This is the sarcastic visual being circulated in Facebook and WhatsApp? Is this Malaysians’ general perception of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)?Why is CORRUPTION a joke to Malaysians?
According Transparency International (TI)’s global corruption perceptions index (CPI), 2015 showed that people working together can succeed in fighting corruption.
Although corruption is still rife globally, more countries improved their scores in 2015 than declined.
Some countries have improved in recent years – Greece, Senegal and the UK are among those that have seen a significant increase in scores since 2012.
Others, including Australia, Brazil, Libya, Spain and Turkey, have deteriorated.
Dealing with many entrenched corruption issues, Brazil has been rocked by the Petrobras scandal, in which politicians are reported to have taken kickbacks in exchange for awarding public contracts.
Contrast the above TI global overview with Malaysia and do you find any similarities in negative practices and trends, and with regard to being a poor country and individual wealth?
No News Is Bad News is not going to comment but leave it to readers to form their own perception and judgment.
In 2015, Malaysia was ranked 54th in TI’s CPI out of 168 countries and territories.
That’s really not too bad and the Umno-led Barisan Nasional federal government (BN) can still shout and boast that its administration is “clean”.
But that CPI did not include the world’s largest ever money-laundering scandal and probe involving multi-billion dollars/ringgit linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
1MDB is now wholly owned by Malaysia’s Finance Ministry, ie to say the BN federal government. Prime Minister Najib Razak is also the country’s Finance Minister.
(L to R) U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California, U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell, and IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Richard Weber announce the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of more than $1 billion in assets associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in Washington July 20, 2016.聽REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed lawsuits in last July seeking to seize dozens of properties tied to 1MDB, saying that over US$3.5 billion (RM14 billion) was misappropriated from the institution.
The lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles, seek to seize assets “involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1MDB”.
The lawsuits said the alleged offences were committed over a four-year period and involved multiple individuals, including Malaysian officials and their associates, who conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB.
None of the lawsuits named Najib Razak but a Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) was cited 36 times in the civil action of forfeiture.
But they named Riza Aziz, Najib’s step-son, as a “relevant individual” in the case. They also named Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, and Abu Dhabi government officials Khadem al-Qubaisi and Mohamed Ahmed Badawy Al-Husseiny.
The U.S. lawsuits said funds misappropriated from 1MDB were transferred to the co-founder of Petrosaudi, a company that had a joint venture with 1MDB, and thereafter to a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government it identified only as “Malaysian Official One”.
The DoJ’s law suits has sparked an international money-laundering probe by some 10 countries with the freezing of assets and banking facilities.
TI’s CPI indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Now, let’s take a closer look at Malaysia. Ranked 54th out of 168 countries but the CPI score is 50 last year. It was 52 in 2014, 50 in 2013 and 49 in 2012.
Malaysians now wait anxiously Malaysia’s CPI global standing in 2016 with the 1MDB saga sinking into TI’s survey.
Corruption can be beaten if we work together. To stamp out the abuse of power, bribery and shed light on secret deals, citizens must together tell their governments they have had enough.José Ugaz, Chair, Transparency International
On the back of the ongoing 1MDB-linked global money-laundering saga, TI-Malaysia told online news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) this:
"Return ill-gotten gains to the people, says TI-M
Robin Augustin
| August 30, 2016
'It is not fair that so many people are suffering while the corrupt live beyond their means.'
PETALING JAYA: Transparency International Malaysia has proposed that assets seized from corrupt officials be used to benefit the general public, its president Akhbar Satar said.
“It’s not fair that we have so many people suffering while the corrupt live beyond their means,” he said in an interview with FMT, adding that any assets purchased with ill-gotten gains must be liquidated and the funds used for the good of the people.
Akhbar also noted that discussions on corruption often focuses on public officials, when it is actually a problem that also afflicts the private sector as well as political parties.
He said the PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Global Economic Survey for 2016 showed that corruption in private firms in Malaysia had increased from 19 per cent in 2013 to 30 per cent in 2016.
