‘US$30mil held on trust for Musa Aman’

Whistleblower website Sarawak Report has revealed more documents purportedly from the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), claiming that a Sabah lawyer has a Swiss bank account holding close to US$30 million on trust for Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

In its latest posting, the website claimed that evidence from the Hong Kong authorities shows that the account was opened in the lawyer’s name with the Swiss Bank UBS in Hong Kong. This is allegedly operating under written instructions that the money is to be held on trust for Musa.

“A letter dated 25th May 2007, and now in the possession of the ICAC, stated the account should ‘hold (the money) on trust for Aman,” the report states.

“Investigators noted that on 31st May 2008, that account contained US$29.6 million!”

The website based its allegation on a flow chart said to be compiled by the ICAC, showing a money trail leading from timber kickbacks to Musa’s personal bank account with UBS in Zurich.

The chart tags the lawyer’s bank account with the words ‘Hold on trust for Aman’.

It illustrates how millions in Euro and in US, Hong Kong and Singapore dollars flowed from certain companies into accounts managed by Sabah timber trader Michael Chia and his nominees in Hong Kong, to a number of British Virgin Island companies and then to the lawyer’s account.

The accumulated money was then passed into an account in Zurich in Musa’s name, according to the chart.

The website claimed that it has copies of numerous bank statements that verify the information in the flow chart.

Musa has denied the allegations linking him with Chia, who was detained and charged with money laundering by trying to smuggle S$16 million into Malaysia.

Following Chia’s arrest in Hong Kong, investigators got the ICAC to freeze his bank accounts for up to three years.

Sarawak Report also claimed that an instruction to forward US$22.4 million from the lawyer’s account to Musa’s account had been frozen together with the money when the ICAC investigators moved in.

However, the three-year statutory period on investigations expired late last year and the money is now believed to have been accessed by the account holders, it said.

The website blamed the collapse of the case and the subsequent release of all the money to Musa and his collaborators, on Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail’s (left) refusal to sign a cooperation agreement on the investigation.

It alleged that Abdul Gani, who has close family connections with Musa’s family, has been protecting the latter and had blocked his office from pressing charges.

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‘US$30mil held on trust for Musa Aman’
Apr 16, 2012 – Malaysiakini

“Hold On Trust For Aman” – More Devastating Evidence From The ICAC Investigation!

Nominee – Lawyer Richard Christopher Barnes was holding tens of millions of dollars in a Hong Kong bank account “in trust” for his client Musa Aman, before it was forwarded to a UBS Zurich account in the Chief Minister’s own name!

A multi-million US dollar account, opened in the name of Richard Christopher Barnes with the Swiss Bank UBS in Hong Kong, was operating under written instructions that the money was to be held in trust for Musa Aman, according to evidence gained from the Hong Kong authorities.

A letter, dated 25th May 2007 and now in the possession of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), stated the account should “hold [the money] on trust for Aman”.

Investigators noted that on 31st May 2008 that account contained USD 29.6 million!

Flow chart to Musa’s own Zurich account!

A key flow chart, compiled by the ICAC, shows a money trail leading from timber kickbacks to Musa Aman’s own personal bank account with UBS in Zurich!

Barnes, a Sabah lawyer, was believed to be acting as a nominee for Musa Aman. The information on his key account relating to the Chief Minister, UBS A/C231117, forms part of a flow chart analysis, compiled by ICAC investigators, who were tracing the money flowing in and out of the Hong Kong bank accounts controlled by one of Musa’s other known side-kicks, Michael Chia (Chia Tien Foh).

Chia had had been arrested in the city-state while attempting to smuggle SG$16million in cash to Malaysia, sparking a major money laundering investigation.

A parallel investigation was undertaken by Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). However we have learnt that inter-country cooperation was blocked by Musa’s close family contact, the Attorney General, Abdul Gani.

The ICAC flow chart (below) illustrates how money was coming into Chia’s accounts from companies related to timber production in Sabah and flowing out to accounts being managed on behalf of Chief Minister, Musa Aman, including the one in the name of Richard Christopher Barnes.

