Jho Low is confirmed to be the Advisor to 1MDB’s Top Advisor

Following several exposé regarding the involvement of Jho Low with 1MDB, Malaysians had come across many emails and documents which shed light to the opaque and shady activities that had happened during the course of 1MDB’s operations.

Usually somewhere in the middle of 2015, everytime whistleblowers exposed the documents a whole pack of sycophants will cover up any questionable dealings with their overused phrase – the documents and emails were tampered.

Fast forward a few months later, the public have discovered that no documents nor email trails have been falsified by the whistleblowers. For whatever the reasons, the whole propaganda machinery could not muster once single email or document which they claimed have been fabricated. Logically by doing so, they could have easily prove that those documents were indeed false. But they did not.

When The Edge was suspended for three months last year, the newspaper’s management asked what were the reasons and for which article which caused them to be banned, but the Home Minister gave the most childish reply – “they printed the articles, they should know. There is no need for us to specify.”

But in the end, the suspension was lifted and revoked by the Courts.

The Court even chastised the Home Minister for the stupid move, saying “the respondent did not comply with procedural fairness as he did not give particulars‎ of suspension to the applicant”.

The point is, even Home Ministry which houses the police force along with several other investigative bodies could not prove their own claim that the documents and email trails used by whistleblowers were fake.

In time, even 1MDB themselves admitted that the documents used to uncover their wrongdoings were true and authentic. They made a police report of it; citing breach of confidentiality and other pitiful jargons to say that although the documents were proof that mismanagement has occurred, it doesn’t really matter because it was supposed to be done in confidence. But since it was exposed, now 1MDB needs to make a police report!

But we digress.

Coming back to Jho Low’s involvement in 1MDB, several examples were shown. A few of them can be read as below:

On 20/12/2009 14:32, “Low, Jho” <jho.low@gmail.com> wrote:

I think this was an old email. Casey has had a mtg with them and ONLY casey and nik is allowed to communicate with Patrick.I believe casey has called patrick and sorted out shahrol’s concerns. Shahrol has already signed the transfer instructions and given to casey, so patrick can liase directly with casey and nik.Thank you. Sorry for the delay but shahrol was very nervous as some of the compliance guys and board members giving him hard time so he just needs to cover himself, but agreed some of the questions are stupid and they shld have done it much earlier.Casey will shoot out fax today as I was told patrick will also email him. Thanks.

From: Tarek Obaid <Tarek.Obaid@Petrosaudi.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:49:10 +0100
To: Patrick Mahony<Patrick.Mahony@Petrosaudi.com>; Low, Jho<jho.low@gmail.com>
Subject: FW: Finance Administration
Is this a joke?
Why is this guy still asking the same stupid questions Patrick already answered?

—— Forwarded Message
From: Radhi Mohamad <radhi.mohamad@1mdb.com.my>
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:49:59 +0100
To: Patrick Mahony <Patrick.Mahony@Petrosaudi.com>
Cc: Shahrol Halmi <Shahrol.Halmi@1mdb.com.my>, Casey Tang <casey.tang@1mdb.com.my>, Tarek Obaid <Tarek.Obaid@Petrosaudi.com>, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil <nik.kamil@1mdb.com.my>
Subject: Re: Finance Administration

Dear Patrick,

Thanks for the brief overview on the  JV Co and its subsidiaries.

Appreciate if you could advise us on the ownership of PSI Cayman,s budget and the internal control of funds at operational levels.

Rgds

RM

————————–
Sent using BlackBerry   _____

From: Patrick Mahony <Patrick.Mahony@Petrosaudi.com>
To: Radhi Mohamad
Cc: Shahrol Halmi; Casey Tang; Tarek Obaid <Tarek.Obaid@Petrosaudi.com>; Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil
Sent: Sat Dec 19 21:03:10 2009
Subject: RE: Finance Administration

Radhi,

I just wanted to explain to you how the PetroSaudi team works as it relates to the 1MDB PSI JV. The JV has four directors, Shahrol, Casey, Tarek and myself. For any matters related to the JV, Tarek and myself are the only PSI people that have any involvement with the JV. So any queries related to the JV should only be addressed to Tarek and myself.

