PwC's FCPA problems may include its conduct in the matter of Malaysia's 1MDB

by Ganesh Sahathevan 

      Nazir Razak paying a courtesy call on old friend and new chairman of the SC, Faiz Azmi

As previously reported on this blog,  PwC may have a FCPA problem, arising out of its business  dealings with the Communist Party China linked Top Education Group .

That however is not the only FCPA problem that PwC may have to contend with. As mentioned: 

PwC's Australian scandal reveals PwC has a global centre which can intervene in local operations; there are now more reasons to believe that PwC Malaysia's 1MDB work was compromised by the fact that PwC has been Goldman Sachs' auditor for over 30 years

 Concerns about PwC's conduct in Malaysia with regards the 1MDB have been raised on this blog since at least 2019 but PwC has been very good at playing Malaysian politics. Rather than pursue PwC  for 1MDB related damages, Prime Minister Anaw Ibrahim has appointed PwC' Malaysia's executive  chairman at all relevant times, Faiz Azmi, a known associate of Najib Razak's brother Nazir, the new chairman of the Securities Commission, Malaysia's primary corporate regulator.

To Be  Read With 

Monday, August 12, 2024

PwC may have a FCPA problem - The Communist Party China linked Top Group investment by PwC Australia and its partners can have consequences under US law

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

FCPA

Like many other of the Big 4 accounting firms PwC which has its headquarters in the United States, structures itself in a way  that allows the firm to claim worldwide reach, but where national firms can claim to be independent of each other. KPMG tried that during the 1MDB  kleptocracy investigation , and PwC seems to be attempting the same to avoid any connection to the Australian tax scandal involving a number of Australian partners.  The revelation that the newly appointed CEO Kevin Burrowes received undisclosed payments from PwC International further complicates the effort.

 

 In the course of the media's investigation into PwC's tax scandal the ABC's Investigation Unit discovered that PwC and a number of its partners had acquired IPO shares in Top Education Group Ltd, an Australian company that was sought and was listed on the HKEX. Top was listed in early 2018, in what appears to have been a ramp and dump of the type known to attract the attention of Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). 

 

Top Group's listing was made possible only as a result of the company being granted what remains the first and only license to grant law degrees. The license was granted by the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board, at  a point which coincided with donations from that company, and its then owner, Zhu Minshen, to the NSW Liberal Party. Zhu Minshen has since passed away, but in 2016, just two years prior to the IPO, and 3 years before his license to grant law degrees was renewed, Zhu's role in influence peddling on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party was given a very public airing.

The chairman of the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board at all relevant times was the then Chief Justice Of NSW, Tom Bathurst AC KC, who has been recently appointed by Kevin Brookes to oversee his review of PwC's processes, which is supposed to address  the  failings in governance that led to the tax scandal.

 

The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act   has broad application . PwC's attempts to distance itself from the tax scandal of its Australian operations do not appear to working, and the Top Group affair, condemned by Australia's Minister For Education Jason Clare involves  Australian public officials at very many levels of government.

END

Singapore High Court clarification of directors' duties may have consequences for Australia's College Of Law and its senior directors who are also directors of the College's Singapore subsidiary

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

College Of Law CEO Neville Carter and  SLS President Gregor Vijayndran SC .Vijayndran and the SLS have been unwilling to answer queries abiut their business witht he College

In a recent decision the High Court Singapore held that non-executive directors were as responsible as executive directors for the governance of their companies ,and could not be excused for being unaware of matters concerning their companies.  The decision may have adverse consequences for the NSW Law Society's College Of Law, given its wholly-owned COL SIN P/L subsidiary whose directors include the College's most senior directors . 

The College  and its directors problems may arise from a likely failure to disclose to Singapore authorities various accounting and governance issues that arose in Malaysia (see story below) which remain undisclosed in its Australian annual reports. 

