Enough has been written by so many people about how much Mahathir and his family are worth and how they managed to get so rich. In fact, Mahathir is said to be the second richest kleptocratic leader in the world still alive and his proxy, Daim, has interests in more than 50 banks all over the world. Let us now see where Mahathir’s RM100 billion, combined with Daim’s RM60 billion, has been parked, which is estimated to now be worth RM200 billion.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
“Today the MACC is so hardworking, going to Sabah to arrest various individuals. No need for them to lie and act as though they are going all out to eradicate graft when there is no probe on the money in Najib’s account,” said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Actually that is not true and either Mahathir was sleeping when the news came out or he is trying to hoodwink Malaysians. In January and February 2015 Mahathir said RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money had disappeared into thin air. But then it turned out that RM31.5 billion of Bank Negara’s money had disappeared into thin air instead. And Mahathir says he is not aware of that although he may have been the Prime Minister at that time.
Today Mahathir no longer talks about the RM42 billion disappearing into thin air. He only talks about the money in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s personal bank account. At first Mahathir wanted Najib to explain and clarify the source of that money. Najib then did just that: he explained and clarified the source of the money.
After Najib had explained and clarified the source of the money, Mahathir said he does not believe the explanation and clarification and said that Najib is lying. If Mahathir does not believe what Najib says then why ask him to explain and clarify the source of the money? You ask someone to explain and clarify and when he does you say you do not believe a word what that person says.
Anyway, at least Najib responded to what Mahathir asked. Mahathir, however, refuses to respond to the allegations made against him. For example, look at the reports below, which until today Mahathir refuses to respond to.
Mahathir, the second richest kleptocrat in the entire world, and his proxy Daim, own more than 50 banks all over the world
Regardless whether Mubarak’s wealth is US$40 billion, US$70 billion or more, the fact remains that tracking the money trail would be almost impossible, let alone claiming it back to the people of Egypt. If the Philippine government couldn’t even bring back billions of dollars plundered by former dictator Marcos more than 20 years after his death, what more can the new government of Egypt do to recover it with today’s information technology?
Using the same rule of thumb that Mubarak “earned” about US1 billion to US2 billion annually, Mahathir’s wealth easily tops US$22 to US$44 billion over his 22-year of iron-fist rule. However Malaysia has more natural resources than Egypt and economically Malaysia is richer. Hence Mahathir is easily worth more than that.
Key members of the Malaysian government, their families, and well-heeled associates are among those owning secretive offshore companies in Singapore and the British Virgin Islands, according to a cache of leaked documents.
While some of the offshore companies carry out legitimate transactions, others are likely to be part of the 871.4 billion ringgit (about $285 billion) estimated by Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) to have been lost through illicit outflows over a 10-year period.
Mirzan Mahathir, the eldest son of Mahathir, is also among those the ICIJ list as director and shareholder of three offshore companies. Mirzan’s major commercial vehicle in Malaysia is Crescent Capital Sdn Bhd, an investment holding and independent strategic and financial advisory firm. He is the company’s chairperson and chief executive officer.
As Barry Wain’s book, Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times, shows – at least US$100 billion went missing during Mahathir’s time as Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003. Much of these missing monies may be the difference between the actual cost of government procurements, contracts, tenders, permits, concessions, quotas, licences and the like and the amount that they eventually cost the tax payers i.e. double, triple or even up to ten times the actual amount.
Mahathir & Co, as former Finance Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah once told an audience in Australia not so long ago, was awarding government contracts to themselves. Razaleigh was then accused by the Mahathir administration of “betraying” the country by badmouthing it overseas. It’s seems Mahathir was Malaysia and Malaysia was Mahathir. Mahathir could only have done what Razaleigh accused him of doing by taking government money for himself through a network of nominees, cronies, fat cats and the like
From ‘So is Dr M the world’s 2nd richest ex-leader with $44 BILLION?’ (Hornbill Unleashed, 21st December 2012)
While Mahathir keeps demanding that Najib explain this, that and the other (incidentally which Najib has already done so), Mahathir himself remains silent on the exposes regarding him. Nevertheless, we do not want to talk about how Mahathir got his billions. Enough has been written by so many people about how much Mahathir and his family are worth and how they managed to get so rich.
In fact, Mahathir is said to be the second richest kleptocratic leader in the world still alive and his proxy, Tun Daim Zainuddin, has interests in more than 50 banks all over the world. Let us now see where Mahathir’s RM100 billion, combined with Daim’s RM60 billion, has been parked, which is estimated to now be worth RM200 billion.
Daim, who acts for himself and as Mahathir’s proxy, is the beneficial owner of a string of banks centred mostly in Africa and some parts of Europe. These banks (and non-banking financial institutions) are said to total well beyond 50.
Daim retains ownership of these banks through a complex network of cross-holding schemes involving proxy entities based in Indonesia, Africa, Switzerland, Panama and Europe. The cross continental arrangement allows him to remain anonymous and makes it extremely difficult for the authorities to trace his links to any of these banks.
Many of the banks in Africa that Daim is linked to have a gold and diamond paper-trail that are legitimised, often through investments in offshore entities with the help of financial institutions in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Many of these banks also issue bonds to one another through mortgage schemes as a way to transfer money from one bank to another without being detected.
The Coverage Malaysia