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“Hold On Trust For Aman” – More Devastating Evidence From The ICAC Investigation!
April 15th, 2012 – Sarawak Report

Felda Sabah a ticking time bomb for BN in GE-13

Sabah, officially the Land Below the Wind — Negeri di Bawah Bayu — has also had another name, albeit unofficial, in recent years. Since Umno took over the state government in 1994, it has also become known as Negeri di Bawah Penjajahan Malaya or the Land Under Malayan Colonialists, and with good reasons too.

The latest ‘cow dung’ in Malaysia to hit the ceiling fan is the role or “non-role” of Felda or the Federal Land Development Authority in the state.

The authority is in effect brazenly occupying nearly a third of a million acres – 306,000 acres to be exact — in Sabah in defiance of the state constitution, the Governor, the state government and the very concept of Federation.

False pretenses

Felda entered the state in 1979 under ‘false’ pretenses or with grandiose promises it has not kept. There are no signs as yet that the Federal Agency will ever surrender the said land back to the state.

To add insult to injury, large chunks of the land being occupied by Felda sit on NCR (Native Customary Rights) properties which by right are supposed to have been passed on by their owners to their children and grandchildren. Hence, Felda’s illegal occupation of land in Sabah is also in defiance of Adat, the first Constitution of Sabah recognised by the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, and the state and Federal Constitutions.

The tragedy of Sabah began during the time of the then Berjaya Government under Chief Minister Mohd Harris Salleh (1976 to 1985) who was virtually led by the nose by the Federal Government.

Felda Sabah is among the most heinous crimes of the Federal Government in Sabah along with, among others, allowing illegal immigrants to take over the state, the virtual theft of oil and gas resources and non-compliance of the Malaysia Agreement of 1963.

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Felda Sabah or Federal Territory Sabah: A ticking time bomb for BN in GE-13
17 February 2012 – Malaysia Chronicle

In Sabah, illegals issue central to coming polls

KOTA KINABALU, Feb 22 — Boatman Idris (not his real name) has lived all his life among the close-knit colony of illegal immigrants residing in dilapidated stilt homes girdling the eastern shore of Pulau Gaya, an island just minutes off Kota Kinabalu.

But unlike many of his neighbours, the 31-year-old was born Malaysian and does not have to sacrifice a large chunk of his monthly profits when Immigration Department officials come knocking.

The sight of the mad scramble among his friends and neighbours is not new to him, however, and he says it takes an average of RM200 to buy one’s temporary freedom.

“MyKad? They don’t need to show their MyKads. The ringgit is their MyKad,” the good-natured Idris told The Malaysian Insider with a smile during a recent trip out on his boat to Pulau Gaya here.

Idris said at least 70 per cent of settlers in Kampung Lok Urai and Kampung Pondo on Pulau Gaya are foreigners, many of whom have overstayed their social visit passes but refuse to return home.

There are at least 400 wooden stilt homes linked by weathered planks in each of the few villages that the dot the Pulau Gaya beach, he added.

The illegals mostly work as fishermen, said Idris, and draw in meagre monthly salaries of about RM500 or so — “if they are lucky”. But he said enough must be set aside “in case of an operation”.

“For me, I ferry villagers to and from their homes and the city… I fish, I do some contract work and occasionally help my sister to ferry passengers in her van.

Dr Yee said the RCI on Sabah’s illegal immigrants was essential. — Picture by Jack Ooi
“On a good month, I could draw in about RM1,000. But at the very least, about RM700,” said the father of five children, four of whom are schoolgoing.

The unchecked influx of illegals in Sabah has been a longstanding problem in the Barisan Nasional-ruled (BN) state, and has usually been blamed for the rise in social, economic and security problems suffered by the locals here.

According to replies provided in Parliament last year, Sabah’s populace numbered 651,304 in 1970 and grew to 929,299 a decade later. But in the two decades following 1980, the state’s population rose significantly by a staggering 1.5 million people, reaching 2,468,246 by 2000.

Media reports said that as of 2010, this number has grown further to 3.12 million, with foreigners making up a sizeable 27 per cent or 889,799 of the population.

As the 13th general election draws closer, politicians across the divide have been quickly taking up the issue, turning it into a political hot potato that could become the deciding factor that determines Sabah’s political future.

Opposition leaders have long raged against the BN government for this population explosion, alleging that illegals have been allowed into the east Malaysian state, and given MyKads and voting rights to help the ruling coalition cling to power.

