Share to help stimulate good governance, ensure future of people & M’sia
No News Is Bad News
Truly an untouchable Malaysian, even after death.
Taib Mahmud - truly an untouchable Malaysian
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29, 2024: Besides the Taliban-like PAS president Hadi Awang who appears to be 3R (Race, Religion, Royalty) untouchable, former Sarawak chief minister and governor Taib Mahmud is truly untouchable.
Even after death, he is still untouchable. It doesn’t matter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) that Taib owned 36% of land in Sarawak, the size five times Singapore!!!
MACC chief Azam Baki said today that there would be no further investigation into cases involving Taib.
“The matter has been resolved and there will be no more investigations related to Taib,” he added.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a news report on what Azam said and other related news:
No further probe into cases involving Taib, says Azam
The MACC chief says investigations into former finance minister Daim Zainudin and efforts to locate former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s son-in-law Adlan Berhan are continuing.
Elill Easwaran - 29 Feb 2024, 2:00pm
MACC chief Azam Baki says investigations into cases involving former Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud have concluded.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki says there will be no further investigation into cases involving former Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.
“The matter has been resolved and there will be no more investigations related to Taib,” he briefly told reporters after an event here today.
Last week, Switzerland-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund called for an immediate freeze of Taib’s assets.
The NGO’s executive director, Lukas Straumann, also urged the government and judiciary to reopen investigations into the origin of Taib’s and his closest family members’ “enormous wealth”.
This came after Taib, 87, died at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur at 4.40am on Feb 21.
On a separate matter, Azam said investigations concerning former finance minister Daim Zainudin are still under way.
“We still need to record statements from a few more people, including those residing abroad,” he said.
Daim is currently facing charges for failure to declare ownership of 38 companies, 19 plots of land in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Kedah and Kuala Lumpur, as well as six properties, seven vehicles and two bank accounts.
His wife, Naimah Khalid, was charged with failing to comply with a MACC asset declaration notice on Jan 23.
As for investigations into former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s son-in-law Adlan Berhan, Azam said the MACC has yet to ascertain his whereabouts.
“At the same time, we are actively coordinating with international authorities to locate him,” he said.
Last year, an MACC source said the agency had been investigating the award of a lucrative contract to Adlan, centred around possible abuse of power in connection with the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe).
Adlan was named in media reports in 2020 as a possible key player in the contract for the NIISe.
MACC was also tracking down Mansoor Saat, a lawyer, to facilitate the investigation.
Friday 9 February 2024
Taib family clan owns land 5 times size of Singapore? Why no MACC probe?
Share to help stimulate good governance, ensure future of people & M’sia
No News Is Bad News
For image info, go to https://radiofreesarawak.org/rns-archive/21-02-2020
Taib family clan owns land 5 times size of Singapore? Why no MACC probe?
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10, 2024: Does the family clan of former Sarawak chief minister and governor Taib Mahmud own land in the state five times the size of Singapore?
It is certainly shocking to Malaysians, particularly Sarawakians, but not to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the federal government.
If the MACC and the so-called Madani Unity Government (UG), are shocked, why is there no probe launched on the alleged land grabs by Taib?
No News Is Bad News reproduces below reports on the allegations posted by The Coverage:
The Coverage/News/The List Of Taib Landgrabs : Owning 357,980 Hectares Of Land In Sarawak – 5 Times Larger Than Entire Singapore
The List Of Taib Landgrabs : Owning 357,980 Hectares Of Land In Sarawak – 5 Times Larger Than Entire Singapore
9 February, 2024
A pro-Pakatan blogger has accused Abdul Taib Mahmud and his family of owning 357,980 hectares of land in Sarawak or nearly 3.5% of the total land in the state.
Kelantan-based blog named Perisik Rakyat (People’s Spy) in his latest posting alleged that Taib, in his 30-year rule of the state, had amassed the landbank in the state which has over 12.4 million hectares of land.
The blog, which does not reveal the name of the blogger, claimed that Abu Bekir Taib, one of Taib’s sons, was the biggest “landlord” in state with ownership of 142,550ha in almost every part of the huge state which is as big as Peninsular Malaysia.
The blog claimed that Abu Bekir owned 70,000ha in Sri Aman, 4,400ha in Lawas, 20,000ha in Limbang, 500ha in Miri, 5,000ha in Sungai Teru and Batang Baram, 26,100ha in Sungai Karap, 4,000ha in Tinjar, 4,500ha in Sungai Tutoh, 4,000ha in Mukah and 9,000ha in Sungai Machan Tengah.
The blog also accused Taib’s family – Hamid Sepawi (cousin), Hasmi Hasnan, Teresa Toyad (relations), Raziah Mahmud (sister), Ibarhim Mahmud (brother), Elia Geneid (nephew), Robert Geneid (brother-in-law), Arip Mahmud (brother), Yahya Ibrahim (nephew), Mahmud Ibrahim (nephew), Azerina Mohd Arip (sister-in-law) and Fatimah Abdul Rahman (cousin) – of holding the massive landbank on behalf of Taib, also known as the White Rajah of Sarawak due to his white hair.