He also pointed to Transparency’s Malaysian Corruption Barometer 2014 survey, which found that political parties were the most corrupt, followed by the police, and by other public servants.
“Corruption is a cancer for any country and society,” he said. “KPMG’s 2013 Fraud, Bribery and Corruption survey showed that 90 per cent of respondents felt bribery and corruption were a major problem for businesses in Malaysia.”
According to Akhbar, the perception that corruption is a major problem in Malaysia reduces the country’s attractiveness to investors, resulting in reduced opportunities for the people.
If the proceeds from the liquidation of seized assets went back to the public, he said, people would have the incentive to become informers.
He noted that the MACC Act protects informers.
“If someone has offered or asked you for a bribe, contact the MACC for advice,” said Akhbar, who served in the Anti-Corruption Agency, MACC’s predecessor, for 18 years.
He praised MACC for its recent string of busts and urged it to maintain the momentum.
Earlier this month, MACC arrested three high-ranking government officials on suspicion of graft, misuse of power and money laundering. The arrests were made in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Kelantan respectively.
These were followed by the arrest of a managing director and chairman of a government-linked company , for allegedly being involved in a multi-million-ringgit bribery case."
NOTICE SOMETHING CONSPICUOUSLY MISSING? Not a single mention of 1MDB!
Too hot to handle or what?
Can you really blame Malaysians for being sarcastic and turning the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into a joke?
Although corruption is still rife globally, more countries improved their scores in 2015 than declined.
Some countries have improved in recent years – Greece, Senegal and the UK are among those that have seen a significant increase in scores since 2012.
Others, including Australia, Brazil, Libya, Spain and Turkey, have deteriorated.
Dealing with many entrenched corruption issues, Brazil has been rocked by the Petrobras scandal, in which politicians are reported to have taken kickbacks in exchange for awarding public contracts.
As the economy crunches, tens of thousands of ordinary Brazilians have lost their jobs already. They didn’t make the decisions that led to the scandal. But they’re the ones living with the consequences.
Five of the 10 most corrupt countries also rank among the 10 least peaceful places in the world.
In Afghanistan, millions of dollars that should have gone on reconstruction have been reportedly wasted or stolen, seriously undermining efforts to sustain peace.
Even where there’s no open conflict, the levels of inequality and poverty in these countries are devastating.
In Angola, 70% of the population live on US$2 a day or less. One in six children die before the age of five – making it the deadliest place in the world to be a child. More than 150,000 children die each year. But not everyone’s suffering.
Dubbed Africa’s youngest billionaire, Isabel dos Santos made her US$3.4 billion (RM13.6 billion) fortune from the national diamond and telecommunications business. She’s also the president’s daughter.
Five of the 10 most corrupt countries also rank among the 10 least peaceful places in the world.
In Afghanistan, millions of dollars that should have gone on reconstruction have been reportedly wasted or stolen, seriously undermining efforts to sustain peace.
Even where there’s no open conflict, the levels of inequality and poverty in these countries are devastating.
In Angola, 70% of the population live on US$2 a day or less. One in six children die before the age of five – making it the deadliest place in the world to be a child. More than 150,000 children die each year. But not everyone’s suffering.
Dubbed Africa’s youngest billionaire, Isabel dos Santos made her US$3.4 billion (RM13.6 billion) fortune from the national diamond and telecommunications business. She’s also the president’s daughter.
Contrast the above TI global overview with Malaysia and do you find any similarities in negative practices and trends, and with regard to being a poor country and individual wealth?
No News Is Bad News is not going to comment but leave it to readers to form their own perception and judgment.
In 2015, Malaysia was ranked 54th in TI’s CPI out of 168 countries and territories.
That’s really not too bad and the Umno-led Barisan Nasional federal government (BN) can still shout and boast that its administration is “clean”.
But that CPI did not include the world’s largest ever money-laundering scandal and probe involving multi-billion dollars/ringgit linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
1MDB is now wholly owned by Malaysia’s Finance Ministry, ie to say the BN federal government. Prime Minister Najib Razak is also the country’s Finance Minister.
