Saturday, August 12, 2017

1MDB defaulted, and must pay default interest:IPIC

Regulatory Story
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RNS
IPIC GMTN Limited  -  61HK   

UPDATE ON SETTLEMENT WITH 1MDB AND MOF INC.

Released 09:33 11-Aug-2017

RNS Number : 7743N
IPIC GMTN Limited
11 August 2017
 
International Petroleum Investment Company PJSC - Update on Settlement with 1MDB and MoF Inc.

Further to the announcement of 8 August 2017 (RNS Number 3932N), International Petroleum Investment Company PJSC (IPIC) has now received the  funds required by 12 August 2017 for the extension agreed with Minister of Finance (Incorporated) Malaysia (MoF Inc.) and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to be effective. Accordingly, MoF Inc. and 1MDB now have until 31 August 2017 to complete the performance of the payment obligations that were initially due to be performed by 31 July 2017 under the Settlement and the Consent Award and to pay default interest on the delayed payment.

For further information, please contact:

International Petroleum Investment Company PJSC
P.O. Box 45005, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Telephone:
+971 2 413 0000
Fax:
+971 2 413 0001
Email:
media@mubadala.ae

           
                       
                       

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
 
END
 
 
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Friday, August 11, 2017

China lobbyist Paul Keating as a proxy for China's policy on North Korea:China wants North Korea left alone, so that China can rely on North Korea to keep the US in check

by Ganesh Sahathevan


Image result for keating china


As he has before,former PM Paul Keating often reveals more than he should when speaking on behalf of his masters. So it was in 1993 when he stupidly made public the Clinton Administration's views on Mahathir Moahamd (albeit ,possibly, in more colourful terms,which was probably what the US intended) and then again more recently when he revealed China's plans for the South China Sea and Eastern Europe.
He seems here to have done it again, where his main point , probably reflecting his current paymaster China's view, is  that:
a) The West must not try to deprive North Korea of its nuclear weapons. 
b) Doing so will make North Korea unstable, which will  make South Korea open to attack

c) That the best policy is some form of detente, which the West had with the Soviet Union,which will allow North Korea to retain (and  keep developing) its nuclear capability.

Of course, it will then follow that China will retain a capability, via North Korea, to keep the United States, Japan and South Korea, and all their allies in the Pacific off-balance as and when the need arises, easing the way for Chinese adventures in the Pacific ,and the South China Sea.

Keating has not the brains to conceive any of this.
He is clearly reading from a script given him.

END


 


Paul Keating: North Korea could collapse if it gives up nuclear weapons

James Massola


Fergus Hunter




Paul Keating has warned that North Korea will never abandon its nuclear weapon program and that this new reality will have to be addressed in the same way as the west sought to contain the former Soviet Union.

The former prime minister, one of Australia's most-respected foreign policy thinkers and a strong advocate for a more independent foreign policy, has disagreed strongly with the language and approach being taken by the US President Donald Trump towards the rogue state.


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Trump ratchets up rhetoric towards North Korea

US President Trump doubled down on his inflammatory 'fire and fury' warning to North Korea, saying maybe he had not been tough enough in the face of the rising threat.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump reiterated his bellicose warning to North Korea, suggesting that his threat to unleash "fire and fury" may not have gone far enough.

"Maybe it wasn't tough enough," Trump said during a lengthy exchange with reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

RELATED ARTICLES


Kim Beazley: why we are still technically at war in Korea


Australia will join the conflict if North Korea attacks the US: Malcolm Turnbull

Mr Keating said his criticism could be extended to Australia's pledge to enter any potential conflict between the US and North Korea. He also disagreed with former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott that Australia should pursue a missile defence system against North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles.

His comments about the growing tensions on the Korean peninsula come on the same day that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declared Australia would assist America if it was attacked by North Korea.


"If there is an attack on the United States by North Korea, then the ANZUS treaty will be invoked and Australia will come to the aid of the United States," Mr Turnbull said. This would be only the second time the ANZUS treaty had been invoked.




