The Malaysian Insight

THE rot in 1Malaysia Development Bhd was not started by Najib Razak, but the prime minister used it to his advantage, said anti-graft activist Cynthia Gabriel.

The Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director said Najib “made it personal” when he allegedly used 1MDB funds to benefit his family.

“It’s personal because he got RM2.6 billion transferred into his personal bank accounts. It’s personal because his wife went on the Equanimity yacht to negotiate with Jho Low about matters related to her pink diamonds.

“We need to put a stop to the rot in the entire system. He (Najib) didn’t start the rot. It was started by his predecessors.

“But, he used it to his advantage very cleverly, and also used the global financial system (via shell companies) that opened up other windows of opportunity for him,” said Cynthia during the From BMF to 1MDB: A criminological and sociological discussion book launch and forum today.

Last week, the RM1 billion Equanimity, owned by 1MDB-linked businessman Low, whose full name is Low Taek Jho, was seized by Indonesia in a joint effort with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Last year, US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions had dubbed the 1MDB scandal as “kleptocracy at its worst”, and said more than US$4.5 billion (RM18 billion) in funds had been laundered via a complex web of transactions from shell companies, ranging from those in Switzerland and Singapore to Luxembourg and the US.

Cynthia said one way to end the rot in the government is to implement key institutional reforms, including making law enforcement independent.

From BMF to 1MDB is authored by Universiti Pertahanan Negara Malaysia criminologist Professor Teh Yik Koon, and is the product of her research on how the two scandals – 1MDB and Bumiputera Malaysia Finance – took place.

She said scandals like the BMF one, which occurred in the 1970s, and 1MDB took place because Malaysians allowed them to happen.

“All this corruption and abuse of power takes place because society allowed it to build up, and over the years, it got worse.”

The Malaysian Insight reported that RM85.51 billion in taxpayers’ funds have been used to bail out troubled government-linked companies, such as Perwaja Steel, Malaysia Airlines and 1MDB, over the past 36 years. – March 10, 2018.