is owned by IPIC, the Abu Dhabi fund, according to the documents. A spokesman for Falcon Private Bank declined to comment.
The $681 million was transferred to Mr. Najib’s accounts on March 21 and March 25, 2013, the government documents show.
Write to Tom Wright at tom.wright@wsj.com and Simon Clark at simon.clark@wsj.com
WSJ



32 comments:

Anonymous said...

What goes up must come down. There is a God and He will decide

Anonymous said...

Tak masuk syurga kalau solat tapi memfitnah, kata Najib.

Agaknya curi duit rakyat tak berdosa kot???

akaz said...

Will fall in disgrace.

Petoi Boga said...

Sure WSJ didnt get the info from SR?

Anonymous said...

Najib can't be that stupid right? Millions transfered to personal accounts? Cash is king indeed! Apalah bala Malaysia dapat PM corrupt sampai macam gini sekali? Malu orang Malaysia dibuatnya. Yang peliknya dia and wifey muka tak tahu malu pulak. Selamba dek aje ke hulu ke hilir menipu rakyat. Liat betul nak belah!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha...laporan tahap sampah ni pun ada yg percaya?!!... mmm....masuk acc peribadi DS Najib di Amislamic Bank?!!hehehe...korang mgkin boleh tuduh DS Najib pengecut tapi takkan lah dia sebodoh tu nk masuk ke acc peribadi!! Hahaha...mmg sah kena kencing buta2 dgn 'mat saleh '!!


Anakjati_sgway

Anonymous said...

1. I do now believe mahathir has a lot more damaging information on 1MDB

2. I perfectly understand now as to why mahathir has been so vocal in asking najib to step down

3. I also believe mahathir has "the information" on who murdered altantuya....

4. Just like in the case of 1MDB, it was the WSJ who had leaked the damnest evidence on najib followed by SR.

5. So I expect the australians would reveal on altantuya's case.

KITA TUNGGU DAN LIHAT SAMA SEPERTI KATA NAJIB "SABAR DAN TUNGGU"

Anonymous said...

The whole world may know everything BUT I have Nothing2Hide!
Cocky Lim ask me to say like that lor should anyone ask me for details, hehehehe ... my legacy very important leh.

Unknown said...

WSJ memang senang mahu memfitnah PM Najib. Sama juga dengan Tony Puaka.
Tak habis-habis selagi mereka lihat PM Najib jatuh.
PENGKHIANAT MEMANG SENANG DICARI.
Yang menjadi mangsa selalu Orang yang berhati jujur.

Persepsi "FITNAH DAHULU SEBELUM DI SIASAT". Jikalau benar atau tidak, WSJ mesti dihukum berat kerana memfitnah menjatuhkan PM Najib.

Anonymous said...

Ohh baru faham itu pasal Najib selalu tukar bank ke bank lain, nak hilangkan trace, tapi ini zaman IT, macam mana nak tutup bangkai gajah?

Mungkin ini yg Tun ada solid proof kot?

Kalau Najib Resign dari awal, tak lah terjadi kecoh, skandal, bala dan malapetaka menimpa nimpa terhadap Malaysia.

Resign gracefully aje lah, chai ahjibgor tak pasal2 dapat dosa, macam mana nak minta maaf? tuduh orang yg tak sokong Najib fitnah? penangkapan Xavier Justo umpama meraikan Hari Raya.tapi mereka lupa Xavier Justo juga ada original 1mdb email & doc. transaction selain dari yg tampered tu. lagi sekali macam mana nak tutup bangkai Gajah?

Permintaan Rakyat sekarang adalah,

Najib Resign gracefully aje lah, Tengok Pak Lah x der siapa yg kacau dia lagi, heran juga kenapa Najib tak mahu resign? takde sekumit dosa pun kah? tak ada pengganti yg berkelayakan? Hebat sangatkah Najib ni macam Tun? What have Najib Contribute terhadap Alif Ba dan Ta?

Cer citer chai ahjibgor.....

Anonymous said...

Sudah2 lah mamak kitol, dulu Melaka kau runtuhkan. Sekarang.......

Anonymous said...

Mak Bedah oh Mak Bedah,

Boleh sarankan PM untuk saman malu WSJ?

Kenapa senyap je?

Krikkk Krikkk Krikkk

Anonymous said...

On point no.3, i believe it too...

Have any1 noticed how Mahfuz (pas) has been backing Tun? He was the 1 with Tun in Australia!

Anonymous said...

So saman lah WSJ ngan SR...nape sampai arini x reti2 nak saman? Org lain blh plak kena saman awal2....

Apa kena mengenanya business entity g masukkan duit berjuta2 ke dalam personal account? Jual apa barang? Pee em boleh wat bisnes sambil jdi pee em ke? Kalau wat bisnes juta2 tak kena cukai ke? Boleh ke dorang ni lari cukai? Dan banyak betul soalan lagi yg blh ditanya....

Anonymous said...


@ Mak Bedah

"Persepsi "FITNAH DAHULU SEBELUM DI SIASAT". Jikalau benar atau tidak, WSJ mesti dihukum berat kerana memfitnah menjatuhkan PM Najib."

Hukumlah dorang, yop. SR dah tunggu 8 bulan dah....Sunday Times...WSJ...????

Cuma Harakah aje si Bacul tu berani saman ke?

Unknown said...

Eh2 bodoh gila bangang ni Melaka runtuh sebab ada pengkhianat macan Ah jib gor sedang Khianat bangsa sendiri dasar barua...

Anonymous said...

Bro., Ah Jib dah melepasi had - dia dah tak boleh resign gracefully. Penjenayah tahap ini hanya boleh diturunkan dengan hukuman makhamah.

Anonymous said...