Speaking ahead of a national security briefing with Defence Minister Marise Payne and Defence Force chief Mark Binskin, Mr Turnbull highlighted the UN Security Council's recent imposition of harsher sanctions on North Korea which, significantly, were backed by China and Russia.
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"As I discussed with Vice-President Pence last night [Thursday], both the United States and Australia are committed to resolving this situation on the Korean Peninsula, to bringing the North Korean regime to its senses through diplomatic and economic means. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the United States."

US President Donald Trump has threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on the rogue state and the North Korean regime has, in turn, warned it would attack the US Pacific territory of Guam, home to a major airforce base.

Mr Keating decided to speak publicly after being contacted by Fairfax Media and his views will be expanded in a major essay for a new magazine, Australian Foreign Affairs, to be published in October.

"I have long believed, especially after the unprovoked Western attack on Iraq and the ransacking of the Gaddafi regime in Libya, that North Korea would not desist from the full development of its nuclear weapons program, despite threats and sanctions from the West and even from China," he said

"I said in April, we should regard North Korea as a full and capable nuclear weapons state – a state that would, in future, need to be contained, in the way the Soviet Union was contained during the Cold War. Developments since April have only confirmed my view."

"More than that, it may be, that because the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea has, in a sense, become the raison d'etre of the state, were Kim Jong-Un and his generals to agree to the West's demands, they may not politically survive that acquiescence."
SH

"The moral in this is that all nuclear proliferation is bad and dangerous, particularly in the hands of outlier regimes like North Korea. We knew this from the moment the Manhattan Project succeeded in 1945."

When asked if a missile shield was an option that Australia should pursue to protect the mainland, Mr Keating's response was blunt.

"I think this is more than debatable. The offending missiles would approach their targets at something like Mach 20, a phenomenal speed. We could never know, until the fatal event, whether a missile defence system would effectively work, or work in respect of each and every missile," he said.

"A more worldly and competent foreign and defence policy is by far the preferred first line of defence – rather than the default position of relying on expensive but problematic hardware."

Mr Turnbull also disagreed with Mr Abbott and Mr Rudd - who have both told Fairfax Media in the last four weeks that Australia should pursue missile defence - on the need for such a shield.

He said on Friday the current advice from Defence was that the terminal high altitude area defence [THAAD] system "is designed to provide protection for relatively small areas against short to intermediate range missiles".

Former US Ambassador Kim Beazley said the prime minister had responded to a hypothetical situation when discussing whether to invoke the ANZUS alliance and not "an automatic commitment" but is "as close to automatic as we can get".

We have a commitment there which is as close to automatic as we can get.

"It does not arise from the ANZUS alliance but from the United Nations. We are still technically at war on the Peninsula but we are signatories to an Armistice, agreed with the UN," he said.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said "the last thing we need here is a Prime Minister backing an unhinged and paranoid leader into a conflict that could potentially end life on Earth as we know it".

He called on Mr Turnbull to tell the President to "back off".

"If there was an ever a clearer example of why Australia needs to ditch the US alliance and forge an independent, non-aligned foreign policy, this is it. Malcolm Turnbull now needs to pick up the phone, he needs to talk to Donald Trump and urge him to de-eascalate."

Defence analysts believe North Korea's longest-range missiles could reach Australia. Foreign Minster Julie Bishop has said North Korea's ICBMs pose an "existential threat" to Australia, though we are not a primary target.

The US, Japan, western Europe, Israel and other nations have deployed missile defence.