(L to R) U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California, U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell, and IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Richard Weber announce the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of more than $1 billion in assets associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in Washington July 20, 2016.聽REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed lawsuits in last July seeking to seize dozens of properties tied to 1MDB, saying that over US$3.5 billion (RM14 billion) was misappropriated from the institution.
The lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles, seek to seize assets “involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1MDB”.
The lawsuits said the alleged offences were committed over a four-year period and involved multiple individuals, including Malaysian officials and their associates, who conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB.
None of the lawsuits named Najib Razak but a Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) was cited 36 times in the civil action of forfeiture.
But they named Riza Aziz, Najib’s step-son, as a “relevant individual” in the case. They also named Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, and Abu Dhabi government officials Khadem al-Qubaisi and Mohamed Ahmed Badawy Al-Husseiny.
The U.S. lawsuits said funds misappropriated from 1MDB were transferred to the co-founder of Petrosaudi, a company that had a joint venture with 1MDB, and thereafter to a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government it identified only as “Malaysian Official One”.
The DoJ’s law suits has sparked an international money-laundering probe by some 10 countries with the freezing of assets and banking facilities.
TI’s CPI indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
Now, let’s take a closer look at Malaysia. Ranked 54th out of 168 countries but the CPI score is 50 last year. It was 52 in 2014, 50 in 2013 and 49 in 2012.
Malaysians now wait anxiously Malaysia’s CPI global standing in 2016 with the 1MDB saga sinking into TI’s survey.
Corruption can be beaten if we work together. To stamp out the abuse of power, bribery and shed light on secret deals, citizens must together tell their governments they have had enough.José Ugaz, Chair, Transparency InternationalOn the back of the ongoing 1MDB-linked global money-laundering saga, TI-Malaysia told online news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) this:
"Return ill-gotten gains to the people, says TI-M
Robin Augustin
| August 30, 2016
'It is not fair that so many people are suffering while the corrupt live beyond their means.'
PETALING JAYA: Transparency International Malaysia has proposed that assets seized from corrupt officials be used to benefit the general public, its president Akhbar Satar said.
“It’s not fair that we have so many people suffering while the corrupt live beyond their means,” he said in an interview with FMT, adding that any assets purchased with ill-gotten gains must be liquidated and the funds used for the good of the people.
Akhbar also noted that discussions on corruption often focuses on public officials, when it is actually a problem that also afflicts the private sector as well as political parties.
He said the PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Global Economic Survey for 2016 showed that corruption in private firms in Malaysia had increased from 19 per cent in 2013 to 30 per cent in 2016.
He also pointed to Transparency’s Malaysian Corruption Barometer 2014 survey, which found that political parties were the most corrupt, followed by the police, and by other public servants.
“Corruption is a cancer for any country and society,” he said. “KPMG’s 2013 Fraud, Bribery and Corruption survey showed that 90 per cent of respondents felt bribery and corruption were a major problem for businesses in Malaysia.”
According to Akhbar, the perception that corruption is a major problem in Malaysia reduces the country’s attractiveness to investors, resulting in reduced opportunities for the people.
If the proceeds from the liquidation of seized assets went back to the public, he said, people would have the incentive to become informers.
He noted that the MACC Act protects informers.
“If someone has offered or asked you for a bribe, contact the MACC for advice,” said Akhbar, who served in the Anti-Corruption Agency, MACC’s predecessor, for 18 years.
He praised MACC for its recent string of busts and urged it to maintain the momentum.
Earlier this month, MACC arrested three high-ranking government officials on suspicion of graft, misuse of power and money laundering. The arrests were made in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Kelantan respectively.
These were followed by the arrest of a managing director and chairman of a government-linked company , for allegedly being involved in a multi-million-ringgit bribery case."
NOTICE SOMETHING CONSPICUOUSLY MISSING? Not a single mention of 1MDB!
Too hot to handle or what?
Can you really blame Malaysians for being sarcastic and turning the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) into a joke?
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