“This is one of the worst things the government has done just to maintain their power base… they are actually destroying the state,” Sabah State Reform Party (Star) chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan told The Malaysian Insider in a recent interview.

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In Sabah, illegals issue central to coming polls
February 22, 2012 – TMI

Project M in Sabah – Biggest and gravest treason

Setting up an RCI in Sabah is empty talk because to do so would be to expose the ‘biggest and gravest ever case of treason in this country’s 48 years’.

KOTA KINABALU: A cross-section of Sabahans are doubtful that the federal government will ever admit to putting into motion a covert operation in the 1980s to re-engineer the demographics of the state in favour of Umno.

Most observers feel the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) recommendation by the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms is all hype.

They opined that the Umno-led coalition government, with an eye on the coming general election, is hoping to mollify various sections of the community with the RCI plan.

Project IC or Project M (for former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) is allegedly a covert scheme that was instituted in the 1980s and 1990s to grant identity cards to foreigners on the condition that they voted for Umno and its Barisan Nasional coalition partners.

True to form, during the two-day PSC hearing in Kota Kinabalu beginning Nov 25, save for Umno, all BN and opposition party representatives pressed their case for an RCI into the claim.

The PSC in its preliminary report released on Wednesday adopted the inquiry idea after it was met with a united voice of political leaders, activists and NGOs leaders in Kota Kinabalu last week, where almost everybody, except Umno, raised support for the RCI

‘PSC a smokescreen’
Well-known Sabah consumerism activist, Patrick Sindu, brushed aside talk that the federal government would finally do something to solve the problem of the illegal immigrants population in Sabah, who have been the back-bone of Umno here in the last few general elections.

He sees it as a case of Umno and the BN government shooting itself in the foot if it ever turned its back on the monster they created.

“This PSC thing is just a smokescreen to dupe the people of Sabah into believing that Prime Minister Najib Razak is finally listening to the genuine natives of Sabah who are now under the threat of being sidelined in every aspect of life in their own country,” he told FMT when contacted yesterday.

“If they (BN leaders) are serious about solving this perennial issue, they should have done it long time before as this matter concerned national security … foreigners were issued with Malaysian MyKads and drafted into our electoral rolls by none other than Umno itself.

“This was established by court investigations and very credible witnesses. There are even books that detailed what we call as ‘Projek IC Mahathir’,” he said, repeating allegation that the former Prime Minister was directly involved in the scheme together with then deputy Home Minister Megat Junid Ayub.

“How could they not know?” he added.

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Umno – PTI… Mother of all treasons
December 3, 2011 – Wikisabah

Genuine RCI on Project M in Sabah?

KOTA KINABALU: The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition may have just acknowledged that it is in a fix in the “fixed deposit” state of Sabah.

That signal came yesterday when the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reform supported a long-held opposition demand for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) over repeated allegations that illegal immigrants are voters in Sabah.

But now that the PSC has recommended that an RCI be formed on the issue, does it follow that one will be formed?

Not necessarily.

Between the recommendation and actuality lies a whole series of preliminary issues to be dealt with and finally agreement on what is called terms of reference, which is basically a series of rules on what can and cannot be investigated.

Political observers in Sabah see the PSC move as a ploy to keep the electorate satisfied that something is being done about the issue.

To quote one office worker: “Why now? This has been an open secret for two decades.”

The layman worker was referring to the exposé of what has come to be known as Project IC or Project M, with M standing for former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir allegedly engineered a scheme to re-populate the state with the perfect BN voters.

If truth be told and a RCI is formed and it does its job, it may unravel a plot strikingly similar to that 1972 satirical novel by Ira Levin – “The Stepford Wives” – that explored the idea of perfection.

Simmering anger in Sabah

In this case, observers will find frighteningly submissive voters all hard-wired to elect the BN coalition instead.

Sabah’s legitimate voters view their situation as a nightmare.

It has been long known that there is simmering anger among Sabahans over what they see as the gradual erosion of their rights and the PSC’s recommendation is the clearest indication yet that that anger is threatening to boil over in the next general election.