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Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Sirul Azhar Umar will be coming back to Malaysia to hang -Australia need not wait for Malaysia to seek extradition

by Ganesh Sahathevan

'Flannel' From Australia's Immigration Department
It has been reported by The Australian that Sirul Azhar Umar "has been formally notified by Immigration and Border Protection that his ­application for a protection visa is likely to be denied on the ground he committed a non-political crime before entering Australia in October 2014."
The finding that he committed a non-political crime before entering Australia means that he cannot be considered a refugee and would have to be deported to Malaysia.Australia will not have to wait for an extradition application from Malaysia.
That he will hang when he returns is not necessarily an obstacle,for that is merely a convention or policy, against which Australian authorities have to weigh keeping Sirul in permanent detention, which is not generally possible under Australian laws.
Sirul may appeal the decision, but the chances of success are not good.
END

References

Solving the problem of Sirul Azhar-Can Australia refer the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu to the International Criminal Court?
by Ganesh Sahathevan
The matter of Sirul Azhar drags on,with the Australian Government still clueless as to what to do with a man who can look forward to spending the rest of his life at the Villawood Detention Centre.
Australia needs to do something,  for it cannot keep Sirul detained indefinitely. On the other hand,freeing him into the local community is not an option. Could that something be a referral to International Criminal Court in Rome? While the murder Sirul Azhar has been convicted to hang for was committed in Malaysia Malaysia is not a signatory to tthe Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court., but Australia is.
Sirul is now in Australian custody and he is claiming that he is innocent of the charge. Australia will not return him to Malaysia because of popular objection to the death penalty,so Australia has effectively taken complete responsibility for him. Re-trying Sirul in Australia is not practical ,but however the ICC may have the physical and legal resources to do so. ICC intervention,based on a referral from Australia,  may be the only practical way of resolving the impasse.
END
References
A. Referrals, analyses and investigations
Any State Party to the Rome Statute can request the Office of the Prosecutor to carry out an investigation. A State not party to the Statute can also accept the jurisdiction of the ICC with respect to crimes committed in its territory or by one of its nationals, and request the Office of the Prosecutor to carry out an investigation. The United Nations Security Council may also refer a situation to the Court.



‘Flannel’ From Australia’s Immigration Department

Sarawak Report suggests that striving to tell the truth, rather than sticking to what is convenient, should be a golden rule for public servants and their political masters. Not only because it is right, but because it is awfully embarrassing to be caught in a cover-up.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Controls has just proved the point, having exposed itself to ridicule and disappointment in Malaysia, which will reflect on its reputation in Australia also.
This is because it has just issued a nonsensical statement to the ABC programme Four Corners, for no apparent good reason, except to perhaps protect certain individuals, who may have assisted in the making of a series of videos featuring Sirul Azhar Umar, which was plainly recorded within the Villawood detention centre earlier this year.
Protestors at Villawood - normally dressed like Sirul
The statement from the Department persists in claiming that, contrary to all the evidence, it was “not possible” for the video to have been recorded while Sirul was in detention.
This, says the department, is because of the ‘flannel’ behind him and the clothes he is wearing, which could not possibly have been smuggled into the centre.
So, what is so significant about Sirul’s perfectly ordinary attire and his sarong hanging up behind him in front of the window that he could not possibly have had these possessions in his room?
Detainees wear everyday clothes at Villawood, not striped pyjamas or orange jumpsuits – so have the officials of the Department of Immigration seriously investigated all of Sirul’s clothing of the past year, in order to definitively rule out this particular set of shirt and slacks?
And did they not recognise a classic Malay sarong when they saw one, thinking it to be a  ‘flannel backdrop’ instead?

