1MDB: mixed signals, conjecture and confusion

Raja Sara Petra

Reading the latest book by those two journalists from America titled ‘Billion Dollar Whale’ gives an impression you are reading a novel or work of fiction. Many may have skipped the ‘editor’s note’ on page one, or may not have noticed the opening paragraph, that says:

Media reports—and sources we began speaking to—suggested that Jho Low, a little-known, twenty-seven-year-old associate of the prime minister, had himself taken the money, possibly hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars, and used it to build a Hollywood production company, commission one of the world’s grandest yachts, and throw wildly decadent parties around the globe. If true, the Low affair would represent one of the greatest financial heists in history.

The authors say the book is the result of three years of research and interviews with more than 100 people in more than a dozen countries. Any good researcher will tell you that good research is not about quantity but about quality. You can take ten years and speak to 1,000 people in 100 countries. But if you are not armed with facts from reliable and unbiased sources then what you have is merely conjecture and speculation.

In law we call this hearsay. You heard it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it from someone. That does not make what you heard true and is not admissible in court. Even if you have documentary evidence that is still not good enough. The maker still needs to be summoned to testify under oath that what he or she wrote or recorded is the truth and nothing but the truth.

In other words, short of being an eyewitness, it is not yet the truth. And that is why Islam demands four witnesses before a conviction of adultery can be obtained because the punishment is very severe and the allegation must be beyond doubt. In the case of the 1MDB allegation, however, the allegation is not beyond doubt but is contaminated with mixed signals, conjecture and confusion.

If the book ‘Billion Dollar Whale’ was meant to strengthen the allegation that ex-Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak stole 1MDB’s money, the reverse, in fact, has happened. The ‘villain’ in the book appears to be Jho Low who conned many people all over the world while Najib is just one more in a long list of ‘important people’ who had been conned by this young man. So that makes Najib a victim rather than a perpetrator and Najib is not the only victim of Jho Low.

Anyway, the paragraph I quoted above says a lot about the foundation of the book. The opening statement (Media reports—and sources we began speaking to—suggested…) means whatever is written is based on hearsay and what the newspapers SUGGEST. What was written in the book is not based on court transcripts or testimonies of witnesses during a trial. So, at best, this is merely ‘ikut cerita orang’ that is yet to be confirmed.

The closing statement by the authors (If true, the Low affair would represent one of the greatest financial heists in history) shows that the authors are not saying the stories are true. Yes, ‘if true’. The authors do not know yet whether the stories are true until a trial is held and witnesses testify and evidence is adduced in court.

Anyway, just for the record, even if the allegations against Jho Low or 1MDB are true, this will still not make it the biggest financial heist in history. The reconstruction of Iraq, the Oil for Food program, etc. would be far bigger than 1MDB in leaps and bounds. The cost of those two ‘financial heists’ alone exceed Malaysia’s national debt of RM700 billion (or even RM1 trillion if you want to believe what Pakatan Harapan says).

Now, that brings us to the most important question of all: why is the government creating so much confusion and is sending out mixed signals? If you can remember, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad started off in 2015 by saying that RM42-billion of 1MDB’s money had lesap or disappeared into thin air. Two months later, he said the figure is actually RM50 billion or probably even more.

Actually, 1MDB had debts of about RM42 billion, not that RM42 billion had lesap or disappeared into thin air. And the debts were backed by RM51 billion worth of assets, which is something Mahathir did not mention — maybe because at that time he did not know. Clearly Mahathir had been misinformed by certain people and had been misguided into saying that RM42 billion had lesap and then changed it to RM50 billion or maybe more.

This put the MACC in a dilemma. They now had to focus their investigation on the ‘theft’ of RM42 billion or else Mahathir would be made to look like a fool. But how do you investigate, and then prove, that RM42 billion had been stolen when RM42 billion had NOT been stolen? This was when the whole mess started. They had to fabricate something to give an impression that RM42 billion had indeed been stolen, and that the evidence is being gathered, and that the perpetrators are going to be punished.

To strength this allegation, they came out with the so-called charge sheet against Najib in July 2015. Actually, they never really intended to press charges. They just wanted to frighten Najib and use this charge sheet to blackmail Najib into resigning as Prime Minister. When the whole thing backfired, they retracted the charge sheet and made a police report alleging that the charge sheet is a forgery.

This was the first major blunder that the MACC made and after that is was more blunders after blunder.

Then they charged Najib for the theft of RM42 million. But then RM42 million is a far cry from RM42 billion, which was what the allegation in early 2015 was. Then they said they need up to the end of year to complete their investigations.

Now, they drafted the charge sheet in July 2015 but they need until December 2018 to complete their investigations. How could they have drafted a charge sheet 42-months before the investigation is completed? Isn’t a charge sheet supposed to be based on the result of the investigation AFTER the investigation has been completed? This is not just putting the cart before the horse. This is putting the cart even before the horse has been born and before the mare is pregnant. At least tunggulah emak kuda bunting dulu!

And now they say they will need another year (not up to end of the year, which is merely three months more) for the MACC to complete its investigations. And then CEP member, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, says another year is not enough. It is going to take MANY years.

Well, it can take another 100 years for all I care. What I am puzzled about is why are they talking like they can confirm 100% that Najib stole 1MDB’s money? If they need another year, or another few years, to uncover the truth, why are they talking as if beyond any shadow of doubt they have the evidence against Najib?

When you hear the Pakatan Harapan people talking, especially Lim Kit Siang, they talk like they know the truth. However, in that same breath, they say the truth can only be known years from now. And since when does the MACC talk about an ongoing investigation before the investigation is completed? If you talk too much and reveal what you already know and do not know yet, are you not jeopardising the investigation by ‘advising’ the criminals as to what to do?

Yes, this is most strange and gives an impression that the so-called 1MDB investigation is merely political and trial by media. They know they have nothing to send Najib to jail. Even that book ‘Billion Dollar Whale’ seems to say so. What they want is to gain a ‘conviction’ in the court of public opinion. This is just like what they did to Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. The only difference is in 1998 they still sent Anwar to jail even though they failed to prove his guilt. And maybe this is what they hope to do to Najib as well.