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Genuine Sabah RCI will be a ‘nightmare’ for Najib
December 1, 2011 – FMT

Repercussions of Project M

….
The NRD and the Home Ministry has so far strenuously denied issuing any MyKads to foreigners without going through the proper procedures. However, the NRD is yet to convince the people that there has been no hanky-panky in the issuance of MyKads. Clearly, the locals know better who is local and who isn’t.

If run through even a simple checklist, the foreigners holding MyKads in Sabah will turn up as frauds of the highest order. If they are local-born, as claimed in their Statutory Declarations and late registration birth certificates, even more questions will arise. Invariably, they cannot produce any school documents or evidence of owning ancestral native land or come from a traditional kampung.

To add insult to injury, these foreigners are registered in the electoral rolls and play a significant role in determining the fate of the political parties in the state assembly and Parliament.

The culprits – NRD in Putrajaya, EC and Home Ministry

Most Sabahans blame Mahathir as being the arch villain in this act of high treason and sedition, bestowing instant native status through the backdoor and issuing MyKads to thousands of foreigners in Sabah. Apart from Filipinos and Indonesians, Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis also make up the numbers. Many of these cannot believe their luck at being accepted as Natives and Bumiputera in such a faraway land.

Sabahans are naturally upset at the long-lasting social chaos wrought by Project M. Many of the project’s ‘beneficiaries’ even have the cheek to look down on local Sabahans. They invite violence on a daily basis by continuing to give the two-finger sign to locals, while ‘bermaharajalela’ or lazing about in Sabah. If proof is needed by Peninsular Malaysians and Sarawakians, one has to just simply fly into Kota Kinabalu and just look around for himself and herself.

The Federal Government – the NRD in Putrajaya in particular and the Home Ministry – must be operating on the basis that Sabahans are fools of the highest order and/or if they are not, there’s very little that they can do about it.

Local Muslims, who have for so long turned a blind eye to foreigners getting their hands on MyKads, are now in the forefront demanding for action. They have belatedly realised that they are hurting the most from the illegal immigrant influx as opportunities which should otherwise go to them are being snapped up by foreigners.
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Pairin triggers talk of a major shakeup, will PBS join the Pakatan?
7 November 2011 – Malaysia Chronicle

Musa Aman told to come clean on the murky sale of 3 Sabah islands

Three islands off Sabah with a total worth of more than US$30 million have caused a ruckus in the East Malaysian state after an advertisement was put up for their sale.

Several more are said to be on the auction block and two others for rent. The advertisements were aired on a Toronto-based private islands online real estate site.

As usual, there was little information and a lot of secrecy especially from the state government.

Shameful to sell state ‘treasures’

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Musa Aman has come under fire from nationalist and heritage activists. The spectre of corruption, never far from Musa’s administration, also looms large.

Last week, Pakatan Rakyat leaders in Sabah sent Musa a memorandum objecting to the sale of the provately-owned Mentukod, Mengalum and Pandanan Islands.

Sabah PKR’s Jefri Jomion, Sabah PAS Youth chief Mahirul Latigu and Sabah DAP youth representatives led a delegation to Musa’s office, where their memorandum was received by the chief minister’s political secretary Noorlaimah Marjan.

“It is shameful that the islands which have hundreds of hectares, with maritime interests and sovereignty are to be passed to the foreigners without any prerogative action and without the government vigorously defending it,” said Mahirul.

“We repeat our stand that the government should be preventing the sale of the islands, as it will bring more losses, especially to the treasure that is the right of all the people of Sabah.”

More than meets the eye

Pakatan leaders also want Musa to come clean on the deal and reveal who were the private owners of the islands, why they wanted to sell and why did the state allow it without any checks or resistance.

“State those individuals who are involved. If the transactions are made without the authority of the parties, then this could be considered a violation of the rights of the island,” said Lahirul.

“Please also clarify, how come both Pandanan and Montukod Islands which are registered under the Native Title (NT) can be sold in international markets while the islands are stated to be meant only for agriculture.”

According to the Pakatan leaders, the transaction has actually caused the government of Malaysia to lose millions apart from the loss of heritage value for Malaysia in general and Sabah in particular.

“Question is, how is it so easy that there is a change of land or land swap between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry with a developer known only as Wisma Pertanian on Mengalum Island when it is located in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which is known to be very valuable and has become a tourist attraction, ” said Lahirul.