The blog also named several people which it claimed to be Taib’s close associates or cronies who owned land on behalf of him. They were, alleges the blog, Naroden Majais (a BN politician), Mohamid Morshidi Abdul Ghani (Sarawak BN secretary), Ahmad Su’ut (a traditional healer), Abdul Hamid Sepawi (a proxy) and Lau Hie Ping, Wong Kuo Hea, Lim Choo Tad, Siew Meng Kun, Chai Min Kian – all from the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), a BN Sarawak coalition member.
‘Taib must be brought to justice’
The blog claims that among the land “hijacked” by Taib and his family were 31,000ha of NCR land in Long Lama through Merawa Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of Samling Global), 15,000ha of NCR land in the Penan Ba Jawi via Samling Plywood (Miri) Sdn Bhd,13,000ha in the Bawan River Basin and 15,000ha in Bruit island.
FMT spoke to a real estate agent based in Kuala Lumpur but familiar with the property and land markets in Sarawak, who expressed shock over the claim.
Source : Malaysia Today
Taib’s Landgrabs – The Breakdown
Bruno Manser Fund’s research team have done the world another favour. They have conducted a careful and painstaking analysis of the leaked Land & Survey Department information that we first revealed on line here on Sarawak Report [click for land grab map and data].
From the BMF report we can now see clearly, in black and white, the extraordinary extent of the theft carried out by the Chief Minister and his family of Sarawak’s native and state-owned lands.
In the name of ‘development’ Taib has filched an area three times the size of Singapore for himself and close family members. Indeed, the Chief Minister, who claims he ‘does no business in Sarawak’ is himself an owner of the company which has received most of all in terms of land, Delta Padi.
Dirt cheap (or free)!
Just as outrageous is the fact that these handouts by the Chief Minister to himself and his family were made either for free or for a ridiculously low cost. According to BMF, 50% of the land handed to Taib family companies were given out for free under the guise of “payment in kind”!
This means the poor people of Sarawak did not even get a proper premium for the land that has been taken from them, which could have at least paid for some compensation or basic amenities for the state.
What kind of government carries out this sort of theft against it people?
Kleptocracy
Taib Mahmud runs what is known as a kleptocracy, from the old Greek word ‘klepto’, which means I steal.
Taib is himself a kleptocrat, which means that his primary motive, from the moment he gets up in the morning till he goes to bed in the evening, is to abuse his power to grab as much as he possibly can from the people who have placed their trust in him.
Sarawak has given a thief all the keys to the nation’s wealth and he has been stealing from them ever since!
The headline figures of the BMF report are that 200,000 hectares of native lands have been handed out to 31 Taib related companies over recent years to chop down and turn into oil palm. Altogether these companies have paid a mere RM100million in premiums for that land, a fraction of its worth in terms of timber and palm oil production.
Take Taib’s brother Onn’s recent advertisement for his own Achi Jaya plantation lands for example. He has been asking RM31million per acre, which makes a price of RM77million per hectare. This would place a worth on the 200,000 hectares grabbed by Taib at an eventual RM15.4 billion!
Compare that figure to the miserable RM3.47 million that Taib’s BN state government just announced was all it could afford to allocate this year to alleviate hard-core rural poverty!
Consider what Sarawak could do with RM15.4billion to help the impoverished communities of the interior. What a mistake to allow such wealth to pass through the hands of greedy old Abdul Taib Mahmud!
Source : Sarawak Report
SENARAI HARTA YG DI MILIKI OLEH Taib Mahmud
1. 750 hektar … di Sungai Lubai Tengah, Limbang Srwk Plantations Entiti perniagaan ini tlh diswastakn, 60% pegangan saham dimiliki olh Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib) & Hasmi b Hasnan.
2. 4,400 hektar … di Sungai Medalam, Lawas Celerity Design Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib (anak Taib Mahmud).
3. 9.000 hektar … di Batang, Limbang Future Atmosphere Sdn Bhd Abu Bekir Taib.
4. 11,000 hektar di Ulu Medamit, Limbang – Dataran Aras Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib.
5. 3,000 hektar … di Tinjar,Miri – Amazing Green Sdn Bhd – Teresa Toyad (keluarga Taib yg berkahwin dgn bekas Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri) & CEO kpd SCORE Wilson Baya Dandot.
6. 750 hektar … di Jalan, Miri.
7. 2,000 hektar … di lokasi penting lapangan trbang, Miri – Kumpulan Parabena Sdn Bhd & Mesti Bersatu Sdn Bhd Taib Mahmud & Raziah Mahmud.
8. 500 hektar … di Sungai Sibuti, Miri – Premium Haven Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib.
9. 5,000 hektar … di Sungai Teru & Batang Baram – Essential Straits Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib.
10. 1,100 hektar di Sungai Karap Umpama Mantap Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib.
11. 10,000 hektar di Lot 1208 Sungai Karap – Abu Bekir Taib.
