The corruption in Umno perpetuated by Anwar and the RM600 million daylight robbery
Those who were around back in the 1990s (when Anwar first became the Finance Minister) will remember how he pulled off the RM600 million daylight robbery involving Realmild Sdn Bhd.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
We often hear DAP, PKR, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Anwar Ibrahim, and so many other Pakatan Harapan leaders, talk about how corrupt Umno and the Umno leaders are.
Whether that is true or not is debatable because politics is a game of patronage — and to play this game you need to “feed” your supporters. In fact, Mahathir himself admitted that “cash is king” and that this is the Umno culture.
Correction here, though. It is not the Umno culture per se but the Malaysian political culture in general, on both sides of the political divide. So, never mind which political party it is, money talks, bullshit walks. The Chinese call it you scratch my back, and I will scratch yours.
Anwar is guilty of all those crimes he is accusing others of
It is fine if they want to whack Umno and the Umno leaders. But Anwar Ibrahim has no moral right to whack Umno and the Umno leaders because he was part of the problem and he was one of those who destroyed Umno and turned the party into the business of making money.
This was reported (by The Malaysian Insider) in a court case ten years ago (which you can read below).
Those who were around back in the 1990s (when Anwar first became the Finance Minister) will remember how he pulled off the RM600 million daylight robbery involving Realmild Sdn Bhd.
RM600 million back in 1990 is worth roughly RM1.5 billion today. Not quite RM2.6 billion, but still a lot of money. And can a man who pulled off a RM1.5 billion robbery condemn another man who is alleged to have pulled off a RM2.6 billion robbery?
No, the man who Pakatan Harapan wants as their Prime Minister or PM9 is corrupt like hell. Anwar and Dr Mahathir are the last two people in Malaysia who have the right and the moral legitimacy to condemn Umno, Najib and all those others.
And read the report below about what Anwar did back in 1992 when he was the Finance Minister.
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Anwar was in the Mahathir-Daim robbery gang
(The Malaysian Insider, 30 October 2010) – Realmild Sdn Bhd was a brainchild of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he was in government as a means for Umno to protect its business interests, a lawyer told the High Court here today.
The former deputy prime minister had also hand-picked four media people — Datuk Khalid Ahmad, Datuk Kadir Jasin, Datuk Ahmad Nazri Abdullah and Mohd Noor Mutalib — to be its first shareholders and act as nominees for the ruling party, said Alex De Silva.
“In 1992, Realmild was formed in Malaysia. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim created it as a new Bumiputera vehicle to take care of Umno’s interests.”
“This is the genesis of Realmild,” De Silva said in making the case for his client Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Maidin.
Kadir Jasin, the man who is condemning Umno and Najib, also used Umno to rob the country
Khalid, a former TV3 boss, is suing Abdul Rahman to pay up the remaining RM10 million of RM15 million the former claims was the agreed sale price for the block of shares.
But Abdul Rahman disputes the amount — he told the court the agreed price was RM10 million and he had paid half before finding out from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was then Umno president, that he did not have to pay.
Now Abdul Rahman wants his money back.
De Silva argued today that Khalid, as the seller, was not in a position to demand payment for the sale of a block of Realmild Sdn Bhd’s shares wholly held in trust for Umno.
“My submission is that none of them were actually running MRCB. They were just put there by the powers-that-be…to take care of MRCB, NST and etc.”
“It’s completely illogical for Umno or anyone to own only 70 per cent [of the shares] and for 30 per cent to be shared out among the others,” he added, noting previous testimony from another successive Realmild director, Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail, showed that Umno owned all the shares.
Syed Anwar is the younger brother to the Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail who also held the position of Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the time of the contentious takeover at the turn of the millennium.
It was Mahathir who pulled off the RM600 million Realmild robbery, says Anwar
Anwar, who happened to be in court today for his Sodomy II trial, was evasive when asked to comment on his role in the Realmild-Umno deal.
“Seventy per cent was held by Dr Mahathir. It has nothing to do with me,” said the 63-year-old politician, now PKR’s advisor.
