Hisham’s denial over brother’s deal ‘unconvincing’
Prime Minister Najib Razak and Home minister Hishamuddin Hussein (ABOVE) have been told to come clean over the controversy involving currency maker Securency, which was allegedly involved in corruption by hiring Malaysian firm Liberal Technology, once owned by Hishamuddin’s brother Haris Onn Hussein (BELOW), to obtain polymer banknote supply contracts.
In a statement to Harakahdaily, Bukit Bendera member of parliament Liew Chin Tong said the Australian police investigation into the controversy had raised questions about Liberal Technology’s influence via its biggest shareholder, Haris Onn Hussein. The Onns are also cousins to Najib.
“While it is a criminal offence in Australia for a company to offer a benefit to a relative of a foreign government official to obtain a business advantage, the linking of a well-connected individual who obtains benefits from a politically powerful relative or contact comes as no surprise in describing the Barisan Nasional government that has a track record of cronyism, nepotism, and questionable deals.
“The Scorpene submarine deal, controversial APs (Approved Permits) allocation, highway toll concessionaires, IPP (Independent Power Producers) lopsided agreements and logging contracts are still fresh in the minds of the public,” said Liew.
Earlier, Australia’s The Age reported that Securency signed up Liberal Technology as its Malaysian agent in 2009 to help win banknote contracts.
“The biggest individual shareholder in Liberal Technology is businessman Haris Onn Hussein,” wrote the paper, describing Haris a “well connected” figure. The report added that Securency hired Haris hoping he would offer it access to Malaysia’s top politicians.
“It is a common in parts of Asia for the relatives of politicians to be hired by foreign companies as agents,” the paper said, who however stopped sort of accusing the Malaysians of being involved in Securency’s alleged corruption.
The report comes hot on the heels of two other controversies linked to Australia, namely the Australian company Lynas’s rare-earth refinery project in Gebeng, Pahang, and the recent deal by Australia to place asylum seekers in Malaysia’s squalid deportation camps while checking on their papers.
‘Fat cats’
Hishamuddin had replied that he had no knowledge of his brother’s activities, including his hiring by Securency, owned by Australia’s troubled Reserve Bank.
Liew (left) meanwhile said the BN had yet to shun its cronyism culture, “which is tantamount to the political elite ‘fat cats’ robbing their poorer cousins to feed their own ilk.”
He also described Hishamuddin’s denial as “unconvincing”, “non substantive and provided no explanation”.
“The Malaysian public deserves to know the truth about sensitive high-level dealings of government official’s relatives’ companies.
Such confusion could be avoided if the BN government was more transparent and openly reveal financial dealings of their companies and relatives’ companies,” chided Liew.