You can be stupid and inconvenience none but yourself, but this Bahlol is bringing down the whole nation for his own sake.

Anonymous said...

The yarn masters are out in number attributing the damning report to SR. in no way are they crediting WSJ. watch tv3 tonight they will harp on about SR only. I hope that ugly man in black cock sayap earns his pay. This is no easy task. Trying to cover up for a retard is never is

Anonymous said...

10.13

Do we have to repeat this all the time? We write what we wish to write and not what you demand us to write.

You dont agree you dont have to be angry but just state you issues. My issue is the story makes no sense. Reading we have done but too many facts and posers questionable. You disagree you tell us why.

We are deleting comments with no contents and just personal attack n sweeping remarks serve to discredit us in our own blog.

din's knickers in a twist. Those deleted post mentioned about WSJ being the source. Lo and behold what happens

Anonymous said...

1st...it is very weird to have millions transferred to a personal account for biz purposes?
2nd...what kinda biz the pee em doin to get paid that much?
3rd...if it is just normal biz why are there at least 3 layers of transfers before ending up in his acc? Why cant the transfer done directly from the buyer to the seller acc?
4th...if it was just local biz, why was there a need to do all these out of Malaysia? Why were there involvement of international bankers?
5th...if its done locally, how much tax these people ought to pay? Why the tax evasion? Is it a legal biz?

There are so many more questions to be asked...

Anonymous said...

1MDB rush to deny involvement. SR mentioned about the money transferred via banks controlled by Aabar or IPIC. Yes 1MDB has no direct link but SR clearly stated which account number the money deposited to plus name of the bank. Just give consent to bank to publish bank statement and show it to public la.
Why Pm did not use simple approach to deny allegations? Show original documents to proof that documents disposed by SR tempered. Ask bank to print the bank statement and publish. susah sangat ke?

Anonymous said...

Anakjati_sgway,

najib bukan saja pengecut tapi dia juga bodoh..org bodoh mcm najib ni will always do all the stupid things...dan org yg sokong sibangang najib ni pun sama bodoh macam dia jugak!


pak sadeng jengka

Anonymous said...

1MDB denies allegations made by MI, TWSJ and SR. Setakat deny je buat apa. Kalau berani saman la..

Anonymous said...

Bukan lah, the kutties...

Anonymous said...

Just as they thought they have successfully destroyed SR's credibility with the arrest of Justo, SR turns the table around with this cut throat revealations.

Anonymous said...

Siap dengan no. akaun bank, nama bank complete dengan cawangan mana. To put salts to injury, details of when, where, who and how of the transactions also disclosed. There's a lot of names being thrown around and implicated.
If this all were made up, then those guys should drag SR to court for defamation.

Anonymous said...

Ini logic MACAI Anwar, selalu di canang, mcmana siful yg muda dan kuat tak boleh lawan Anwar yg tua tu? Maka byrlah macam yg makan logic ni.

Unknown said...

Saman jgn tak saman. Kalau benar apa nak takut. Masalah nya cuba cakap dan cerita betul2 pada rakyat. Kan dah susah.....takkan tak perasan....lepas satu...satu. Ada je isu panas...Abis tu bila masa nak buat kerja ? Cukup guna advisor je ? Ni masalah negara.....bukan hal remeh beb !
Apa pun Allah Maha Mengetahui.....tu PASTI.
Berani sbb benar....takut sbb salah.

Anonymous said...

I believe SR has more high class info. They just plan to release it bit by bit..till they fully reveal the truth. But it depends on how the accused react. For now..they only can deny without action..so who is gonna believe them?

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:01 betul kata hang dia x sebodoh tu KALAU benda tu di transfer direct ke dlm akaun dia....

TAPI ada 3 layer sykt yg diguna pakai sebelum msk ke akaun dia...itu maknanya dia hampir bijak!!! Utk jadi lebih bijak dia sepatutnya guna lebih byk sykt supaya penyiasat 'give up'...
SECARA logik otak perompak, dgn adanya berlapis2 layer macam ni mmg sangat susah nak trace....samalah kalau org guna anonymous IP address utk msk ke laman2 web terlarang. Cuba bayangkan pihak penyiasat kena cek 1 persatu akaun sykt2 tu utk pastikan mana dpt duit tu dan kemana perginya....

WSJ plak dgn statusnya yg tinggi pasti akan berpuluh kali cek bukti mereka pasal ni boleh melibatkan permusuhan negara...apalagi bila negara kita tgh sibuk nak join tppa dan nak jdi pengimbang kuasa negara besar asia!!

Anonymous said...

Penyokong Jibby kata dia takkan bodoh mana masuk duit akaun sendiri...tp mrk tak tau yg Money launderer takkan masuukan duit dlm poket dia terus menerus..mrk boleh export duit dan kmdn import balik melalui beberapa transaksi sebelum masuk balik akaun persendiriannya.. Inilah taktik money launderer

Jibby pulak langsung tak buat kenyataan direct ..adakah mmg betul akaun2 dan tarikh2 serta amaun tersebut tak wujud? Sebaliknya dia konar baring ckp pasal TDM pulak ..proxy ke apa..tu fintah dah tu klu dia sendiri tak da bukti

yg pasal YR1M pun tak ada jawapan direct akan dakwaan WSJ. Adakah dakwaan itu benar..adakah duit YR1M mmg dia x guna spt yg didakwa WSJ.. bukan hanya cukup dgn penafian..tp Jibby kena tunjuk penyata atau benarkan audit forensik YR1M kalau dia mmg tak buat apa apa kesalahan. apa takut ke? Akaun YR1M tu pun bukan akauan persendirian dia..tapi dia dok beating about the bush..its simply a pathetic wayang from him