12. 50 hektar … di Jalan Tusan, Sibuti – Ukiran Mantap Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib.
13. 4,000 hektar di Sungai Bok, Tinjar – Log Oak Promotion Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib.
14. 4,500 hektar di Sungai Tutoh Syarikat Radiant Lagoon – Abu Bekir Taib.
15. 5,000 hektar di Sungai Karap & Sungai Kulak – Amgreen Gain Sdn Bhd – Ibrahim Mahmud (abang/adik Taib).
16. 50 hektar … di Sungai Karabungan, Niah – Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib) & Hasmi b Hasnan.
17. 31,000 hektar … tanah NCR di Long Lamai – Merawa Sdn Bhd (anak syarikat Samling Global).
18. 2,600 hektar di Jalan Setium – Mega Bumimas Sdn Bhd (anak syarikat Ta An – Hamed Sepawi (sepupu Taib).
19. 10,000 hektar di Similajau – Sahua Enterprise Sdn Bhd – Mohamid Morshidi bin Abdul Ghani (Setiausaha BN Sarawak).
20. 4,500 hektar … di Similajau – Derawan Sdn Bhd – Mohamid Morshidi bin Abdul Ghani (Setiausaha BN Sarawak).
21. 15,000 hektar … tanah NCR kaum Penan di Ba Jawi Samling Plywood (Miri) Sdn Bhd.
22. 1,600 hektar … di Setuan – Hasmi Hasan (proksi Taib).
23. 10,000 hektar di Sungai Takan & Ulu Sungai Nyatak, Tatau – Ikrar Bumi Sdn Bhd Elia Geneid (anak saudara Taib).
24. 8,000 hektar … di Balingian (sebahagian besar kawasan ini asalnya adalah hutam simpan Setuan Besar) – Saradu Plantations Sdn Bhd, Organic Treasure Sdn Bhd & Kumpulan Parabena Sdn Bhd – Raziah Mahmud (adik Taib) & Robert Geneid (ipar Taib).
25. 10,000 hektar … di Ulu Mukah – Sarawak Plantations Entiti perniagaan ini telah diswastakn, 60% pegangan saham dimiliki olh Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib) & Hasmi b Hasnan.
26. 5,000 hektar … di Mukah – Delta Padi Sdn Bhd (Taib Mahmud) & LCD (pengerusinya ialah Taib Mahmud).
27. 5,000 hektar di Sungai Bawan – Palmlyn Sdn Bhd Taib Mahmud & Arip Mahmud.
28. 13,000 hektar di Sungai Bawan Golden Star Ace Sdn Bhd – Taib Mahmud & Arip Mahmud.
29. 4,000 hektar di Sungai Sikat, Mukah – Bella Magic Sdn Bhd – Abu Bekir Taib.
30. 5,000 hektar di Kenyana Rajah Mutiara Sdn Bhd Taib Mahmud & Arip Mahmud.
31. 2,000 hektar di Loba Kabang – Victoria Square Development Sdn Bhd Ibrahim Mahmud (abang/adik Taib).
32. 2,050 hektar di Penasu Igan – Victoria Square Development Sdn Bhd Ibrahim Mahmud (abang/adik Taib).
33. 5,000 hektar di Antara Batang, Oya & Batang Mukah – Kub Sepadu Sdn Bhd – Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib).
34. 10,500 hektar di Sungai Retus – Hariyama Sdn Bhd Taib Mahmud & Arip Mahmud.
35. 768 hektar … di Pasai Siong, Sungai Retus – Masretus Oil Palm Plantation Sdn Bhd Ibrahim Mahmud(abang/ adik Taib), Yahya bin Ibrahim (anak saudara Taib) & Mahmud bin Ibrahim (anak saudara Taib).
36. 400 hektar … di Tulai Meradong – Delta Padi Sdn Bhd (Taib Mahmud) & LCD(pengerusinya ialah Taib Mahmud).
37. 2,000 hektar … di Batang Lebaan, Sibu – Delta Padi Sdn Bhd (Taib Mahmud) & LCDA (pengerusinya ialah Taib Mahmud).
38. 100 hektar … di Sungai Lengan, Sibu – Delta Padi Sdn Bhd (Taib Mahmud) & LCDA (pengerusinya ialah Taib Mahmud).
39. 600 hektar … di Sungai Melayu, Meradong – Sarawak Plantations – Entiti perniagaan ini telah diswastakan, 60% pegangan saham dimiliki olh Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib) & Hasmi b Hasnan.
40. 1,113 hektar di Batang Lassa – Europalm Sdn Bhd (anak syarikat Ta Ann Holdings) – Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib).
41. 1,500 hektar … di Jin Matu, Daro – Europalm Sdn Bhd (anak syarikat Ta Ann Holdings) Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib).
42. 90 hektar … di Kampung Tebang, Batang Lassa,Daro – Multi Maximum Sdn Bhd (anak syarikat Ta Ann Holdings) Hamid Sepawi (sepupu Taib).