The College and its directors are very much part of the Sydney legal establishment , and they  have been able to escape scrutiny as a result. Their decision to venture into Asia and in particular Malaysia removed that shield, and it does appear as if the College's hasty and secretive withdrawal from that market was an attempt to escape uncomfortable questions about their business there. The College's long time CEO, Neville Carter, has ordered his staff to never answer queries from this writer.

END 

TO BE READ WITH 

Monday, July 13, 2020

Australia's College Of Law takes advantage of Singapore's regional HQ incentives: A first for an Australian not for profit ;meanwhile details about the incorporation of its College Of Law Asia remains elusive

by Ganesh Sahathevan


The chart below(click to enlarge) was sighted on the College Of Law webpage at this link.https://www.collaw.edu.au/-/media/col/au_files/downloads-and-forms/about/corporate-governance/college-of-law-corporate-and-academic-committee-structure-as-june-2019.pdf

           

The webpage was found when looking for an interesting new entity, 

COL SIN PRIVATE LIMITED.

A company search reveals that Col Sin Pty Ltd has listed its activities as "head and regional head offices, centralised and administrative offices.....".

It's directors are Neville Carter, CEO of the College Of Law, Joseph Catanzariti, its chairman, and Angie  Louise  Zandistra, who seems to have taken over the duties of Peter Tritt, Director College Of Law Asia (otherwise known as the College Of Law Asia Pacific). 

Col Sin has a paid-up capital of One Singapore Dollar.  The Singapore Government offers companies that locate their headquarters and regional headquarters in Singapore concessional tax rates. Why the College Of Law,which is a not for profit registered with Australian Charities And Not For Profit Commission (ACNC). 

TO BE READ WITH 

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

In search of the College Of Law Asia : College Of Law's Asian expansion still raising questions which Australia's legal establishment refuses to answer

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Australia's College Of Law, which is part of the NSW legal establishment conducts a number of postgraduate "applied law" courses. Among them is a Mergers & Acquisitions offering. Prospective students are enticed by statements such as this, contained in a course brochure (click to enlarge): 

The College Of  Law Asia seems an elusive creature. It first popped up in Malaysia, but then disappeared. Neither the College not the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board which regulates the College's activities have had anything to say about these issues (and others) reported in Malaysia:

Key person suddenly retired during extensive query

The College of Law used to be represented in Malaysia by its Director, Peter Tritt. Tritt have been queried extensively about the LLM and about the College’s business in Malaysia but has refused to provide answers. Tritt has been based in Kuala Lumpur since 2017 but announced on Friday that he had “retired” from the College on 30 June 2019.

It is understood that Tritt has forwarded queries sent him to his head office in Sydney and hence it appears that Tritt is under orders from his Chief Executive, Neville Carter, to remain silent.

Questionable advertising claims?

In advertising on the College’s website Carter has claimed that he had established a Professional Legal Training course for Malaysian Law students seeking admission to practise in Malaysia. There seems to be no evidence of such a course, or of any national level training course for the existing Certificate of Legal Practise.

Carter has also claimed to have produced the “inaugural” Handbook in Legal Practise for Malaysia, in the late 80s. A search of the main law libraries in Malaysia directed by the Chief Registrar, Federal Court Malaysia, has not found any such handbook.

He has also claimed to have, during that time to have identified and addressed “gaps” in Malaysian legal practise, but not even those in practice during that period and since have ever heard of him. Nor are senior practitioners aware of  “gaps” that needed that to be addressed by external consultants.

As CEO of the College Carter  has ultimate responsibility for the College’s Malaysian operation headed by Tritt and variously named the “College Of Law Asia Pacific” and the “College Of Law Asia”. A search by NMT has not revealed any entities registered under those names in Malaysia or in Australia, not even a foreign entities registered to conduct business in Malaysia.

Meanwhile the College, in collaboration with the Bar Council continues to sell its LLM and other courses in Malaysia, deriving a fee income from Malaysian courses.

