Well, looks like someone else might be getting in trouble soon! After allegedly being ignored for close to seven years, it looks like the case against Sarawak’s former chief minister and current governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud might be starting to gain momentum at last.
Source: NST
According to Aliran‘s latest report, Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has been gathering evidence since 2011 against Taib and his family’s alleged corrupt practices, but their earlier calls to Malaysian prosecutors were ignored. Hmm, we wonder why! Now, after seven years, BMF says that they are willing to share the evidence with the Pakatan Harapan government.
This statement by BMF was issued earlier as they were responding to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s call for evidence against Taib, The Star reported. “We are happy that Dr Mahathir is willing to look into Taib’s corruption again and are hoping that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Attorney General’s Chambers will soon be reopening the Taib case,” said BMF executive director Lukas Straumann.
Source: Sarawakiana
“The investigation should focus on the (alleged) allocation of state lands to Taib family members and on Taibs’ unexplained wealth overseas,” he added. Before this, in December 2011, one of the international NGO coalitions had approached the then attorney-general, the MACC and the inspector-general of police asking for help on Taib and his family’s suspected corrupted practices.
In the letter, they requested that they want to arrest and prosecute 13 Taib family members for conspiring together to steal Sarawak state assets and lands but the letter was ignored. Since 2011, BMF said that they have already identified more than 400 companies in 25 countries that have links with the Taib family. Wow, no wonder they’re so rich!
Source: Utusan
Last month (May 2018), BMF said that a global coalition of NGOs accused the Canadian government of breaking international rules so that they can protect a real estate firm that is suspected to be linked to Taib from public scrutiny. The real estate firm in question is none other than Sakto Corporation, which was incorporated in 1983 by Jamilah Taib Murray, the daughter of Taib.
Taib had given her the initial capital to start the company and there were claims that Sakto had been laundering money amassed from corrupted practices in the Sarawak logging industry. These accusations could not be proven in court as both Sakto, which is worth US$250 million (RM996 million) now, and Jamilah denied the claims.
Source: Sarawak Report
Source: Stop Timber Corruption
China Press reports that Taib and his family supposedly owns about RM4.6 billion of corporate property in Malaysia alone. His immense wealth allegedly came at the expense of Sarawakians, as his greed had left them suffering from poverty and lack of basic facilities.
Hopefully the new government will be able to settle this alleged corruption once and for all to help the suffering citizens!
Also read: Sarawak Report Editor: “Kevin Morais Leaked Information About 1MDB to Me”
