Stop Thief! - Malaysia’s PM is about to steal an election

IN MOST countries a government that allowed $4.5bn to go missing from a state development agency would struggle to win re-election. If some $681m had appeared in the prime minister’s personal account around the same time, which he breezily explained away as a gift from an unnamed admirer, the task would be all the harder. An apparent cover-up, involving the dismissal of officials investigating or merely complaining about the scandal, might be the last straw for voters. But in Malaysian elections, alas, voters do not count for much.

Under any reasonable electoral system, the coalition running Malaysia would not be in office in the first place. The Barisan Nasional, as it is known, barely squeaked back into power at the most recent election, in 2013. It lost the popular vote, earning only 47% to the opposition’s 51%. But thanks to the shamelessly biased drawing of the constituencies, that was enough to secure it 60% of the 222 seats in parliament.

This ill-deserved victory, however, occurred before news broke of the looting of 1MDB, a development agency whose board of advisers was chaired by the prime minister, Najib Razak. America’s Justice Department has accused him and his stepson, among others, of siphoning money out of 1MDB through an elaborate series of fraudulent transactions. Much of the money went on luxuries, it says, including paintings by Picasso and Monet, a private jet, diamond necklaces, a penthouse in Manhattan and a gambling spree in Las Vegas. In February Indonesia seized a $250m yacht that the Americans say was bought with Malaysian taxpayers’ money. Authorities in Switzerland and Singapore have also been investigating.

Mr Najib denies any wrongdoing—and of course he has loyal supporters. But his administration has not tried very hard to clear things up. Only one person has been charged in connection with the missing billions: an opposition politician who leaked details of the official investigation after the government had refused to make it public.

All this is unlikely to have improved Mr Najib’s standing with voters. Yet an election must be held by August. Faced with the risk of losing power, the government is rigging the system even more brazenly. Parliament will soon vote on new constituency boundaries. The proposed map almost guarantees Mr Najib another term, despite his appalling record.

How to rig an election

One trick is gerrymandering, drawing constituency boundaries so that lots of opposition voters are packed into a few seats, while ruling-party supporters form a narrow majority in a larger number. Lots of this goes on in Malaysia, as elsewhere: the new boundaries put two opposition bastions in the state of Perak into the same seat. Gerrymandering is made even easier by another electoral abuse called malapportionment. This involves creating districts of uneven populations, so that those which support the opposition are much bigger than those that back the government. That means, in effect, that it takes many more votes to elect an opposition MP than it does a government one. The practice is so unfair that it is illegal in most countries, including Malaysia, where the constitution says that electoral districts must be “approximately equal” in size.

Nonetheless, the constituencies in the maps proposed by the government-appointed election commission range in size from 18,000 voters to 146,000 (see article). The Barisan Nasional controls all the 15 smallest districts; 14 of the 15 biggest ones are in the hands of the opposition. The average Barisan seat has 30,000 fewer voters than the average opposition one. And this is the election commission’s second go at the maps—the first lot were even more lopsided.

Unfortunately, the electoral boundaries are not the only way in which the system is stacked against the opposition. The media are supine. The police and the courts seem more interested in allegations of minor offences by opposition figures than they are in the blatant bilking of the taxpayer over 1MDB and the open violation of the constitution at the election commission. The latest budget seems intended to buy the loyalty of civil servants, by promising a special bonus to be disbursed just after the likely date of the election.

But these biases, as bad as they are, are not the same as fiddling constituencies. As long as the electoral system is fair, Malaysians will be able to judge the government and vote accordingly. But a rigged system will rob their votes of meaning. That is the point, of course. Mr Najib may be venal, but he is not stupid. He fears that most voters would not return him to office if given a choice, so he is taking their choice away.

 Source: The Economist

'Wolf of Wall Street’ producer to pay US$60 mil settlement

LOS ANGELES (March 7): The producer of the "Wolf of Wall Street" agreed to pay US$60 million to settle claims it financed the movie with money siphoned from a Malaysian state investment fund.
The settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and Red Granite Pictures Inc, which was co-founded by a stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, also covers U.S. forfeiture claims against the producer’s rights and interests in two other pictures, “Daddy’s Home” and “Dumb and Dumber To.”

The complaint targeting the 2013 picture, directed by Martin Scorsese, is among more than two dozen forfeiture lawsuits filed by the U.S. against US$1.7 billion assets that were allegedly acquired with money stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The assets include mansions in Beverly Hills, California, luxury condos in New York, jewelry and artworks.

The Justice Department sought the profits, royalties and distribution proceeds that are owed to Red Granite Pictures. The movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio took in US$392 million in worldwide ticket sales, according to the website Box Office Mojo.
“We are glad to finally put this matter behind us and look forward to refocusing all of our attention back on our film business,” Red Granite said in a statement.

1MDB probe
Riza Aziz, Najib’s stepson, is a friend of Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, the Malaysian financier whom the U.S. alleges orchestrated the scheme to loot US$4.5 billion from the Malaysian fund going back to 2009. Of the allegedly stolen money, US$1.7 billion has been traced to assets in the U.S. and U.K.

Most of the civil forfeiture cases have been put on hold, while the Justice Department is pursuing a criminal investigation.

Elliott Broidy, a top Republican fundraiser for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and his wife, engaged in contract negotiations to represent Jho Low, according to emails that his lawyer said were stolen when Broidy’s accounts were hacked.

The emails included talking points on why the U.S. should drop its 1MDB probe. One draft contract showed that the firm of Broidy’s wife, who is an attorney, could have made US$75 million if they succeeded. It’s unclear what if anything came of the proposal. The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the effort.

The case is U.S. v. “Wolf of Wall Street,” 16-05362, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).

Source: The Edge

CNBC: A super yacht is seized, and new allegations surface

What happened to 1MDB's money? from CNBC.