TO BE READ WITH


Sunday, June 21, 2020

Singapore Law Society maintains silence on MOU with Australia's College Of Law,and has removed a website about which it was queried.: SLS seems to be following the lead of Bar Council Malaysia in re College Of Law

by Ganesh Sahathevan


  College Of Law CEO Neville Carter & SLS President Gregory Vijayndran SC . Vijayndran and the SLS have been unwilling to answer questions about their business with the College

As previously reported, the Singapore Law Society's confidence in its practical legal training partner, the College Of Law Australia, is not shared by participants in the Australia's market for legal education. 

The SLS's Dephine Tan has since been further questioned about an upcoming "master-class" that is to be offered by the College of Law and SLS, and presented by Raphael Tay of Malaysia, who is described as Program Director, LLM ASEAN+6 at The College of Law Asia 
Readers will note that they are reading a cached copy of the SLS website on which the "master-class" was advertised. The actual website https://www.lawsociety.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Brochure_eMasterclass-MnA-Webinar-PORTAL-1.pdf
seems to have been removed since questions were put last Thursday to Ms Tan and the SLS. 
It does look as the SLS is following in the footsteps of the Bar Council Malaysia, in not wanting to answer questions, and in removing websites related to work with the College Of Law.
The experience of the Bar Council Malaysia were also put to the SLS,and have also been met with stony silence. 

Posted by ganesh sahathevan at 6:24 PM

PwC may have a FCPA problem - The Communist Party China linked Top Group investment by PwC Australia and its partners can have consequences under US law

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

FCPA

Like many other of the Big 4 accounting firms PwC which has its headquarters in the United States, structures itself in a way  that allows the firm to claim worldwide reach, but where national firms can claim to be independent of each other. KPMG tried that during the 1MDB  kleptocracy investigation , and PwC seems to be attempting the same to avoid any connection to the Australian tax scandal involving a number of Australian partners.  The revelation that the newly appointed CEO Kevin Burrowes received undisclosed payments from PwC International further complicates the effort.

 

 In the course of the media's investigation into PwC's tax scandal the ABC's Investigation Unit discovered that PwC and a number of its partners had acquired IPO shares in Top Education Group Ltd, an Australian company that was sought and was listed on the HKEX. Top was listed in early 2018, in what appears to have been a ramp and dump of the type known to attract the attention of Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). 

 

Top Group's listing was made possible only as a result of the company being granted what remains the first and only license to grant law degrees. The license was granted by the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board, at  a point which coincided with donations from that company, and its then owner, Zhu Minshen, to the NSW Liberal Party. Zhu Minshen has since passed away, but in 2016, just two years prior to the IPO, and 3 years before his license to grant law degrees was renewed, Zhu's role in influence peddling on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party was given a very public airing.

The chairman of the NSW Legal Profession Admission Board at all relevant times was the then Chief Justice Of NSW, Tom Bathurst AC KC, who has been recently appointed by Kevin Brookes to oversee his review of PwC's processes, which is supposed to address  the  failings in governance that led to the tax scandal.

 

The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act   has broad application . PwC's attempts to distance itself from the tax scandal of its Australian operations do not appear to working, and the Top Group affair, condemned by Australia's Minister For Education Jason Clare involves  Australian public officials at very many levels of government.

END

ABC's Britain Stole Brazil's Rubber Industry Documentary An Expensive Investigation Into Nothing Very Much - Costs Could Have Been Halved By Simple Desktop Research Out Of Sydney

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

 

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is an expert on everything , including the Malaysian and Singaporean economies. Learn from this episode of its Stuff The British Stole how Malaysia and Singapore, both former British colonies gained nothing from Sir Henry Wickham bringing to Malaysia and Singapore rubber seeds from Brazil.

Unfortunately for the ABC, the Rubber Trade Association Singapore has on its website a more definitive view of how Singapore and Malaysia grew out of Sir Henry Wickham's adventures.

