Umno’s proxies, nominees and trustees dilemma

By MT Webmaster Last updated Aug 9, 2015

If we need to audit Umno’s money or the RM2.6 billion of 2013 then we must also do the same for the RM100 billion or RM200 billion. Why hang Najib for the RM2.6 billion and allow those before him to walk away with RM100 billion or RM200 billion?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Well, there you are, finally Abdul Rahman Dahlan has admitted what I have been saying for the last few years (SEE BELOW). In fact, I have been stressing this point over the last couple of weeks regarding Umno’s proxies, nominees and trustees dilemma.

Malaysians being Malaysians, telling them once is not enough. You need to repeat the same thing over and over again before it gets into their heads. So let me repeat what I have already said numerous times.

In the past, Umno used to own companies, investments and assets under the party name. Then, in 1988, all these assets plus bank accounts got frozen and for three years Umno was in dire straights.

In the 1990 general election Umno was so strapped for cash that it could hardly fund the election campaign and the Chinese business community had to step in to lend a hand (or rather to lend Umno money).

It was then that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Daim Zainuddin decided to set up proxies and nominees to hold Umno’s wealth as trustees. The problem is, as Rahman Dahlan pointed out, Umno faced a lot of problems getting all this wealth back. Many trustees, proxies and nominees just walked away with what they were holding on behalf of Umno under trust.

When Dr Mahathir handed the government to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, none of what belonged to Umno was transferred back to Umno. When Najib Tun Razak took over from Abdullah, he, too, faced the same problem.

Umno is estimated to be worth RM100 billion or RM200 billion (even Umno is not sure of the real figure) but it was actually broke.

When Najib faced the 2013 general election, the first one for him as Prime Minister, he needed to put together at least RM2.5 billion to fund the election. And the party constitution allows for the President to be Umno’s trustee.

So Najib decided to transfer the funds into his personal bank account and from there send the money to the ground. Unmo has always collected billions every general election. Where this money came from was never an issue in the past as long as it is not illegal funds. And how it was spent was never an issue as well although we know much of it ‘evaporated’ along the way (that is no secret).

However, this time around, it was made into an issue. And it was made into an issue because they wanted to use this issue to push for Najib’s ouster.

Najib handled the 13th general election. There were 12 general elections before him. If we want to audit where the money to fund the 13th general election came from and how it was spent then we need to do that for all 13 general elections.

Why pick on just the last general election? Why allow those who funded the 12 general elections before that to get away? We are talking only about the alleged RM2.6 billion that involved the 13th general election. I want to know what happened to the RM100 billion or RM200 billion that went through the system over the last 30 years since the early 1980s — money that has gone up in smoke and disappeared into thin air.

I agree that Najib must be transparent regarding the RM2.6 billion if his accusers can also be transparent regarding the RM100 billion or RM200 billion that the accusers were in charge of.

The bottom line is I resent a car thief pretending to be a saint and making so much noise regarding someone else who stole a bar of chocolate.

***************************************

Rahman Dahlan: Umno members okay with funds in president’s account

(The Star) – Umno members are agreeable with the practice of political donations being channelled into the party president’s personal account.

Supreme council member Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said in the past, donations were distributed into trustee accounts, which led to a lot of complications.

“When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wanted to hand over the party assets to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he faced a hard time as proxy members did not declare the funds as belonging to the party.”

“Some members who were going through divorce faced situations where their spouses declared that the asset did not belong to Umno,” he said in an interview over TV1 on Tuesday.

Rahman said he and fellow party members felt more confident with the donations being placed in the president’s account, as it was safer there.

“In fact it is the responsibility of the party president to find funds for party activities,” he said adding that he was thankful of Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s effort to find money to sustain the party’s ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)’ activities.

Asked on his opinion about the statement by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission that Najib was innocent on the charges of stealing the people’s money through the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Rahman said he was relieved.

“Why would I not be happy if my president has been proven innocent?”

“In fact, if he had committed such an offence, God forbid, there is no need for Clare Brown or Wall Street Journal (WSJ) because Umno members themselves would expose the issue,” he said.

Rahman, the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, said it was a noble act by donors who did not impose conditions.

“On previous occasions where money was channelled to certain quarters, they were subjected to conditions and that made the arrangements illegal. However, those who donated money to Umno were well-wishers.”

“It is the same as us giving money to Palestinians and Gaza because we believe in the cause,” he added.

Rahman said he hoped for a transparent way in dealing with political donations in future general elections.

“All political parties should acknowledge the call of netizens for the reform of political funding,” he said.

On the PetroSaudi and 1MDB issue, Rahman said the public should only focus on how much money came in return from the agreement.

“We invested USD$1.9bil and got back USD2.38bil so that means we made money for the country and that is all that matters.”

“Matters like Jho Low and Paris Hilton in a champagne party should not even be made an issue,” he said.

Rahman said netizens should be rational when it comes to such sensitive matters.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK