NGOs call on MACC and Police to act

Malaysian prosecutors asked to arrest the Sarawak Chief Minister

"Conspiracy to form a criminal organization": the Taib family around 1990

In a letter to Malaysia's Attorney General (AG), the Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), an international NGO coalition is requesting that Malaysia's top prosecutors immediately arrest and criminally prosecute long-term Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud ("Taib"), his four children, his eight siblings and his first cousin, Abdul Hamed Sepawi ("Sepawi").

According to the NGOs' letter to Malaysia's top prosecutors, Taib and "thirteen of his family members as co-conspirators" are accused of "the illegal appropriation of public funds, the abuse of public office, the illegal appropriation of state land, fraud, larceny, corruption, systematic exploitation of conflicts of interest, suspected money-laundering, and conspiracy to form a criminal organization."

The letter is signed by thirteen NGOs from Malaysia, Australia, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom as well as a number of individual signatories from Malaysia. Greenpeace, FERN and the Swiss Bruno Manser Fund are among its most prominent international signatories. Three NGOS from Sarawak - Borneo Resources Institute Sarawak (BRIMAS), The Network for Native Land Rights (TAHABAS) and the Sibu-based Institute for Development of Alternative Living (IDEAL) - have also endorsed the letter.

Foreign governments, corporations and media informed on Taib corruption

Copies of the letter have been sent to all major foreign embassies in Malaysia, heads of government, cabinet ministers and prosecutors in seven countries, the top executives of ten multinational corporations who conduct business in or with Sarawak and the editors of leading media around the globe. The letter is accompanied by sixteen exhibits that document the accusations against the Taib family and can be downloaded online at www.stop-timber-corruption.org/resources.

Research by the Bruno Manser Fund has shown that Taib and his immediate family members have a stake in 332 Malaysian and 85 foreign companies worth several billion US dollars. The known Taib family stake in the net assets of 14 large Malaysian companies alone is over 1.46 billion US dollars.

Taib family accused of systematic breach of the law and the use of illegal methods

"We allege that only the systematic breach of the law and the use of illegal methods has enabled Mr. Taib and his family members to acquire such massive corporate assets", the NGO letter states. "Mr. Taib has been a state-paid public servant and government minister ever since 1963 and did not possess any significant independent assets prior to taking up office."

The letter gives three examples of Taib family-controlled Malaysian companies that have been systematically, unduly and unlawfully favoured by the Sarawak Chief Minister - Cahya Mata Sarawak (KLSE 2582), Achi Jaya Holdings and Ta Ann Holdings (KLSE 5012). Cahya Mata Sarawak holds a monopoly on cement production in Sarawak, Achi Jaya Holdings holds a monopoly on timber export licences and Ta Ann Holdings, which is headed by Taib's cousin Sepawi, has been granted more than 675,000 hectares of timber and plantation concessions without public tender.

"Pernicious and detrimental" capital flight should be heavily punished

In addition, the NGOs point to the Taib family's transfer of illicit assets worth "hundreds of millions, if not billions, of US dollars" out of Malaysia to countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Hong Kong. "This is particularly pernicious and detrimental for the economy of Sarawak and Malaysia as a whole and should thus be heavily punished."

The Taib family has been identified as being behind property companies in Canada (Sakto Corporation, City Gate International Corporation and others), in the UK (Ridgeford Properties Ltd.), in the US (Wallysons Inc, Sakti International Corporation and others) and as being closely linked to at least 22 companies in Australia. Some of these companies have, according to the NGOs' letter, been given to the Taibs free of charge by the son of Yaw Teck Seng, the founder and majority shareholder of Samling, one of Malaysia's biggest logging conglomerates. Other Taib companies, such as Regent Star and Richfold Investments in Hong Kong, have been found to be linked to a multi-million-dollar kickback scheme uncovered by Japanese tax investigators.

Malaysia's international credibility is at stake

The NGOs come to the conclusion that "the criminal nature of Mr. Taib and his family members' 'private' businesses can no longer be denied by anyone who is intellectually honest, desirous of seeing the truth and interested in the good of the Malaysian people and, in particular, the people of Sarawak".

"We would like to remind you that Malaysia, as a signatory to the UN Convention against corruption and the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, has a strong international obligation to fight corruption and organized crime in an efficient, timely and expedient manner", the letter states.

Malaysia's top prosecutors are finally asked to fulfil their duty and take immediate police action against Abdul Taib Mahmud and his 13 co-conspiring family members: "Malaysia's international credibility is at stake over the Taib case."