Get a better translation

Minister Peter Dutton, why the dogged denials?
However, it is Sirul’s own words spoken in Malay, which confirm without doubt that the video was recent.
He referred directly to a ‘recent’ press statement given by his two UMNO lawyers in KL, Kamarul Kamaruddin and Hasnal Merican, who had updated the media on his immigration status several months after his detention.
That statement was given in December 2015 and there had been no equivalent earlier press statement given by these two layers in KL in the period before his arrest in Australia, discussing his immigration requests or anything else.
Neither had Sirul hired a legal and immigration team to pursue this immigration request prior to his arrest.
Below is a translation of what Sirul plainly said in the video and it places the timing straight after the press statement the two lawyers gave on December 31st:
“I wish to clarify and further comment with respect to the media statement made by Datuk Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin and Hasnal Rezua Merican in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Immediately after the statements were made, a few days after that, there are still a number of certain parties who have taken the opportunity to contact me here.
I would like to clarify here that I am not interested at all to make any further statements after this.
As we all know, Datuk Kamarul himself has announced that certain processes, including the Immigration process, the legal process that continue to take place here that requires me to devote.  So, I am devoting the whole of my time, my energy to settle here as per my application process to settle here..”
Yet, in the face of this, the communications team representing Immigration & Borders Minister Peter Dutton claim that they have had two Malay translators examine the material, who have assured them that Sirul’s references were of a “generalised nature.. including references to immigration and legal processes [which] are consistent with those underway immediately prior to the detainee’s entry to detention”.
They should get a third, more accurate translator and further explain how Sirul was pursuing an immigration case before his arrest, when his immigration and legal advisors only started off the process after his detention?
The facts of the matter are that Sirul was detained on 20th January 2015 after he failed to gain an extension to his tourist visa. It was only on the day he was detained that he first made a verbal request for a protection visa, which he is now attempting to achieve.
He did not obtain lawyers until later, when the UMNO team was sent from KL and hired local representation on his behalf, using sources of money which have yet to be explained. Therefore, Sirul could not have referred to lawyers speaking publicly about his immigration issues before being arrested and detained – there were no lawyers at that time and no case underway.

‘Conspiracy to topple Najib’

A further point has been widely made about this series of video episodes (released very much in the telling genre of a classic Ramesh Rao disinformation campaign), which is that the substance focuses entirely on the perception of a “plot” against the Prime Minister, a concept which did not emerge until after the exposes over 1MDB, which happened several weeks after Sirul had been detained.
“I mean what is the importance for some interested people to want to topple a person?
Sirul announces in the 3rd ‘episode’, prompting many to question how Sirul acquired such foresight about a debate that would only be raging months after his arrest and, if so, why he waited so long to release his supportive comments of the boss he once attacked for making him a scapegoat?

No rules against making prison videos

Altogether it seems entirely idiotic, therefore, for the Department of Immigration to be sticking doggedly to a nonsensical argument, for no apparent good reason beyond the fact that officials plainly still believe they can stone wall further examination.
This is not least because in a separate statement to Australia’s 60 Minutes programme, who are also on the story, officials from the very same department made clear that there is no rule preventing Sirul making such a recording if he wants to:
“In another letter to 60 Minutes, the Australian Border Force said immigration detainees are free to contact any media representative.
“People in detention have access to computers, the internet, social media and telephones and there are no restrictions on who they may contact,” [Malaysiakini]
In which case, why all the fuss and denial by the Australian authorities?
To anyone looking at these video offerings, it seems evident that Sirul set himself on a chair in front of a window with a sarong across to block out the light and then spoke looking down into a camera on an open computer in front of him, as in a typical Skype call.
The Ramesh Rao team with Lester - another paid video episode confession maker
All Malaysia has concluded that this was just another Ramesh Rao production, using a paid confession-maker reciting from a pre-prepared script, with the sole purpose of exonerating Rao’s hero Najib Razak.
The same technique of chopping the ‘confessions’ into episodes is also familiar to those who have already laughed at the ‘Lester Melanyi files’… even up to the failure to deliver on promised final bombshell episodes, such as the missing ‘part 4″ of the Sirul production, which the makers have evidently bottled out of releasing.
The same Ramesh line up - this time the confession maker was Selvi Bala
So, why are the Australian authorities working so hard to box themselves into a corner to deny that these videos were filmed with Sirul in detention, once the UMNO legal team had moved in to control and pay off Sirul, when they themselves have admitted that he was perfectly entitled to make such a video if he wanted to?
Is it because the Department does not want to open up and address the wider concerns about the blatant and illicit Malaysian political interference in the handling of Sirul’s legal affairs in Australia?
Altantuya was murdered by Sirul - who originally attempted to blackmail Najib before changing his tune in jail
Or, is it also because certain quarters in Australia still cling to working with Najib, despite this inappropriate and illegal interference in a troubling murder case, in order to achieve their separate deportation objectives?
These, of course, involve sending other asylum seekers over to indefinite detention in Malaysia, where Najib has kindly agreed to take them off Australia’s hands.
BN has an appalling recent record on people trafficking; it has been widely admonished also for its failures to observe UN refugee guidelines and for widespread abuse of foreign workers.
Nevertheless, it appears that some in Australia remain willing to join the ranks of opportunists ready to bend the rules over Najib Razak, in return for favours rendered.