In fact, a bit of research (online, out of ABC offices in Sydney) of the Singapore National Library's archive of Singapore newspapers going back to the mid 1800s would have revealed that Sir Henry Wickham was quite candid about his Brazilian rubber seed adventure.There was no need for an expensive ABC investigation that took its team to the Amazon jungles of Brazil Kew Gardens in the UK, and Singapore. In the words of Sir Henry Wickham, as reported by  The Straits Times, 28 September 1928 ( Page 9):

 

 

END 

SEE ALSO 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'We're not free in our own seas'- Even China friendly Chinese of Miri, Sarawak complain that China is denying them entry and enjoyment of their own seas, but PM Anwar Ibrahim still insists he has no problem wtih China

 by Ganesh Sahathevan

 




Malaysia has a long standing problem with Chinese intrusion into its waters

The Chinese of Miri, Sarawak are probably among the most China friendly and China leaning people that one can find in Malaysia. That is evident in the streets where a Chinese in China is viewed with less suspicion than a non-Chinese Malaysian (possibly because they are viewed as interlopers from the peninsula).

Now however even the Chinese of Miri are beginning to complain about China Coast Guard harassment in  Malaysian waters. Malaysiakini reports:

“We are not free even though it is our territory,” laments the Miri Fishing Club secretary Vincent Lo, regarding the presence of China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels in the South China Sea.

This is especially the case around Luconia Shoals (known locally as Beting Patinggi Ali), which Malaysia deems to be part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of Sarawak but is regularly patrolled by the CCG.

Lo said this situation makes it difficult for them to go fishing...

 

The reference to Luconia Shoals is telling. As this writer has noted, Malaysia has an ongoing problem with China's illegal interference with activities on and around the Shoals, even if Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim insists that he has no problem with China.

END

Muslims celebrate the first time in history a NSW Supreme Court admissions speech has been delivered by a person donning the kefiyeh -CJ Andrew Bell can longer distance himself from the misconduct of his underlings

 by Ganesh Sahathevan

In the words of the Australian Jewish Association :

An ugly anti-Israel protest took place with the seeming approval of the NSW Law Society.

 However, as Mahmud Hawila states in his Linkedin feed, the video of this incident has been posted on the NSW Supreme Court Youtube page. The Chief Justice Andrew Bell is ultimately responsible for conduct in his court, but has been unwilling  to address the misconduct of his underlings.

 

TO BE READ WITH 

Sunday, April 17, 2022

NSW Supreme Court position in favour of sharia not matched by any statement in favour of other faiths-Perception of bias among adherents of other faiths justified

 by Ganesh Sahathevan 

The. NSW Supreme Court's  position in favour of sharia   is  not matched by any similar statement in favour of other faiths.  There is at least a perception of bias, especially given the somewhat sanitized version of sharia that the Court describes, which  it says is  not incompatible with Australian law. 

TO BE READ WITH 

Sharia: The Sultan Of Brunei & the Governor designate NSW Margaret Beazley's views compared.;the official position of the Government Of Brunei vs that of the Supreme Court NSW 

by Ganesh Sahathevan

Readers are referred to the article published earlier on this blog about the views of the Governor designate NSW, the former President Of The Court Of Appeal NSW Margaret Beazley AO.
The Governor designate's views are contained in a speech that continues to be broadcast (or "published")  to the whole world on the NSW Supreme Court website:

Governor designate Margaret Beazley AO  will have to clarify her position on Islam very soon.:Her silence in the case of the Malaysian lesbians punished by caning maybe acceptable among judges but not from the Queen's representative

The story above includes this paragraph which the Legal Profession Admission Board NSW, whose chairman is the Chief Justice NSW Tom Bathurst, have deemed to be defamatory ,and lacking "insight": 


The Hon Justice M J Beazley AO, President Of The Court Of Appeal ,State Of NSW, Australia ,said in a speech delivered in 2014, but not widely reported:
"...despite a perception that Islam and the Australian law are incompatible, this is not borne out by the caselaw"
She did so in conjunction with the Affinity Intercultural Foundation, the Australian arm of the Fetullah Gulen movement. While Gulen and his followers have been recently victimised by former friend and ally Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey who they helped install, Gulen and his people are not innocent of jihadi activity.
They are nevertheless quite adapt at recruiting Western "intellectuals" to promote their, cause, Her Honour is only the most recent.



