Najib seems upset about my “veiled suggestion that the discharge secured by filmmaker Riza Aziz was wrong”.
Najib: Yes, I am upset that you continue to lie through your teeth. You conveniently ignored that the settlement was started by the Attorney General which you appointed (and who admitted he was a political appointee) while you were still PM.
For starters, unlike Guan Eng, Riza was never charged for abuse of power, theft (curi) or corruption. He was charged under the AMLA act for receiving funds that were give to him by foreign government entities that had partnership with 1MDB.
Riza never received a single dollar direct from 1MDB. In fact, he was seldom in Malaysia throughout those years.
Similarly, he was also never charged for abuse of power, theft or corruption by the DOJ USA despite the fact that majority of the investments were received, used and returned from the USA.
Not a single transactions happened in Malaysia or involved Malaysian banks.
If you still have any doubts whether the settlement was the best move for the government, please consult your own lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla who says the settlement was prudent.
"Riza's DNAA is prudent, says lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri"
https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2020/05/594309/rizas-dnaa-prudent-says-lawyer
If you do not agree with your lawyer, believe he is talking rubbish or lying then please sack him as your lawyer.
I still maintain that it was a sweetheart deal where you steal US$248 million from 1MDB money and you give back US$107.3 million and keep over US$140 million to enjoy.
The fact is that you stole from 1MDB US$248 million and the whole amount should be returned. What you pay to somebody else is irrelevant.
Najib replies : As already explained by our lawyers, the US$248 million was the total sums received by the various investors for Riza's film projects. Out of which:
- US$107 million is settled here in Malaysia.
- US$60 million was settled with the DOJ last year which the DOJ then sent to Malaysia. (you forgot about this?)
- https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/malaysia-ag-says-us-govt-has-returned-money-relating-1mdb
- US$120 million has been repaid back to investors along with interest and dividends due to the film projects. These repayments made long ago were also referred to in the phone call recordings between me and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi which your own MACC political appointee head exposed to the public earlier this year.
- https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/506460
Transcript start:
Najib: He’s paid back some, he continues to repay, so that it would appear as a legitimate loan agreement, which it is, you see. Because when he received it, the banks cleared the source of money so he was not aware at all where it came from.
So I don’t want him to be a victim when he was totally unaware of the source of money. He genuinely believed that it was from Aabar and under the instruction of Sheikh Mansour, you see.
Remember, Your Highness, also talked about helping him when he was in Abu Dhabi?
Najib: Yeah, that’s right, because he is totally innocent. All he wanted was to make movies, and there was an offer of a loan from Sheikh Mansour and your side from Aabar, and also you mentioned it. Remember? When we had lunch at the restaurant about supporting him so he thought everything was fine, you see. Now, they’re trying to connect him with 1MDB money, which totally… came as a shock to him.
Transcript end:
It is like stealing 10 chickens. You should give back all the 10. If you had had a feast of 9 chickens or you sold them to someone, it does not matter. The 10 chickens must be returned to the owner. Giving 1 back will still mean that the chicken owner has lost 9 chickens stolen by the thief.
Najib: As explained many times, all 1MDB transactions where money was deemed missing was either guaranteed or paid to Abu Dhabi government-owned IPIC.
Do you deny that there was a settlement agreement between Malaysia and Abu Dhabi signed in 2017 where IPIC had agreed to return all the alleged 1MDB missing money before 30 December 2020? Do you want to view the settlement agreement? I have a fully signed and executed copy if you want to see. If the court case was not on-going, I would have posted this up by now.
And this was the same agreement that your PH government did not want to honour and follow-up to get back the money. In fact, the PH government wanted to cancel the settlement agreement so that the 1MDB money continues to be classified as "missing" and not "due to be returned" under the agreement as no 1MDB money missing means Najib is not a thief.
Do you deny this?
You say my (PM 7) children were given Government contracts.
I did not even allow my children to do business in Malaysia, much less get Government contracts. They were not even given Government scholarships except Mirzan who got it before I became a member of Parliament in 1964. And Mirzan had to pay back 25%.
Only after I stepped down were they doing business in Malaysia – even then not with the Government. Certainly no Government contracts.
Please give documentary evidence of the contracts given to my children, just as documentary evidence proved that you as MO1 had taken money from 1MDB.