43. 15,000 hektar di Pulau Bruit – Eastern Eden Sdn Bhd & Poh Zhen Sdn Bhd – Arip Mahmud (abang/adik Taib), Ali Mahmud (abang/adik Taib) & Azerina Mohd Arip (ipar Taib).
44. 7,700 hektar di Paloh Delta Padi Sdn Bhd (Taib Mahmud) & LCDA (pengerusinya ialah Taib Mahmud).
Source : Edisi Siasat
Leaked Sarawak Concession Map Shows Taib’s Secret Stranglehold Over Borneo Rainforest
The Bruno Manser Fund, has released one of Sarawak’s best-guarded secrets, a map of all the timber and plantation concessions in the northern part of Sarawak, a state on the island of Borneo that accounts for 25% of the world’s exports of tropical logs. The map was prepared in May 2010 by Sarawak’s Forest Department and was never intended to be made public.
For over three decades, kickbacks for timber and plantation concessions have been one of the most important sources of political funding and personal enrichment for Sarawak’s long-term head of government, Chief Minister Taib Mahmud (“Taib”). As a consequence, the Sarawak government has done everything in its power to keep secret the precise figures and dates on the timber and plantation concessions granted to Sarawak companies. Not surprisingly, the leaked Sarawak forestry map provides strong evidence that large tracts of the state’s forests have been handed over to family members and cronies of the Sarawak Chief Minister.
Most concessions in Northern Sarawak have gone to the Samling group, which exploits 1.37 million hectares of timber and plantation concessions in the area, equivalent to 36% of the total land mass of Northern Sarawak (3.79 million hectares) as is shown on the map. Samling is owned by the Yaw family, a Sarawak Chinese family with close ties to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. 5.4 % of Samling shares are held by Ahmad Bin Su’ut, the Chief Minister’s spiritual medium (“bomoh”). Another 5% are held by Abdul Hamed Sepawi, Taib’s first cousin. Both are thought to be nominees for Taib himself.
Another 18 % of the land mass (700,000 hectares) have been concessioned to four state agencies, Yayasan Sarawak, Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation, and the Land Custody Development Authority, which are ultimately controlled by Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud.
Other private companies with very significant concession areas are logging giants Shin Yang (384,000 hectares), Rimbunan Hijau (295,000 hectares) and KTS (156,000 hectares).
Other operators related to the Taib family are Titanium Management, a company owned by Taib’s son, Abu Bekir Mahmud, (55,000 hectares of plantation concessions) and Ta Ann (33,000 hectares), which is controlled by Taib’s cousin, Abdul Hamed Sepawi.
The Bruno Manser Fund is calling on the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the granting of timber and plantation concessions in Sarawak as part of its ongoing corruption investigation against Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Source : Borneo
Saturday 24 February 2024
Taib Mahmud’s alleged money laundering activities linked to A$50m Adelaide Hilton
Share to help stimulate good governance, ensure future of people & M’sia
No News Is Bad News
Facebook image
Taib Mahmud’s alleged money laundering activities linked to A$50m Adelaide Hilton
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24, 2024: Now that former Sarawak Chief Minister and Governor Taib Mahmud is gone, there is no reason why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision (MACC), the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and the police cannot act to determine whether his enormous wealth worth tens of billions can be seized and returned to the rakyat dan negara (people and country).
While the South China Morning Post (SCMP) has reported a story urging the Malaysian authorities to freeze the assets of the late Taib, news are emerging from Adelaide (Australia) of Taib’s money laundering links (view above video).
For image info, go to https://www.pixtastock.com/photo/103413398
The news described Taib as this:
Wealth: Tens of billions
Day Job: Profiteer
Nominal Profession: Former Chief Minister and Governor (of Sarawak)
The news alleged that Taib had used the A$50 million Adelaide Hilton for his money laundering activities.
The state parliament is calling for criminal investigations into the alleged laundering of at least A$30 million.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below the SCMP report (reposted by The Coverage), the video news report from Adelaide (above) and a March 30, 2017 Sarawak Report article:
The Coverage/News/Freeze Taib Mahmud’s Assets & Bank Accounts Before Raghad Can Appropriate Them
Freeze Taib Mahmud’s Assets & Bank Accounts Before Raghad Can Appropriate Them
24 February, 2024
An environmental activism group named after a Swiss man who vanished in Sarawak in 2005 during a mission to defend an indigenous tribe from loggers has urged Malaysian authorities to freeze the assets of the late former Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud.
The Basel-based non-profit Bruno Manser Funds (BMF) was founded in 1991 by the Swiss rainforest campaigner and human-rights activist of the same name. It has spent years campaigning against Taib’s logging activities in Sarawak’s rainforest and wants Malaysia to reopen a probe into his wealth.
Taib, who died on Wednesday aged 87, had said over the years that the drive to establish vast palm oil plantations and infrastructure schemes was necessary for the renewal of the state on Borneo island.
Conservationists and forest dwellers say, however, that Taib’s economic measures caused millions of acres of rainforest to be wiped out, causing irreversible damage to Sarawak’s pristine natural environment.
In the process, the projects greatly boosted the fortunes of the vastly wealthy politician, who was estimated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to have assets worth over US$1 billion in the early 2010s.
In a statement, BMF Executive Director Lukas Straumann urges the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to immediately freeze Taib’s personal bank accounts and other assets before his family members could appropriate them.
“We call on the MACC to reopen its investigation into Taib assets, which was closed in 2016 for political reasons”, Straumann said.
The Malaysian authorities need to get to the bottom of the “enormous wealth” of Taib and his family, Straumann added.
In 1999, Manser flew a motorised glider above Taib’s residence as part of a publicity stunt to highlight the governor’s environmentally devastating policies, which led to the arrest of the Swiss and subsequent deportation back to his country.
Manser returned in 2005 to Sarawak, where he disappeared and was later presumed dead.
The unresolved mystery has led to multiple speculations on his whereabouts – that he went into hiding with the indigenous nomadic Penan tribe which he had made his life mission to protect; was being imprisoned by Sarawak authorities, died as a result of natural dangers he faced in the jungle or was murdered by the loggers he opposed.
Between 1990 and 2009, Sarawak saw massive deforestation due to the conversion of forested areas into palm plantations, according to a joint study by a group of Malaysian and Japanese researchers and the Sarawak Forestry Department.
The forest shrank by half a million hectares in 2009 from 6 million hectares in 1990, the study showed. The period overlapped with the years of Taib’s stewardship of the state government.
Taib became Chief Minister of Malaysia’s largest subdivision in 1981 and stayed in office for 33 years until 2014 when he was promoted to the governor’s office, a move seen as shielding the ageing politician from legal repercussions.
His ascension to the office meant he was legally on par with that of the sultans in other states of Malaysia, which effectively granted him immunity.
Amid longstanding speculation over his poor health, Taib was relieved from the governorship in late January.
His two sons have been embroiled in a legal suit against his widow Raghad Kurdi Taib involving the transfer of shares held by Taib in the conglomerate Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS) to her. In their lawsuit, the brothers questioned the authenticity of Taib’s signature on documents transferring ownership of his shares to Raghad.
On February 6, MACC chief Azam Baki said the commission had investigated Taib in previous years and that the Attorney General’s Chamber decided not to pursue the matter thereafter.
“The case has been forwarded to the Attorney General’s Chamber, and [they] have ordered no further action,” Azam said in a forum in Kuching, Sarawak.
Azam’s comments were in response to a media query on claims made by his predecessor Mohd Shukri Abdull in 2018 that the MACC had opened 15 investigation papers on Taib.
BMF said CMS – Sarawak’s largest state-owned company – benefited from public contracts worth over 4.9 billion ringgit (US $1.4 billion), and this sum has been in the hands of Taib’s closest family members since the early 1990s.
Such deals were against Sarawak’s constitution, which barred the state’s Chief Minister and Governor from personal benefit in commercial enterprises, BMF added.
Source : SCMP
In Malaysia, money squabbles cast long shadow over death of Sarawak’s ex-governor Taib Mahmud
The last few weeks of the life of Taib Mahmud, 87, who dominated Sarawak’s business and politics for over three decades, were a chaotic whirl of accusations and acrimony after claims he was taken from hospital in Kuching by his wife against doctor’s orders – and later sent to Kuala Lumpur where he died on Wednesday.
In death, the rancour between Taib’s younger Syrian wife – accused of moving the ailing Taib – and his two sons will only likely deepen as they continue a court dispute over his vast wealth.
But on Wednesday morning, a tearful Raghad Kurdi Taib and her husband’s four children appeared to have set aside their differences for Taib’s wake at the national mosque.
There, alongside members of Taib’s extended family, they received a long line of national and state leaders who arrived to pay their last respects.
Taib was accorded a state funeral, his casket placed on a pedestal and draped in the Malaysian flag, surrounded by vigil guards.
The former Sarawak governor’s body was later flown back to Kuching, where the state government will arrange for a second wake at his residence before burial on Thursday.
Taib’s death followed a frantic final few weeks in the life of a wealthy fief who helmed Sarawak for decades with shrewd, ruthless politicking and a network of business connections.
On February 3, his cross-country journey for treatment began amid allegations that he had been forcibly removed from a hospital in Kuching in Sarawak by Raghad, flanked by security and butlers.
Raghad has vehemently denied the allegations, saying on her Instagram on Monday she “would never undertake uninformed action to jeopardise” Taib’s well-being.
Her account is awash with posts of her and Taib at state banquets and hosting VIP guests including sultan of Brunei and Malaysia’s former king, and spending time together as a couple.
“I am who I am because of you. We may have our challenges, our stumbles and our disagreements, but as long as we are still together and love one another … #happyweddinganniversary to us,” she said in a post to celebrate their wedding anniversary.