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Musa Aman told to come clean on the murky sale of 3 Sabah islands
04 October 2011 – Malaysia Chronicle

Govt still in denial over ‘Project IC’

KOTA KINABALU: A federal-level deputy minister’s denial that Sabah is a victim of “Project IC” – a planned illegal immigrant population explosion engineered by the federal government – has stunned Sabah Barisan Nasional coalition members.

Deputy Home Minister Lee Chee Leong on Thursday raised a storm of protests from leaders on both sides of the political divide who are furious that the federal government is still in denial over the issue.

Lee, a senior MCA leader, has been accused by several Sabah politicians of playing to the tune of Umno which has been accused of granting citizenship and Malaysian identity cards to over 600,000 foreign migrant workers (predominantly Muslims from Indonesia and Mindanao in the Philippines) in Sabah, in exchange for their votes in elections.

Lee’s statement came days after Bernama quoted Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin acknowledging the problem.

Muhyiddin gave an undertaking to “look into whether the best way forward is a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) or other approaches”.

United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) information chief, Donald Peter Mojuntin, was among those stunned by Lee’s statement.

“This problem is quite different from the problem of forged or false identification documents. It is a serious allegation that has direct impact on our country’s security and sovereignty,” he said.

Mojuntin, who also chairs the Upko citizenship and security bureau, reminded Lee that Bakri Zinin, a Sabahan, when he was acting Sabah Commissioner of Police, had also described the matter as the “mother of all threats” to Sabah.

“With due respect to the deputy home minister who denied allegations by opposition parties about the existence of ‘Project IC’, it is not just the opposition parties saying so but also Sabah BN component parties like Upko, PBS and LDP.

“Perhaps the deputy minister should be given a tour of Kampung Boronuon or even the pasar (market) in Kota Kinabalu City.

“Al-Jazeera went to these places a few months ago and interviewed people who actually said that they got their legal identification document through ‘Project IC’.

“This came out in Al-Jazeera’s international news broadcast on Astro channel 513,” he said.

Mojuntin said the home ministry should also check out the other refugee settlements in Sabah and Labuan.

“Holders of IMM13 (special immigration visit pass) not only reside here but also illegal immigrants holding Malaysian ICs and MyKad.

“These places are usually a hive of illegal activities where locals don’t even dare to venture,” he said.

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Govt still in denial over ‘Project IC’
October 1, 2011 – FMT

RCI on illegals? Sabahans can dream on

Ksn: Sabah, it was reported in the 1980s, had about a million illegal immigrants during Mahathir Mohamad/Harris Salleh’s time and the talk was that people in authority were going around distributing ICs to them just to increase the Muslim population for political purposes.

DPM Muhyiddin Yassin is now, after 30 years of talking, considering an RCI (royal commission of inquiry) on this issue.

If an RCI is set up, the authority should identify those who were given citizenship status and revoke them, and punish those responsible for such a crime, treason if you like, which is the real threat to national security.

The people of Sabah have brought up this issue many times previously and it appears that their legitimate concerns on this issue can only be addressed with a change of government. Are the Sabahans up to it?

Following this initiative from Sabah, the same problem in the Sarawak and the peninsula can also be probed accordingly.

Gunner: The RCI should be formed to tackle not only the problems of illegal immigrants but most importantly, to investigate the issuance of both fake and ‘real’ ICs to immigrants, i.e, granting of Malaysian citizenships in exchange of votes.

If Muhyiddin can implement the formation of the RCI and those ICs issued ‘illegally’ be revoked, I am very certain 80 percent of Sabahans who are now anti-establishment will return to support BN.

Onyourtoes: Upko president Bernard Dompok, please don’t play game. You are never sincere in protecting the rights of native Sabahans.

Since when were the findings of RCI ever respected in this country? Since when were RCIs ever properly constituted with men of distinction and character holding the helm? Now you want another RCI – for what, Dompok, may I ask? To show that you are doing something?

Doing what, Dompok? So that you can pacify the anger and truncate the demand of Sabahans to have a fairer deal within the Federation? Dompok, it is too late now.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers.

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RCI on illegals? Sabahans can dream on
Sep 26, 2011