Please explain the sweetheart deals involving PM 7 cronies. Did Riza Aziz buy or did my children buy. And who are the cronies?
Najib : Oh? Your children never did any business in Malaysia while you were PM? And only after you stepped down that they started doing business?
Then was Mirzan your son when he built up Konsortium Perkapalan in the 1990s which eventually needed a bail-out from Petronas via MISC in the economic crisis of 1998?
MISC to Pay $220 Million Price For Assets From Mahathir's Son
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB893957144672200500
Wasn't MISC and Petronas reporting to you as PM at that time?
Was Mirzan your son in the year 1996 and who was the PM then when Vincent Tan's brother Danny Tan sold Diperdana Corp to Mirzan just two years after Danny bought the company?
Diperdana Stake Is Sold in Deal Said to Be Tied to Mahathir's Son
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB829923197507848500
Was Mohzani your son in 1997 and where you the PM in 1997 when he became the largest shareholder of the Hospital Pantai group after buying it from the Vincent Tan controlled Berjaya group?
http://lib.perdana.org.my/PLF/Digital_Content/Prominent_Leaders/Mahathir/News_1968-2004/1996-1998/1997ko/mokhzani%20mahpital%20pantai.pdf
Subsequently, the FOMEMA concessions and the governmetn hospitals supplies contract was awarded to that group while you were still PM.
Were you also PM when Mokhzani's Kencana group founded a year before was awarded a major fabrication (Offshore Structures) license by PETRONAS in the year 2002. Kencana Petroleum is one of only seven licensees in Malaysia awarded at that time.
https://www.facebook.com/najibrazak/posts/10157050195425952
Were you PM of Malaysia in 2002 and were you the advisor of Petronas even after you step down as PM in 2003 until 12 years later in the period where your son made billions from doing business with Petronas?
Were you also PM in the year 2003 where your son Mukhirz owned Opcom and the company was awarded a direct award without tender contract worth RM214 million by Telekom Malaysia on the direct instruction of the Ministry of Finance? (see attached letter).
This contract was instrumental to Opcom's successful listing later that year where another bundle was made.
Who was Minister of Finance and Prime Minister in 2003?
As for your second sting as PM, was it true that the RM21.6 bilion National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) was the only mega-project rushed through and announced by the PH government and approved by cabinet in record time?
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/cabinet-approves-rm216b-national-connectivity-plan
And was it true that Opcom shares jumped 50% upon the project being announced as it would be one of the main beneficiary of that project?
"Opcom rose 18.5 sen or 41.11% to 63.5 sen. Opcom's share price rise could be due to news that the Malaysian Cabinet had today approved the implementation of the National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP)
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/fbm-klci-cuts-losses-after-tenaga-misc-spike
Who were the major shareholders and chairperson of Opcom then? Oh.. that's right. Two out of your three sons.
And can you deny that mere months before you retired as PM the first time in 2003, you gave a 20 year exclusive concession for sports and football betting to a Vincent Tan owned private company without tender and without cabinet approval?
This concession could potentially be worth tens of billions of Ringgit but the awarded company only had to pay a fee of only RM20 million.
"2004: A previously undisclosed license for a potentially lucrative Malaysian gambling concession granted to gaming tycoon Vincent Tan Chee Yioun by former Premier Mahathir Mohamad is stirring controversy within the country's government."
Gaming License Sparks Contention in Malaysia
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB109777782409745553
So, don't talk about stealing or returning chickens. Under you, the entire hen-house was handed to the cronys to be slaughtered.
Incidentally, please explain why the great movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” had not been screened in Malaysia. Is it true that it is a pornographic film?
Najib : It is not a pornographic film. Yes, it has scenes of drug use and some nudity but it is not a pornographic film. It is rated "R" in the USA - the same as films like the Joker, Deadpool 1 and 2, The Matrix Reloaded, Ted, American Sniper, The Passion of the Christ, Saving Private Ryan and many others.
The Wolf of Wall Street is listed at number 39 in this list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_R-rated_films
These are not the "X-rated" films that you think it is.
Incidentally, the Wolf of Wall street grossed US$392 million (RM1.68 bilion) in ticket sales world-wide with not a single dollar being Malaysian government contracts.
Other successful Riza produced films includes Dumb and Dumber To (US$170 million or RM727 million) and Daddy's Home (US$243 million or RM1.04 billion - both of which are shown in Malaysian cinemas.
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