Raghad is currently embroiled in a lawsuit brought by Taib’s two sons, Mahmud Abu Bekir and Sulaiman Abdul Rahman, over the patriarch’s wealth.
The men are seeking to stop the transfer of shares to her held by their father in Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS), a sprawling conglomerate founded during his earlier three-decade rule as Sarawak chief minister.
In their lawsuit, the brothers questioned the authenticity of Taib’s signature on documents transferring ownership of the shares to Raghad.
But as grief and condolences poured out, some were quick to raise a reminder of the alleged excesses of Taib’s long rule of Sarawak, which last year had a gross domestic product US$30.5 billion, according to state government data, from under US$1 billion in 1981 when Taib first took over as chief minister.
In reply to a condolence message by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on social media platform X, a netizen wrote: “Return the rightful assets to the people of Sarawak.”
Taib was widely seen as the chief architect of Sarawak’s economic rise. His supporters credited him for leveraging the state’s abundant land and natural resources to develop a strong base of commodity and agriculture exports such as natural gas and black pepper, while also driving a successful global tourism campaign.
Environmental and rights groups, however, have said economic expansion came at the expense of native communities and vast swathes of pristine forest cover that were mowed down to feed a burgeoning timber industry, expansion of oil palm plantations and multibillion-dollar dam projects.
While some will remember him as one of Sarawak’s founding fathers, the fact that he was in power for so long would have raised questions as to how he was able to sustain himself, said Adib Zalkapli, a Malaysia director with political risk consultancy BowerGroupAsia.
“The opposition campaign against him in his last decade in power as the chief minister had focused on his alleged abuse of power and corruption; naturally these accusations will not be forgotten,” Adib said.
Critics have long accused Taib of abusing his position as chief minister to enrich himself and his family, allegedly amassing billions of dollars in wealth and assets through nepotism while arranging for lopsided deals that fed the political elites.
Erstwhile rivals in the Democratic Action Party – which has since chummed up with Taib’s long-ruling Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) under Anwar’s unity government – had in 2018 called for fresh probes into “many reports and allegations” of corruption linked to Taib during his time in power.
His eldest son Mahmud is the deputy group chairman of CMS – which has interests spanning construction and infrastructure development to IT – while Sulaiman is group managing director of the firm.
No one has so far been able to reliably measure the extent of Taib’s wealth. But a bitter divorce between Mahmud and his ex-wife gave a fleeting glimpse into the vast sums they have amassed.
Mahmud had in 2014 told the sharia High Court that he had bought a Ferrari Modena worth 950,000 ringgit (US$198,000) for his son when he was just eight years old in 1999, as an asset to provide for his then-wife Shahnaz Abdul Majid and their son when they separated that year.
He said then this was on top of a 2 million ringgit bungalow in an upscale neighbourhood in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, three luxury cars worth a total of 2.1 million ringgit and a 10,000 ringgit monthly allowance.
Shahnaz, the sister of Malaysian jazz queen Sheila Majid, had filed for a 400 million ringgit (US$83.5 million) divorce settlement, claiming that Mahmud had amassed assets worth 1 billion ringgit domestically, along with US$700 million in assets overseas.
Mahmud had denied the claim as “lies, distortions and misrepresentations”.
The sharia court later ordered Mahmud to pay a 30 million ringgit settlement.
Taib married a 29-year-old Raghad in 2010, a year after his Polish-born first wife Laila died of cancer at 68.
Little is known about Raghad, who was a former air hostess, according to earlier media reports, and has two sons from a previous marriage. Through her marriage to Taib, she and her sons gained Malaysian citizenship.
She was also granted voting rights and native status – which allows direct ownership of limited native land in Sarawak – sparking outrage among activists fighting against strict state regulations that they say make it difficult for natives to inherit ancestral land.
The Taib family history is filled with domestic dramas played out in public.
In his first few years in power, Taib – who took over as chief minister from his uncle in 1981 – had to fend off his uncle’s attempts to topple him amid a deepening rift between their two camps in the PBB.
The feud blew up in 1985 after Taib removed his uncle from the post of governor, leading to an attempted political coup two years later.
Taib pre-empted the coup by calling for snap state polls, which he won by a slim majority – a position that was later strengthened by a string of defections from his uncle’s camp.
Political analyst James Chin said Taib’s death marked the end of an era, but one that will not be soon forgotten.
“History will not be kind,” Chin said in a post on X.
Source : SCMP
Canada Is A Magnet For Dirty Money And A Safe Haven For Abdul Taib Mahmud Says BMF
30 Mar 2017
Weak regulation and poor transparency have turned Canada into a money-launderer’s paradise, asserts Switzerland’s Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), which today launched a detailed report on Sarawak’s Taib family’s properties in Ottawa.
Numerous regulatory ‘Red Flags’ have been ignored over the years by banks and overseers, according to their research, which has allowed this politically connected family to acquire hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets in Canada and to raise several enormous commercial loans.
