Abu Kassim caught in his own web of deceit

So now the secret is out. Ex-MACC Chief Abu Kassim Mohamed, ex-Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, and ex-Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail have been secretly working with the US in their attempt to oust the Malaysian Prime Minister. And today a police report was made against them.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Last week, the United States Justice Department announced that it was taking civil action to recover an estimated $1 billion that was stolen from 1MDB. The puzzling part about this announcement is that 1MDB itself did not report that it lost $1 billion. So what is the basis of US Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s actions?

The first thing that came to mind is that the US was acting based on the complaint lodged by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s hirelings, Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Matthias Chang. After all they did travel to the US to lodge a complaint about 1MDB losing RM42 billion. That was no secret.

But then would the US not have to first check with the Malaysian authorities whether the complaint is legitimate before taking action? There may be a complaint lodged by Khairuddin and Matthias but they still need to check the veracity of this complaint.

What we did not know is that the Malaysian ‘authorities’ did, in fact, secretly contact the US authorities. But no one was told about this, not even the Malaysian Cabinet or the Prime Minister. It was a clandestine operation like what the CIA would normally do when they do not want anyone to know.

But then, now that the issue has exploded and has become public, Abu Kassim Mohamed had to quickly cover his behind and announce that the MACC had, in fact, contacted the US authorities. If not then they would be hard-pressed to explain whom in Malaysia the US has been in touch with and why was this kept a secret from the Malaysian government itself.

So now it is out in the open. That trip to the US and the complaint lodged by Khairuddin and Matthias was actually just a red herring. It was a smokescreen to cover MACC’s tracks while they secretly communicated with the US authorities in the effort to oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

They know that legally they cannot link Najib to the so-called theft of $1 billion. In fact, they cannot even legally link 1MDB to it. Hence in the end nothing is going to happen to either 1MDB or Najib.

But that is not important because that is not the objective. The objective is to create the impression that the US government is going after Najib. Then they can trigger Najib’s ouster, something they have been trying to do for 20 months but have so far not succeeded.

Today, a police report was lodged against ex-MACC Chief Abu Kassim Mohamed, ex-Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, and ex-Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail. These are the three people said to have been secretly working with the US authorities to try to bring down the Malaysian Prime Minister.

It is going to be very interesting to see what happens from here on? Will the US send its army to Malaysia to arrest Najib or will those three end up in jail instead? If Najib wants to maintain his grip on Umno and remain the Prime Minister then he has to demonstrate that he is no sissy and go for broke.

And I bet Mahathir is going to, again, complain that he, his family, his friends, and his supporters, are being harassed by the Malaysian government. Has he not heard the saying ‘if you cannot stand the heat then get out of the kitchen’?

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MACC confirms working with FBI on 1MDB

(Bernama) – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed today confirmed the agency was cooperating with the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on investigations into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Abu Kassim said MACC was investigating a businessman said to have cheated 1MDB and was also involved in laundering money before taking it to the US.

“As such, US sought our assistance and we only assisted as provided under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

“(Under the convention), agencies are required to give their cooperation and support when confronted with a crime involving several countries,” he said when met by reporters after a working visit to the Kelantan MACC in Lundang here, today.