Now , compare the views of the highly learned justices to that of the Sultan Of Brunei, an absolute monarch of a Muslim country:

A Powerful Message From Brunei to the World

Why do you care so much what's happening here in an Islamic nation when you didn't even bat an eyelid about the Syrians, Bosnians, Rohingyas, Palestinians, etc.

“In your countries you practice freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, etc. It’s in your constitution. It’s your political system, your national identity, your rights, your way of life. In my country, we practice a Malay, Islamic, Monarchical system and we’re going to start practicing the laws of Islam, Shari’ah Law. Islam is in our constitution, our national identity, our rights, our way of life. We may find loopholes in your laws and justice system, and you may have found ours, but this is our country. Just like you practice your right to be gay, etc. for this world you live in now, we practice our rights to be Muslims for this world and the Hereafter. This is an Islamic country practicing Islamic Law. Why don’t you worry about your kids being gunned down in schools, worry about your prisons being unable to accommodate convicts, worry about your high rate of crimes and DUIs, worry about your high suicide and abortion rate, worry about whatever it is that you should be worried about there. Many religions are against homosexuality, it’s nothing new. The moment you hear that Islam and Muslims making a stand and trying to reaffirm their faith, you judge, you boycott, you say that it’s wrong, it’s stupid, it’s barbaric. Again, go back to those worries that you should focus on I’ve mentioned earlier. Is it not wrong to legalize deadly weapons, is it not wrong to allow unborn babies to be killed, is it not wrong to allow a lifestyle that results in AIDS and discontinuation of the next generation? Why do you care so much what’s happening here in an Islamic nation when you didn’t even bat an eyelid about the Syrians, Bosnians, Rohingyas, Palestinians, etc. Thousands are being killed there and you don’t care, not one is killed here under this Shari’ah Law, and you make a big fuss, even when the citizens here who are directly affected by it, accepts it with peace. Punishments may be harsher but it does not mean it’s easier to be carried out. There are processes to go through before an actual conviction. We are fine with it, we are happy.”

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MH 17: Australia's Penny Wong solemnly swears to pursue Russia, but says nothing about Malaysia's opposing views

by Ganesh Sahathevan


Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong vowed to continue to hold 
Russia to account. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

News.com.au and others have reported:

Marking 10 years since the horrific downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has reignited her vow to hold Russia to account for the nearly 300 deaths.  

n her speech, Wong said the downing of the plan was “incomprehensible”, and promised to continue to pursue justice against Russia.

“On behalf of the Australian Government, I recommit, again, to our collective pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for the outrages perpetrated on July 17, 2014,” she said.

“I recommit to our ongoing partnership with the Netherlands, which lost nearly 200 nationals, with Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine.

Malaysia however has taken a different stance, distancing itself from laying any blame on Russia. As reported on this blog:

MH 17 : On the second anniversary Malaysia's PM Najib spends time in Moscow,while Australia's Julie Bishop continues to defend her handling of the issue

Australian media in particular the ABC have gone to great lengths to play up Wong's Malaysian antecedents,  implying that being Malaysian born and Chinese Wong can more readily speak with Asia's leaders. There is however nothing to indicate that Malaysia has changed its position on MH17 was a Malaysian plane to Malaysia's position on the matter is crucial. If nothing else Malaysia may well have access to evidence that could make or break the case. Malaysia' s opposing views may well be fatal to the case brought by Australia and The Netherlands, and it is unlikely that Wong is unaware of that fact.

 END



To Be Read With

Comment
There are many reasons why Fauziah cannot be ignored, the fact that she was " Malaysia’s Ambassador to the Netherlands when the MH17 incident occurred" is just one of them.


Gaps in JIT probe over MH17 By Datuk Dr Fauziah Mohd Taib
June 22, 2019 @ 12:29am



THE June 19 press conference by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) over the downing of MH17 has caused some dissension in international affairs. Because of the murkiness of the situation and the many angles, I believe it is worthwhile for us to break down the matter into components before looking at it as a whole again.



Facts of the case: Malaysia Airlines MH17 was shot down by an air missile near Donetsk in the eastern part of the Ukraine five years ago on 17 July. All 298 passengers, including crew members, were killed. MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur passing through a zone of conflict in eastern Ukraine.



The JIT: The team comprises prosecutors from the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine. The purpose was to establish the facts of the case, determine the truth of what happened, gather criminal evidence and identify those responsible.

Malaysia was initially excluded from the JIT until it protested, justifying that we have ownership to the aircraft and the number of Malaysians who perished were considerable.



JIT findings: MH17 was shot down by a BUK missile transported into the separatist-controlled territory of eastern Ukraine from Russia. The Dutch findings were based on physical evidence where some 35 per cent of the aircraft’s remnants were transported in 11 containers to the Netherlands. According to the Dutch Safety Board, each piece of evidence was meticulously examined at least five times.



Based on these findings, the JIT held a joint press conference in The Hague to announce four suspects to be charged with the downing of the MH17 aircraft. Of the four, three are Russian nationals while the fourth is Ukrainian.

They are said to be responsible for bringing in the deadly weapon into eastern Ukraine, which according to the JIT had only one purpose — to shoot down a plane. The suspects were eliminated from hundreds of others based on screened big data, tapped telephone conversations and the social media.

Under Dutch criminal law their act is punishable even though they were not active soldiers and did not pull the trigger.



Despite the findings, JIT has left many questions unanswered. These questions, I believe, are more pertinent to the case:

FIRST, none of the four suspects were the crew members of the vehicle from which the surface to air missile was shot. The JIT was unable to identify who they were, how many of them, and how they were linked to the four suspects. What was their chain of command and what was the instruction? What was the intent of firing the missile? Was the incident a conscious and deliberate act intended to hit the Malaysian commercial aircraft per se or was the Malaysian aircraft caught in a crossfire?



Under criminal law, it is usually the act and intention at the same time that constitute a crime. The plaintiff has to prove that the civilian aircraft was intentionally shot. The defence is successful simply if it raises a reasonable doubt.



SECOND, there were 160 commercial flights flying over the Ukraine on that day. Why did the Ukraine air traffic controller direct MH17 to fly at a lower flight path, at 33,000 feet, over the conflict zone that put our aircraft in danger? Is the Ukraine not also culpable for directing MH17 to fly at that level, knowing that it was allowing a commercial airliner to fly straight into a zone of conflict?



THIRD, JIT members were drawn from the countries involved in the downing of MH17. But why was Russia not included in the JIT? Some press statements have alluded that Russia was invited to join the JIT, but declined. Was this the same way that Malaysia was initially excluded from joining the JIT, because it could not be determined if Malaysia would be supportive of Russia and not the West?



According to the JIT, the suspects are innocent until proven guilty and it is now in JIT’s hands to show that they are innocent. Witnesses have been asked to come forward. This comes after five years of the establishment of the JIT. It shows how little evidence they have to begin prosecution yet the trial will still begin on March 9 in The Hague next year.



For Malaysians, the fact that the four suspects are linked to the Russian government is not relevant. We should not be caught in a geopolitical feud between the West and Russia. After all, from the very beginning, the Russians have been blamed by the West either directly or indirectly for the incident.



What is relevant for us is the truth. What happened on that fateful day? Who caused it, and was it intentional? If it was intentional, then why us?

The writer was Malaysia’s Ambassador to the Netherlands when the MH17 incident occurred