BMF also provides compelling evidence that the family representatives who manage the Sarawak Governor’s wealth in Canada, namely his daughter Jamilah and her husband Sean Murray, are using their extensive political and financial influence to fend off investigations by the authorities.
BMF’s report
Their report titled “Safe Haven Canada” consists of a detailed overview of known properties owned by the Taib-connected Sakto Group of companies in Canada, which they say are conservatively valued at a minimum of $200 million.
It charts the history of Sakto Development Corporation and its related companies, which were set up by Taib Mahmud’s brother Onn Mahmud in 1983, shortly after Taib because Chief Minister, together with Taib’s daughter Jamilah and son Abu Bekir (mere college students at the time).
Taib has later admitted that the original investment in Sakto had come from him, describing it as a “small gratuity” received on his retirement as a minister in the Federal Government (a payment that has not been fully explained nor the amount disclosed).
In fact, within a year $4.5 million had been invested by its shareholders in the purchase of 400 properties, according to research by Sarawak Report and financial records for the next ten years obtained by BMF showed that tens of millions were invested during those early years, establishing the likely pattern over following decades.
On one occasion a $20 million loan was extended through the controversial Richfold Limited in Hong Kong, which was linked to the Japanese shipping kickback scandal extensively covered by Sarawak Report, which unearthed documents that rebut Taib’s later attempts to deny money was paid to his companies by Japanese timber exporters.
BMF revealed that the loan was extended by a collection of family members, including Taib’s now deceased wife Jamilah as well as two Taib companies, Richfold in Hongkong (a sister company of the timber kickback company Regent Star) and Sogo Holding, based in Jersey.
Sakto shareholders are the Taib family
Frontmen – Sean (Hisham) Murray and wife Jamilah Taib
The report points out that journalists have now established what the Sakto Group’s directors (namely Jamilah and her husband Sean Murray) have sought to disguise for many years, which is that Sakto’s original and present shareholders are all members of the Taib family, from the time when Jamilah was a mere student.
According to a statement sent by Sean Murray to a Canadian newspaper last year the shareholders are Jamilah and three other Taib family members including Onn Mahmud, Taib’s younger brother, who handled all his family business dealings while his children were still too young to front such operations.
This confirms that Sakto and its related entities were always Taib family companies, rather than a Murray family companies as managers attempted to suggest before being exposed by Sarawak Report.
Chris Murray, Sean’s cousin in charge of the London branch, Ridgeford Properties, attempted to paint the group as Murray family enterprise
When Sarawak Report interviewed Chris Murray he repeated that lie (although he subsequently removed the above Wikipedia entry)
Straight lies from the Murrays who claimed they started and owned Sakti (to cover for the Taibs)
Lawyers acting jointly for Taib and for Sean Murray even attempted to intimidate Sarawak Report and BMF saying they should retract their remarks, since no money had ever gone from Taib into Sakto:
False claim made by Taib’s lawyers Mishcon de Reya
Sarawak Report did not withdraw the claim and Mishcon de Reya failed to carry out its threat to “sue without further notice”. Later, Taib’s acknowledgement he had in fact put up ‘small gratuity’ to start up Sakto’s multi-million dollar ventures proved that the above legal threats had been based on lies.
BMF documents how Jamilah likewise herself has attempted to deceive people over the origins of the company’s investments, by implying to journalists during the 1980s that there had been around 10 -12 shareholders from different parts of the Pacific region, not just family members as has now been admitted.
It means that the Taibs and Murrays have persistently lied over the years in order to attempt to disguise the fact that the money coming into this major Canadian property company originated with the Taib family in Sarawak – a politically exposed group of people who had no legitimate means of acquiring such sums.
Shame on Canada
World class kleptocrat – Taib cut down the Borneo Jungle and kept most of the cash
Despite this extensive research and the clear proof now available, BMF says it has become outraged over the continued failure by the Canadian authorities to act in setting up criminal investigations into money laundering concerns regarding Sakto.
Neither have the major Canadian lending institutions, such as Manulife (which opened an office in Sarawak during the period Taib was Chief Minister) and Royal Bank of Canada, operated mandatory Red Flag proceedures in the course of lending to these politically connected companies, associated with a notoriously corrupt third world leader.
In the case of one lending institution, BMF was advised to report the matter to the police and not to bother the lender.
There is concern that the Taib/Murrays, who are major political donors, have achieved undue political influence in Ottawa, Canada where they now rank as one of the country’s largest property developers thanks to the huge injections of illegal cash from Sarawak’s Taib Mahmud.
An example of undue political influence was the cancellation last month of a draft OECD report in Canada relating to the Sakto Group, which had been prompted by BMF’s concerns.
In October 2016 the Canadian National Contact Point on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises issued a draft report on the concerns raised by BMF about Sakto’s lack of transparency over its finances and shareholders.
Mysterious change of tune from Canada’s representatives to the OECD
This extensive and detailed 11 page document upheld each and every one of BMF’s concerns and denied counter-arguments put forward by Sakto lawyers during the negotiating process.