Rick is responsible for all of the operations below the JV, which start at PSI Cayman. This is where the whole team is that manages the operations and this is the main holding company for all of the PetroSaudi investments. We want to keep Rick and the team only focused on operations so do not want them involved in the JV at all. The JV is where the funds are managed and these are shareholder matters that Rick and the team should not be privy to. The funding and investment decisions at the JV level should only stay with Tarek and myself from the PSI side.

In answer to your question below, the JV does not have any auditors yet. All four of the directors know this well as we have not chosen any yet. This is something we will do at our next board meeting (currently scheduled for the 28th but will likely be moved into January as this is not a very convenient date). Also the financials of the JV are pretty straightforward. It has received $300m and the $300m is still there – though we are currently looking to move funds now to fund working capital requirements of PSI Cayman (and the companies below) as well as various new investments that are being proposed by the shareholders of the JV.

I hope this is clear. We will get auditors in at the JV eventually but currently, the situation is quite simple as the JV is just a bank account for the time being and we can all track the movements of that cash easily (all four directors control that bank account). In the mean time, please direct any queries to me that you have on any of this and we will prepare answers accordingly. Please do not send any queries to Rick as we want to keep them focused on operational matters. Tarek and I will focus on shareholder matters.

Many thanks.

Patrick

From: Radhi Mohamad [mailto:radhi.mohamad@1mdb.com.my]
Sent: Saturday, 19 December, 2009 1:38 AM
To: Patrick Mahony
Cc: Shahrol Halmi; Casey Tang; Tarek Obaid; Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil; Rick Haythornthwaite
Subject: RE: Finance Administration

Hi  Patrick,

Glad to be able to connect with you .  I’ll definitely contact you for any inquiries on the JV Co.

As mentioned by Nik, we are currently undergoing an interim audit exercise by our external auditors, as such  we appreciate if you could forward us the latest financial statements of the JV Co.

Rgds

RM

To summarise, the CFO of 1MDB (Radhi) required the financial statements of PetroSaudi – 1MDB joint venture company from Patrick Mahony but the latter could not provide it and further questioning by the CFO annoyed Patrick’s partner, Tarek Obaid as he complained to Jho Low about the ‘stupid’ questions.

Many email evidence have showed us that Jho Low had instructed 1MDB’s CEO and acted like a top advisor to 1MDB and the Prime Minister himself. Even Pemuda Umno made a statement which said that Jho Low’s fingerprints are all over 1MDB and must not escape PAC’s eye.

‘Cash is King’ at work

Although Pemuda Umno now is very much neutered and emasculated, and perhaps had turned 180 over their previous stand, the public remain undeterred with the belief that indeed Jho Low wielded great authority in 1MDB, regardless what Najib Razak had said about him.

Below is another email trail which perpetuated the issue and countered what Najib Razak had said often times – that Jho Low has no involvement in 1MDB.

Therefore it is not wrong for the public to surmise that Jho Low is Najib Razak’s top advisor, who could suggest the direction the PM should make pertaining 1MDB and his political moves.

Below is one such email,

— — Forwarded Message
From: “LOW, Jho (Personal)” <[email protected]>
Reply-To: <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 01:57:47 +0200
To: Tarek Obaid <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Spoke to BB, some ideas. Let’s discuss first before we talk further to BB.

Sorry sent empty msg earlier. Spoke to BB, some ideas. Let’s discuss first before we talk further to BB.

– A special 7 day high profile visit to Malaysia end nov, early jan with a entourage of 500 people and the most senior religious leader to be accompanying King Abdullah.

