Mention 1MDB and words like Malaysia,
Najib, MO1, Jho Low, money laundering and even USA’s DOJ (Department Of
Justice) will come into one’s mind. It is so. because of the consistent
frequency of those words being printed and mentioned in local and international
media, over the past few years. Other words, too, may appear in one’s mind like
Rosmah, hand bags, jewels, watches and so on, but that is for another day! (wink).
To be precise, during these past few years, seven criminal cases were filed
against the former Prime Minister, Najib, in regards to 1MDB. On Tuesday, July
28, 2020, the Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge, Mohamad Nazlan found the former
and 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Najib Abdul Razak, guilty on all
seven criminal cases, that were brought up against him. Three cases were for
criminal breach of trust, three cases were for money laundering and one case
was for abuse for power. All the cases were connected to SRC International, a
commercial unit of the frequently mentioned investment company, 1MDB, said to
be the brainchild of Najib. Mr Najib was sentenced to 12 years jail for abuse
of power, and 10 years each for the rest of the 6 cases.
What? A total of 72 years? Will Najib last that long, you may ask, having
pondered in your mind. I, too. Pondered, I mean! I rechecked the news.
Actually, I was relieved. Najib was sentenced to 12 years in jail with a fine
of RM210 million or about 49 million US Dollars. The Judge had ordered the jail
term to run concurrently, as the seven cases were interlinked. I did check the
word ‘concurrently’ in the dictionary. It said – at the same or simultaneously.
Phew! What an escape for Najib, and what a relief for me. A relief for me,
because, I did not like Najib, a former Prime Minister of my lovely nation,
Malaysia, to make prison as his first home for an endless 72 years. To me, once
a normal person becomes a politician, he, involuntarily, becomes a crook. He pursues
and practices various techniques to hold on to power and money. All of them,
them politicians, become adapted to it. Sorry, that is how I feel. No,
correction. I am not sorry at all I feel that way! It's the way it is.
Coming back to Najib, he is no different from all the others. Najib claims he
did not know how that huge sum of money came into his account. RM42 million or
10 million US Dollars, is not a small sum! Maybe, so much money was moving here
and there into his accounts, and poor Najib, didn’t know where to check. Ha ha!
what a joke! Thank you, Najib, sir.
And a big thank you for starting the BR1M - Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia , a cash
payment scheme for the Malaysian people, which is still being followed by
subsequent governments. If not for anything else, the people of Malaysia will
still remember you for that, the BR1M scheme. And 1Malaysia.
By the way, Najib is not going to jail, straightaway. He is still a free man,
pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal. His lead defense lawyer, Muhammad
Shafee Abdullah has applied for a stay of execution for both the jail term and
the fine, and the Judge had granted it. Najib had been slapped with a bail
amount of RM2 million or about 500,000 US Dollars in two sureties.
Najib is not completely free, though. He may visit various places of attraction
within Malaysia, but of those visits, two visits in a month should be to the
nearest police station!
Durian Ice Cream (The Shortcut)
4 years ago
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