Together with State Assemblypersons for Johor Jaya and Pengkalan Rinting, Liow Cai Tung and Cheo Yee How, I have lodged a report at MACC Johor this morning.
Few days ago, MACC chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed revealed to the media that the commission he personally instructed his officers to initiate a probe on the RM24.4 million diamond ring an hour after a report was lodged with MACC on the issue in 2011.
Not only that, two hours later, Abu Kassim had called Najib and asked the latter if his wife had bought the ring.
Impressed by the efficiency of MACC, I have lodged a report with them today at its Johor Headquarter at Tampoi, wanted them to probe into the allegation and content of an article published by The New York Times on February 8, 2015.
The New York Times in an article dated February 8, 2015 stated as follows:
“Mr. Najib, who earns an annual salary of about US$100,000 as prime minister, has been battered by news media reports of his wife’s lavish spending. A notable episode involved the Birkin bags: A series of photos that went viral on social media in Malaysia showed Ms. Rosmah holding at least nine of the purses. They typically cost between US$9,000 and US$150,000 apiece.” [1]
Invoices and other documents obtained by The Times show millions of dollars in jewelry ordered for Rosmah in Hong Kong in 2008 and 2009 – diamond and emerald rings, and diamond, emerald and ruby bracelets.
The NYT story also unearthed the previously secret transactions of Najib’s 38 year old step-son, Riza Aziz, who bought an apartment in Park Laurel, New York for US$33.5 million and a house in Beverly Hills worth at least US$17.5 million in hard cash.
How can the wife of a Prime Minister whose salary is not more than RM500,000 per annum afford to have so many Birkin bags and how can the step-son of a Prime Minister who is only a junior-level banker at HSBC afford to purchase luxury properties in US?
The lavish lifestyle of Najib and his family is clearly beyond the means of a decent corruption-free PM. As such, MACC needs to initiate a probe into these allegations immediately.
At the same time, I can’t help but notice the different approach adopted by MACC with the investigation involved leaders from BN and PR.
Back in the year 2009, when investigating the allegation that one Selangor EXCO Ean Yong Hian Wah had misused his allocation, MACC officers raided his office in the State Secretariat Building without written orders from public prosecutor. They then took Teoh Beng Hock back to MACC office at Shah Alam for questioning. They refused Teoh Beng Hock’s right for legal representation, and interrogated him from 7pm till 7am the following day. Thereafter, Beng Hock was found dead on the 5th floor of the adjacent building.
If the similar aggressive and high-handed approach was adopted in the investigation of the RM24.4 million ring, MACC should have raided Najib’s office, taken him back to MACC office as a witness, disallowed the presence of any lawyer, and interrogated him relentlessly for 12 hours. But they didn’t. Instead, they are very polite and civilised.
We bought a birthday with us when lodging report at MACC. Because today, April 20, supposed to be the 36th birthday of Teoh Beng Hock.
In any event, we hope to hear the outcome of our report in the near future.
MACC, prove to us that you are indeed not a paper tiger!