Cabinet silence on DOJ lawsuits after its third meeting yesterday after DOJ filing three weeks ago has yet to prove that it is a Cabinet of patriots and not idiots or kleptocrats

Malaysians are disappointed by the eerie silence of the Cabinet on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits after its third meeting yesterday after the DOJ filing three weeks ago for forfeiture of over US$1 billion MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from the US$3.5 billion stolen, misappropriated, embezzled or laundered from 1MDB and the people of Malaysia, as the Malaysian Cabinet has yet to prove that it is a Cabinet of patriots and not idiots or kleptocrats.

Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications Director and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of EPU, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, has said that there is no secret who is Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) mentioned in the US DOJ civil lawsuits as everyone who has read the court documents or familiar with the issues would know who is the person being referred to, as “only an idiot doesn’t know who that person was”.

Do all the Cabinet Ministers know who is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1”, or are most of them “idiots” in Abdul Rahman’s parlance?

Or do all the Ministers agree with what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak told Indonesian television last weekend, that the DOJ action does not involve him, the Malaysian government or 1MDB directly?

Are the Ministers not aware that under their watch, Malaysia has overnight been turned into a global kleptocracy, not only because the DOJ complaint is the single largest US and global kleptocracy action, but the shocking inability and impotence of the Malaysian Government to debunk and rebut the grave allegations of kleptocracy against the Malaysian government, especially the litany of “criminal conduct” as well as the embezzlement and money-laundering of billions of dollars stolen from 1MDB meant for the country’s development?

The President of Malaysian Bar, Steven Thiru said today that it is irresistible to conclude that Prime Minister Najib is “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” and that the DOJ document contained many other “troubling disclosures”, including the allegation that in March 2013, US$681 million was transferred to a bank account belonging to ‘MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1', and that this sum emanated from a 1MDB bond sale.

Steven rightly pointed out that this allegation contradicts statements by our authorities that the funds were a “personal donation” to the Prime Minister from the Saudi royal family, given to him without any consideration.

In addition, the court document also alleges that US$20 million and a further US$30 million traceable to 1MDB funds, were transferred to the same personal bank account owned by “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” in 2011 and 2012, respectively- and that both tranfers had not been previously uncovered or disclosed by the Malaysian enforcement agencies.

Thiru pointed out the allegations of financial improprieties concerning 1MDB funds — described as having been “stolen, laundered through American financial institutions and used to enrich a few officials and their associates” — are referred to in no fewer than 193 paragraphs in the document.

In these circumstances, the call of the Malaysian Bar for “a fresh and comprehensive investigation of all persons directly or indirectly implicated in the allegations made by the DOJ” is the only honourable option for the Malaysian Cabinet and Government, which is why the refusal of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to re-open investigations into the 1MDB scandal has shocked patriotic Malaysians who want to uphold the good name and reputation of Malaysia and purged Malaysia of any hint or taint of kleptocracy.

Is Malaysian reaching a critical point, plunging down the slippery slope of a failed state, where all key national institutions, starting with the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Parliament, the PAC, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police, Bank Negara, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Auditor-General, the mainstream mass media, are all acting in concert in a conspiracy so that Malaysia becomes a nation in denial about the 1MDB scandal, virtually ignoring Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy arising from the largest US and global action in the DOJ forfeiture of over US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland as a result of embezzlement, money-laundering and misappropriation of 1MDB funds?