Khalid’s RM10 million suit against Abdul Rahman, over the sale of a five per cent stake in the company in 1999 took place during a shake-up and buy-out related to Anwar’s sacking from government.
“Yes, I was supportive of it back then but 30 per cent of the shares was owned by Khalid, Kadir, and Nazri, Mohd Noor,” Anwar said.
“It was only when I exposed them in court, Dr Mahathir called for Realmild surrender 70 percent,” he added.
Asked if he saw the controversial 100-storey Menara Warisan announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak reflected in Umno’s continuing bid to protect the party’s interests, the Opposition Leader remarked: “All mega deals protect the interests of the Umno elite.”
“Realmild is a classic example, proven, it was led by Dr Mahathir. I’m convinced there are cronies involved,” he said.
Back in court, De Silva stressed that Realmild was a “sendirian berhad” (private limited company) with four ex-NST journalists and accountant who became stakeholders of MRCB, a public-listed company, supposedly bought from Renong Berhad for RM800 million.
“It’s clear as daylight none of the shareholders had the means or capacity to do so,” De Silva said.
“Yes, they testified they raised the money on their own. [But] nobody wakes up one morning and says, ‘Yes! I’m going to take over NST and TV3. Can you do this on your own? Impossible!”
“My Lady, from the start of the scene, government hands or Umno hands were involved…to keep the media under control of Umno.”
Mahathir, Daim and Anwar turned Umno into a money-printing machine
“It was not for personal benefit but for the benefit of the party. That’s why Realmild took control from Renong. That’s the genesis of Realmild,” Abdul Rahman’s lawyer repeated for emphasis.
De Silva also pointed out that none of the four had exercised their rights as owners after the buy-over from Renong and instead continued their daily duties as newsmen, which was typical of nominees.
Trial judge Datuk Mary Lim asked if they were nominees, whether it meant they can’t transfer the title deeds to the shares; and whether it would not then require the defendant to show he had a title to pass on.
“Not necessary. What we are looking at is the concept of real ownership,” De Silva replied, before adding, “Who were the real owners?”
He moved to back his argument by pointing to the large number of lucrative projects given to Realmild’s construction subsidiary, MRCB, including building a power plant.
“MRCB was bestowed and granted huge government contracts and loans, subsequently…in 1997, the government awarded MRCB the KL Sentral project…two years later, they got a support loan of RM336 million,” De Silva cited.
“All these point effectively to the fact they were formed by the government because MRCB was effectively owned by Umno,” he argued further.
“Yes, the shares were held in their names, but when instructed to transfer, they transferred.”
“And they all transferred all, together,” he said slowly, lending emphasis to his submission.
But lawyer Ahmad Fadzil Mohd Perdaus, in pushing the case to be ruled in the plaintiff Khalid’s favour, submitted that Abdul Rahman had failed to show documentary evidence that proved an Umno “trust” existed, adding the defendant’s entire argument was pulled from oral testimony by parties not brought to court, including the former prime minister.
Ahmad even suggested that Abdul Rahman should have taken legal action against Dr Mahathir to recover his money instead of claiming it from Khalid.
“Why the defendant chose not to take action when he found out about the trust?”
“His line, his basis is what was told to him by the PM [then, Dr Mahathir] that he would not get his money back and that the shares belonged to Umno,” Ahmad said, referring to Abdul Rahman’s testimony in court.
“It’s not for the defendant to say the plaintiff held it in trust, held it as a nominee…that he was not accountable to pay…”
“The transfer was valid. He was the registered owner, legally, and [it was] common for nominees to transfer shares to [their] principals; it’s not for defendant to say no.”
“If such a case, defendant still liable to pay for the purchase price as agreed upon for the transfer of shares at the material time,” Ahmad concluded.
The nexus between Umno and certain conglomerates has been revealed in the court hearing that started in August this year involving the past shareholders of Realmild, the shadowy company that took over media giant The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd in 1993, and Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB).