AUG
19

Sirul Azhar Umar has become hot property: Evidence that Jho Low may have created the market

by Ganesh Sahathevan
Evidence is emerging that someone in Taipei, Taiwan, has been informed of this writer’s queries concerning the matter of Sirul.The emergence of this evidence coincides with Sarawak Report’s revelation that Low Taek Jho, aka Jho Low, has sought 
refuge in Taiwan.   Given that Jho Low has been “tied to the 1 MDB inquiry”  a link between 1 MDB and and the matter of Sirul Azhar Umar may soon become apparent.
While in detention Sirul’s ability to receive any significant amount of cash  is non-existent.It is highly unlikely that he even has a bank account in Australia.The same can be said for his teenage son who remains in Australia. Even if released any receipt of funds on their part will be very closely scrutinized.
Consequently all this money or promise of money swirling around Sirul is indicative only of a presumed right to keep him silent.For so long as he remains in detention others can lay claim to that right,and trade it with anyone who is willing to pay. It appears that Jho Low created the market but it is unclear if he still has the finances to keep that market liquid. With accounts being frozen in Singapore and Malaysia it is likely that the market has dried up.Nevertheless, some may be living in hope.
While Sirul Azhar Umar   remains unrepresented those who have laid claim over him, or who have been reported to be his legal advisors   have refused to say who pays or has promised to pay for their services.
Nevertheless whatever is or was   on offer to guide  Sirul  through his troubles must be significant, for how else does one explain this fiercely possessive  reaction from  Christopher Levingston, an immigration lawyer who was asked to clarify his position vis a vis Sirul:
You have no standing nor do you have any legitimate interest in this matter.
Your attempts to interpose yourself and your strategy of “divide and rule” is not only unprofessional but also unethical.
END
Posted 19th August 2015 by Ganesh Sahathevan
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Friday, August 4, 2017

Robin Tan's Jho Low/Petrosaudi yacht trip may complicate issues of Berjaya succession and inheritance: Only natural when there are 10 other siblings,some with very powerful spouses ......

by Ganesh Sahathevan



Romantic gesture: Faliq getting down on one knee to propose to an emotional Chryseis while the couple are on holiday in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Romantic gesture: Faliq getting down on one knee to propose to an emotional Chryseis while the couple are on holiday in Marrakesh, Morocco.


It has recently been reported: 
It will be a union not only between two lovers but also of two of the richest families in Malaysia – SM Faliq Nasimuddin, son of late Tan Sri Nasimuddin Amin, and Chryseis Tan, daughter of Tan Sri Vincent Tan.
The CEO of Berjaya Times Square announced her engagement to the deputy executive chairman and group managing director of Naza TTDI on Instagram on Saturday.
Chryseis, who has 10 siblings, is also the executive director of Berjaya Assets Bhd and an investor in several brands including Greyhound Cafe and La Juiceria, and is known for her luxurious jet-setting lifestyle.