Potential commitments include:

– 30 year loan of usd10b islamic debt to 1MDB/GOM at 1.1% interest. If to GOM, a portion (more than 50%) to be recommitted to 1MDB from GOM at same terms

– USD1b to build the King Abdullah Institute of Islamic Finance in KLIFD

– USD1b to build the King Abdullah Science & Tecnology University in Bandar Malaysia

– USD1b for the world first full fledged Islamic Mega Bank License issued by Central Bank of Malaysia

– USD250m to build the King Abdullah University of Islamic Studies in a location of GOM’s choice to be managed by 1MDB

– USD15/TBCm to build Permata Schools (gifted kids) in a location of Permata’s choice to be managed by 1MDB

– J/V between a Saudi Company and 1MDB of USD1b to invest in Langkawi to promote Langkawi as a tourism hub accompanied by PM and TDM

– USD (TBC)m to build Saudi Royal Summer Palace in Langkawi to be managed by 1MDB

– USD (TBC)m King Abdullah Chair/Scholarship in major Malaysian University for Islamic Studies in KSA

– USD (TBC)m donation by King Abdullah to Yayasan 1MDB

– Signing (potentially private) between PetroSaudi and Petronas (contents to be confirmed). Oil & Gas concessions and purchase of assets both ways

– Friday prayers at major mosque with top islamic cleric and HM with PM to be broadcasted nationwide

– A new special honorary award created for HM King Abdullah

– 1 and a half day official visit coupled by a 5 and a half day private holiday. PM and family will join the weekend holiday in Malaysia (Four Seasons Langkawi and perhaps also jungle)

– PM and all ministers to receive King Abdullah and entourage personally at airport coupled with full guard of honour and military parade with F-18 fly-by. All roads to be cleared

– anything else to add?

Note: BB is the PM.

Jho Low also had the audacity to get 1MDB to write a support letter for his bid in buying a hotel chain in London. This was revealed in judgment papers which surfaced when the deal turned sour:

“As mentioned earlier, it appears that Wynton was controlled by a Malaysian businessman, Jho Low, and his brother. In mid-December 2010, advisers to Wynton made an indicative offer for the shares of the company. Mr McKillen [a shareholder] met Jho Low and his advisers at Claridge’s on 29 December 2010. A revised letter of intent was sent to the shareholders on 3 January 2011, proposing an acquisition of all the shares on the basis of an enterprise value of £1 billion, subject to due diligence and agreement of documentation including warranties and indemnities. An accompanying letter from a Malaysian Bank indicated that it was intended to seek to raise up to £950 million of debt and/or mezzanine finance and £50-£100 million of equity……The provision on 15 January 2011 of a letter from 1 Malaysian Berhad, an investment vehicle wholly owned by the Malaysian government, confirming its support for the offer, did not allay the concerns of the majority of the shareholders. A further letter from Wynton dated 24 January 2011 stated that the financing for the offer had “in principle” been fully underwritten by Malaysian government-backed investment funds.” [Judge Richards – Paragraph 135-138]

We have many instances where Jho Low had taken an active part in directing and instructing the movement of funds for 1MDB. When USD700 million (RM3.08 billion at current rate) was banked in into his company Good Star Ltd, 1MDB’s board of directors was so furious that they asked Shahrol Halmi, the then CEO of 1MDB to seek ways in order for the money to be returned.

The board minutes were authentic and was never disputed by 1MDB. There was a criminal breach of trust and financial fraud and the evidence is damning. But of course, nothing was done to repatriate  those billions of Malaysians’ money and the Chairman alongside another board member resigned soon after.

And this is only one of the many issues that bogs down 1MDB until today.

Can 1MDB say there are innocent, above reproach, above suspicion and can’t be held responsible for any wrongdoings? Of course they cannot. All Malaysians know this.

There is only one way that 1MDB can prove that the emails and the documents are fake and no crime was committed. They need to use a foolproof plan to discredit these evidence..

They need to unleash.. Lester Melanyi!

You also may want to read:

1) Shahrol, why did 1MDB pay Good Star and why did you follow Jho Low’s instructions

2) A Messed-up Country and some of its mad people

3) Tony Pua ridicules Arul Kanda’s ‘no bailout’ for 1MDB statement

4) Najib has lost the people’s trust forever

5) Washington lining up House of Saud for the chop?

6) Expect more economic turbulence in 2016

7) Jho Low, Well Connected in Malaysia, Has an Appetite for New York