- Ends -

Read the NGO letter to the Malaysian prosecutors:
letter_ag_macc_igp_signed.pdf (905KB)
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Opposition raised an issue on Taib's long tenure: Dr Chan

 

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak (right) at the launch of Chan's book. Looking on is Sarawak tourism minister Datuk Seri Abang Johari Tun Abang Openg (middle). BERNAMA

KUCHING (Dec 12, 2011): Former Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) president Tan Sri Dr George Chan alleged his party had "a very bad nightmare" in the last state election because the Opposition made an issue out of the long tenure of Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to attract support among the urban Chinese.
"His refusal to step down and appoint a successor became an unnecessary diversion from our achievements," he wrote in his book "What Now?" which touched mostly on SUPP's struggle in the last three years of his presidency.
"The issue (on Taib) was further exacerbated by unfounded allegations of amassing a huge fortune while in office, which were posted in numerous websites, especially the Sarawak Report," Dr Chan, who failed to defend his Piasau seat in the state election, wrote in his book which was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak last Saturday, immediately after he opened SUPP's triennial delegates conference.
He said: There were many distractions which hampered our preparations (for the state election).
"The Dudong issue kept resurfacing. The perceived ineffectiveness of SUPP within the state government, hard-hitting negative campaigning by the Opposition, internal positioning and bickering, particularly at the branch level, were all constantly resurfacing.
"All these sapped our time and energy, even our resources, somewhat," he said.
The Dudong issue concerned quarrel among senior members of the party over the formation of a branch in Dudong.
SUPP contested in 19 seats, mostly in the urban areas where the Chinese form the majority voters, losing 13 of them to the Opposition in the state elections.
Dr Chan noted with interest a statement from a civil society group leader, urging SUPP to abandon Taib or be buried in the state election.
"Looking back, it seems that what he said turned out to be factual. SUPP was almost buried after the April 16, 2011 election ," he said, conceding that the statement by the civil society group was a general feeling of the Chinese towards the chief minister and SUPP.
"Somehow, rightly or wrongly, his message sank down well with the urban voters who are Internet-savvy. His lies and half-truths made an impact and our publicity was unable to match that from Peninsular Malaysia," he said.
"If the May 20, 2006 electoral disaster was etched in our memory for a long, long time, then the April 16, 2011 results could be considered a very bad nightmare, for SUPP suffered its worst defeat in its history," he said.
"We worked so hard with the hope of retaining our seats from 2006 at least. But we were crushed. We lost 13 seats to the Opposition and became the biggest Barisan Nasional casualty," he wrote.
He said he knew he was about to lose his Piasau seat, which he had served since 1983, even before the final tally was counted.
"I was constantly being updated by our people at the party headquarters in Kuching and our operation room in Miri.
"One after another, our seats fell," he added.
Dr Chan said he bore no bitterness in his heart against anyone for SUPP's disastrous electoral performance.
"I will always maintain that this was an election where SUPP made all the right moves and had all the right strategies to win.
"However, so many factors beyond our control were at play and we were caught in its tail-spin and crushed," he wrote.
He said he submitted his resignation letter to the party to take full responsibility for the defeat in 13 seats, but the Central Working Committee requested him to stay on and see out the full term.
He said he then immediately set about looking for ways to prepare for a handover to the younger generation.
His word of caution to the government – make sure no community is sidelined or victimised, especially in the Opposition-controlled areas, otherwise, there will surely be additional retaliation in the 13th general election.

Two primary schools in Bau could be in trouble for defying directive from Education Department

Kuching (Dec 13, 2011): The headmasters of two primary schools in Bau district could be in trouble for defying a directive from the State Education Department pertaining to the distribution of cash to their pupils.

Instead of distributing the cash at their respective schools, the headmasters of SRK Kampung Atas and SK St Henry, Apar, allowed their pupils to receive the cash at REDEEMS Centre.

An district education officer handed over the cash to the pupils, in the presence of the headmasters, Tasik State Assemblyman Peter Nansian and Mas Gading member of parliament Dr Tiki Lafe.

A committee member of PKR Mas Gading branch, Willie Mongin, said the directive from the Education Department clearly stated that all headmasters must distribute the cash in their respective schools and within a specific time frame.

"They are not allowed to bring the cash to outside the schools, and what the two headmasters did was wrong and they clearly defied that directive," Willie said.

He said other school headmasters in Bau district were also asked to send their pupils to REDEEMS Centre, but they refused.

Willie asked Nansian whether he has a role to play in asking the headmasters to send their pupils to REDEEMS Centre to collect their cash, instead of at their respective schools.

"I am sure he has a lot to say on this," he said.

Willie was at REDEEMS Centre when the cash was distributed, and although Nansian, in his speech, did not talk about politics, he was trying to claim credit for it.

"It is possible that he (Nansian) did not politicise the distribution of cash because I happened to be around.

"But from what I know, he was trying to help Tiki to position himself in the eyes of the parents of the pupils. Unluckily, he did not succeed," Willie said.

"SPDP has already stated that Tiki would not be a candidate in the coming general election," he said.