Eldest of the pack is Robin Tan,who has been reported to have been on that yacht trip where matters concerning 1MDB and PetroSaudi were discussed. As  this writer has said before, with regards that matter:

Najib & Rosmah conducted 1MDB business on their own :Why not seize the assets of Low Hock Peng,Vincent Tan ,and Bustari Yusof who were also present ?


It follows that these issues will affect the Berjaya succession and  matters of inheritance , complicated by the fact that there are 11 siblings ,and now at least one very powerful family of in-laws.

END 










Wednesday, May 10, 2017


Najib & Rosmah conducted 1MDB business on their own :Why not seize the assets of Low Hock Peng,Vincent Tan ,and Bustari Yusof who were also present ?


Tuesday, May 9, 2017


Najib & Rosmah conducted 1MDB business on their own :Why not seize the assets of Low Hock Peng,Vincent  Tan ,and Bustari Yusof who were also present ?


by Ganesh Sahathevan


Image result for larry low hock peng

Larry Low Hock Peng 


Image result for bustari yusof vincent tan





Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan

The IPIC "settlement" seems shaky,and the China "rescue" seems to have fallen apart.
A realistic avenue for the recovery of Malaysian taxpayers' money lost in the 1MDB debacle is needed, and while the US DOJ has an action to do so in play, Malaysians really ought to be helping themselves.

One possible solution may be the seizure of all and any assets held by Low Hock Peng (head of the Low Family,and father of Jho) ,Vincent Tan( head of the Berjaya Group of companies,  father of Robin  Tan) and Datuk Bustari Yusof of Sarawak.

As reported previously on this blog and by Sarawak Report, PM Najib and wife Rosmah illegally conducted 1MDB business with PetroSaudi on their own.It was also reported that those present during those dealings included  Jho Low, Robin Tan,and Bustari Yusof. Arguing that Jho and Robin's presence had nothing to do with their families' business interests would be akin to splitting what  hairs one might find on  Arul Kanda's head, which seems to be in danger of being axed.

It is more likely than not that all three were parties to the business that was conducted,despite not having anything to do with 1MDB.
It follows then that the assets of all three, who represent their families, could be seized as a means of recovering what has been lost from 1MDB.

There are likely to be a number of legal means that might be relied on for the purpose, but Vincent Tan and family,  and Bustari Yusof both are recipients of very lucrative government concessions that may be withdrawn at any time. These could be seized, placed in some form of public trust, and the proceeds used to recoup the 1MDB losses.
As with regards Larry Low Hock Peng and family, is it not time to drop the pretence that they are  "old money" philanthropists? The same may be said of PM Najib, whose own brothers rejected his claim of "legacy family assets".





END





by Ganesh Sahathevan 





























The photo above obtained by Sarawak Report shows PM Najib, wife Rosmah and Petrosaudi's Prince Turki Abdullah and Tarek Obeid in discussion, on board a yacht somewhere off the coast of the south of France.








Clearly visible in the photo are three sets of documents,which appear to be some form of prospectus (using that term in its broadest sense). Interestingly, Rosmah Mansor has her own copy. Obviously, this was no friendly holiday chat over drinks while taking in the sea breeze; detailed business matters were being discussed.


In its own words, PetroSaudi's business dealings in Malaysia have been with 1MDB,and hence it is hard to see that the above discussion did not concern 1MDB. 

The implications for Najib are obvious. To begin with the photo belies the(in any case idiotic) claim made by his  lawyer that his  "signature on 1MDB documents (is)a formality, doesn’t mean he decides or knows all." Consequently this photo adds to the existing evidence that puts him at the very centre of the 1MDB theft. 