Its stark recommendation was that the OECD should proceed to a full review of the Sakto Group and the complaints relating to its shortcomings, referring in the process to OECD guidelines supported by the Government of Canada.
This would have resulted in a major reputational set-back for this Taib/Murray enterprise and BMF eventually became aware of a considerable delay in proceeding to the review. When the NGO enquired about the delay the OECD officials explained in November of 2011:
“The NCP has received extensive commentary from Sakto’s legal counsel, which we are now in the process of reviewing. We thank you for your understanding. Please be assured that the NCP is doing its best to move this process forward as quickly as possible.”
Six months later, however, instead of proceeding to the review, the Canadian OECD Contact Point completely reversed its original recommendations, without providing a single explanation why!
A new Draft Assessment was created, which consisted of a mere one and a half pages, simply dismissing the complaint, without any of the detailed breakdown provided by the original document that had supported the BMF concerns.
In a brief letter, the Chairman of the Canadian National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD explained merely:
‘The NCP regrets that the process has taken longer than usual. The NCP has duly considered the submissions from the parties and conducted its due diligence in the most expeditious manner as was possible…..”
Lukas Straumann, Director of BMF, has expressed his outrage at the clear interference by Sakto and the lack of transparency over the Canadian officials’ own volte-farce, for which they have offered no credible explanation whatsoever”
“The Canadian NCP of the OECD produced an extensive initial draft assessment that was highly detailed and closely argued, according to the legal position and guidelines on OECD policy. This initial assessment accepted BMF’s position on each and every point and rejected Sakto’s own submissions. It made clear that the Taib family’s Sakto group is indeed in breach of the OECD’s disclosure standards for multinational enterprises. That process had taken over a year.
Then, suddenly, a last minute heavy intervention by Sakto’s lawyers was allowed to delay the entire process and the NCP went completely silent about what new representations were being made or what other interferences were taking place. The outcome has been a total reversal of their original closely explained findings, which has been replaced by a one page rejection of our submissions, without analysis or explanation. Where is the supposed transparency required by the OECD’s own guidelines, which the Government of Canada is supposed to adhere to?
This is a hugely shameful episode for the Government of Canda and exposes its institutions as being unduly subject to pressure from secretive corporations like Sakto, which is now known to be entirely run and owned by a notorious political family in Malaysia, which is a country presently under the international corruption and money-laundering spotlight owing to the massive 1MDB scandal”
BMF has launched an open demonstration in Ottawa today, pointing out that it is Canada’s unusual lack of transparency over corporate public information that has made it a magnet for kleptocrats like Taib Mahmud, along with other persons of dubious wealth.
Shareholders of companies are allowed to remain secret in Canada. Neither do corporate annual accounts have to be made publicly available. This means there is far less information available to explain the ownership and value of companies in Canada than, for example, in Australia, the UK and most states in America.
The message to Canada is clean up your act, before your image is further tarnished.
You can read the report by accessing the Bruno Manser Fund online site.
Wednesday 28 February 2024
Taliban-like Hadi is 3R untouchable?
Share to help stimulate good governance, ensure future of people & M’sia
No News Is Bad News
The real 3R!!!
Taliban-like Hadi is 3R untouchable?
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29, 2024: The Madani Unity Government (G)’s so-called 3R (Race, Religion, Royalty) is clearly just a political gimmick or useless propaganda.
The Taliban-like PAS president, Hadi Awang, can say whatever he wants and he appears to be untouchable.
Why? Your guess as good as mine.
He seems to be able to insult the royalty and get away with bit from the authorities.
Or, perhaps, everyone thinks 3R is Reduce, Recycle, Reuse.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a news report that shows Hadi is untouchable because no action has been taken against him for all his 3R offences:
Selangor sultan ‘profoundly disappointed’ with Hadi’s remarks on Malay rulers
Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah responds to a statement by PAS’s Abdul Hadi Awang cautioning the Malay rulers against ‘looking only at worldly interests’.
FMT Reporters - 29 Feb 2024, 1:20pm
Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s remarks in a statement made on Feb 20 were “highly inappropriate and uncultured”.
PETALING JAYA: Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah expressed disappointment today with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang over remarks on the monarchy following the Federal Court’s decision to strike down several provisions in a Kelantan shariah criminal enactment.
In a Facebook post, the Selangor Royal Office said Sultan Sharafuddin had sent Hadi a letter through the state’s PAS commissioner Ab Halim Tamuri.
“His Majesty has conveyed profound disappointment regarding the statement made by Hadi on Feb 20 titled ‘The Importance of Upholding Islam’,” the post said.
Sultan Sharafuddin was responding to a statement by Hadi calling for Muslims to uphold their faith in the wake of the apex court’s ruling.
The Marang MP also advised the Malay rulers against “looking only at worldly interests”.
Sultan Sharafuddin described Hadi’s remarks as “highly inappropriate and uncultured”.
“(This is) especially within the context of Malay culture, which traditionally upholds respect and decorum when offering opinions and advice to the Malay rulers,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment