WSJ publishes letter ‘confirming’ Jho Low-owned Good Star

US financial daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claims that Bank Negara Malaysia wrote a letter confirming that Good Star Limited was owned by tycoon Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.

This contradicts the government’s assertions that Good Star Ltd, which has since been dissolved, belonged to former 1MDB joint-venture partner PetroSaudi International.

A copy of the letter was tweeted by WSJ and re-tweeted by its Asia chief editor Tom Wright this morning.

However, Malaysiakini is unable to report its contents as the letter has been marked ‘classified’ due to prohibitions under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

The status of Good Star's ownership is important because it will determine whether 1MDB's funds had been siphoned away or that it was indeed used for investment.

1MDB had sent US$1.83 billion abroad for its joint-venture activities with PetroSaudi but US$1.03 billion of this sum was diverted to Good Star.

The diversion would not be an issue if Good Star was owned by 1MDB's joint-venture partner PetroSaudi, as claimed by the government, but would raise serious concerns if it is owned by individuals or entities unrelated to the joint-venture - in this case, Jho Low, as claimed by WSJ.

PetroSaudi had previously refused to confirm the actual ownership of Good Star.

According to the WSJ report today, the Bank Negara letter, dated April 6, was addressed to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Hasan Arifin.

“Mr Hasan also didn’t inform the parliamentary committee of evidence from a senior central bank official - transmitted in an April 6 letter to Mr Hasan - that US$1 billion (RM4.06 billion) in 1MDB funds had been transferred to an offshore company owned by a close associate of Mr Najib (Jho Low)," it reported.

It attributed the above statement to Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua (photo) and an unnamed member of the ruling party in the PAC.

“They said Mr Hasan never shared with the committee any of the contents of the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by the Journal,” the report said.

Pua is one of the 14 members of the bipartisan committee. Jho Low is an associate of Najib and has denied links with 1MDB.

Lines removed from report

Previously, Pua had raised issue about several lines regarding Bank Negara’s information that had been removed from the final PAC report on 1MDB by Hasan, without the committee's consent.

“This finding is crucial to the entire investigations of 1MDB because the company and its executives have testified to PAC that Good Star is a subsidiary of PetroSaudi," Pua said in a statement on April 20.

In a parliamentary reply, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said stated that the lines were expunged because the matter is classified and not meant for public consumption.

“The PAC chairperson received Bank Negara's information which stated all the information given was 'confidential for the purpose of intelligence only and not for court usage or public report'.

“For your information, all PAC members had been informed of the matter via a letter penned by the PAC chief to the deputy governor of the central bank on April 6.

“Given that PAC report is for public usage, the information should not be included in the report," Azalina told Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng, who had asked the question, on May 16.

Malaysiakini has contacted Hasan and Bank Negara regarding the WSJ report and is awaiting their response.

Precedent set, MIC leader moots bill on unilateral conversion

A MIC leader urged all lawmakers to take advantage of the government’s openness since a precedent had been set with the fast-tracking of the controversial Hudud Bill.

What transpired during the last Dewan Rakyat sitting for the May session, according to S Vell Paari, had opened the door for others.

“Since the bill set a precedent, other members cannot be denied from proposing bills to protect the rights of all Malaysians,” he added in a media statement to Malaysiakini.

The MIC central working committee member suggested a bill on the contentious issue of children being unilaterally converted to Islam by one of their parents who embraced the faith.

“Table bills to further strengthen and protect the rights of vernacular schools in Malaysia.

“Also a bill calling for serious punishment against those who continue to criticise communities in Malaysia for exercising their democratic right to vote whom they choose such as the Chinese community,” he said.

“When these bills are tabled, I hope they too will be fast-tracked in line with the current openness to such matters,” he added.

Vell Paari was responding to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said who said the government fast-tracking Hadi's bill proved its openness and commitment to parliamentary reforms.

The proposal to bring forward the motion yesterday was brought by Azalina and seconded by Deputy Works Minister Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin.

Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had allowed the proposal to lift the motion listed as number 15 or the last item in the Parliament's order paper despite objection from DAP lawmakers.

The debate, which was slated for the afternoon, was postponed after Hadi requested for more time to allow MPs to prepare themselves.

Meanwhile, Vell Paari expressed appreciation to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Azalina over the government’s commitment towards parliamentary reforms.

As for Hadi’s bill, the MIC leader said being a MP, the PAS president had the right to propose a bill which is in line with the policies of the Islamic party.

“But for those who are against it like me, it is also our democratic right to oppose the bill. We should call upon our representatives to lobby other MPs to vote against the bill,” he added.

Hadi’s bill seeks to amend the law governing the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts to allow for the implementation of the Islamic penal code in Kelantan.

MCA and other BN component parties have also voiced their objection.

Dr M: I’m not concerned about Mukhriz’s future

Dr Mahathir Mohamad is often accused of masterminding a campaign against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to orchestrate his son Mukhriz’s political ascension.

However, the former premier denied this, claiming that he is acting in the interest of the nation.

“I am not concerned about Mukhriz’s future. I am more concerned about stopping Najib from destroying this country,” he said in his latest blog post.

Mahathir accused the prime minister's “henchmen” of repeating this allegation to divert attention from the alleged wrongdoings of their boss and no amount of explanation would stop them.

He also claimed that when Najib was unable to solicit unqualified support from Mukhriz, the prime minister “engineered” his removal as Kedah menteri besar.

“I could have easily helped Mukhriz by ignoring Najib’s wrongdoings and continuing to support him. But I did not do this...,” he added.

Mahathir also pointed out that he could have allowed his sons to contest for office in Umno or become election candidates when he was prime minister and party president.

“But Mukhriz could not even become a member of Umno because the Kubang Pasu division of which I was head, refused to accept him.

“It was after the Umno headquarters directed the division that he was admitted as a member, just before I retired,” he said.

Mahathir pointed out how his son stood for a parliament seat in 2008, and was appointed as a deputy minister following his victory.

“At that time, Kedah had a PAS government because Umno under Mahadzir Khalid lost the state in 2008.

“In the 2013 (general) election, Mukhriz chose to contest for a state seat.

“Kedah people believed if he would be appointed menteri besar, BN would defeat PAS and regain Kedah. Najib apparently agreed.

“BN won Kedah in the 2013 election. Mukhriz was appointed menteri besar,” he said.

However, ties began to strain and subsequently severed between Mahathir, his son and Najib when the 1MDB issue erupted.

“When the 1MDB scandal exploded I stopped supporting Najib. Mukhriz did not show full support for Najib.

“He was critical of Najib’s explanation about the RM$2.6 billion in Najib’s private accounts,” said the former premier.

The prime minister has denied abusing public funds for personal gain, and blamed such allegations on those conspiring to topple him from power.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has also cleared Najib of any wrongdoing.


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