Then , the apparent involvement of Rosmah in 1MDB's affairs does seem to confirm the allegations regarding  her, and her son Riza's dealings in 1MDB's cash assets.It is hard to see how Najib , or Rosmah can justify her being involved in discussions concerning 1MDB.
END 









"Innocent Owner" Riza Aziz Attended Yacht Meeting Before Good Star Heist - EXCLUSIVE

"Innocent Owner" Riza Aziz 

Attended Yacht Meeting Before 

Good Star Heist - EXCLUSIVE

Last week in California the Prime Minister’s step-son, Riza Aziz, filed a notice to
 dismiss the US Department of Justice’s seizure of his properties on the grounds that
 he was the “innocent owner” and could not be held responsible for the fact the money was stolen from 1MDB.
Motion to dismiss by Riza's lawyers
Motion to dismiss by Riza’s lawyers
Those properties include a Beverly Hills mansion, the film production company Red Granite’s future earnings from Wolf of Wall Street, a London Belgravia town house and a New York penthouse.
What this defence contends is that Riza had simply no idea that the hundreds of millions that suddenly started coming his way was not stolen, but thought it was a gift. For this reason he reckons he should be allowed to hang on to all the items bought with Malaysia’s stolen development money (money which the Malaysian tax payer is now faced with paying back to the original lenders at high interest rates).
Yet Sarawak Report has established new evidence that Riza was in from the very start on the 1MDB heist, in that he was invited to attend the meeting where the first ‘joint venture’ was cooked up between Jho Low, the Prime Minister and company PetroSaudi on the super-yacht Tatoosh in August 2009.
A trip manifest reveals that the jaunt, which took place between 15-20th August, was organised by a “high-end boutique concierge company” named Baroque, of which Jho Low was a member. According to the note made by the representative for Baroque, Sahle Ghebreyesus, the trip was in fact commissioned by his client Jho Low (whom he describes on the manifest as “my guy”). In March the following year Tarek Obaid also joined Baroque, which is an agency designed to pamper the super-rich:
high-end
High-end boutique concierge company that organised the rental of Tatoosh
Photographs later obtained by Sarawak Report show the main players behind the theft of the first billion from 1MDB through the PetroSaudi ‘joint venture’, which was strategised during this super-yacht meeting.
However, we can now confirm that Riza Aziz also joined the party, along with Najib’s key financial cronies Bustari Yusof and Robin Tan.  Robin Tan is the son of Vincent Tan, long associated with BN political funding, and Bustari is the Sarawak PPB party treasurer cum billionaire, who was handed the ‘turnkey contract’ for the Pan Borneo Highway project and whose brother Fadillah has now been appointed Minister for Public Works.
This gives the Bustari brothers control over all the big contracts handed out by the Government, in Malaysia’s notoriously corrupted procurement process and Bustari has rarely strayed from Najib’s side in recent months.
'My guy" Jho Low fixed the trip. "innocent owner" Riza Aziz was also on board
‘My guy” Jho Low fixed the trip. “innocent owner” Riza Aziz was also on board
Did Riza have simply no idea what was going on as these guys did the business which was soon to send money streaming his way?
It was just a few short months later that he went on to launch his production company Red Granite Pictures at the most lavish launch party ever seen at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010.
And over the next two years Jho Low was at Riza’s side at every major film event involving Red Granite Pictures, including Wolf of Wall Street, which was funded by yet more money stolen from 1MDB, thanks to the later ‘Power Purchase Loan’ manoeuvres also organised by Jho Low.
According to the New York Times, Low was furthermore directly involved in the purchase of both of Riza’s US properties in Hollywood and New York. Did Riza simply fail to realise what was going on?
There can only be two conclusions. Either Riza is lying and he did know or Riza is a sad and stupid creature, who was merely used as a front and proxy by the players behind the scandal, which included his friend Jho Low and step-dad Najib.
He is therefore EITHER innocent OR the owner.  He cannot be the “innocent owner”!
left to right - Tarek Obaid, Prince Turki and Najib Razak - the three named Shareholders of the 1MDB PetroSaudi Joint Venture meeting a month before the deal on the yacht Tatoosh.
left to right – Tarek Obaid, Prince Turki and Najib Razak – the three named Shareholders of the 1MDB PetroSaudi Joint Venture meeting a month before the deal on the yacht Tatoosh.
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