AG: Real work on 1MDB happens behind the scene
KUALA LUMPUR: The main effort to undo the damage of the 1MDB scandal takes place in the mundane setting of civil actions aimed at recouping money stolen from the state investment firm, said Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas.
While most of the world's attention was focused on the criminal aspects of the case such as the prosecution of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Thomas said the substantive work was taking place quietly in the arena of civil proceedings.
He told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview that these efforts were equal to, if not more important than efforts to pursue the wrongdoers in the global financial scandal.
“The civil part is absolutely neglected. Everybody forgets that because the criminal dimension is ‘sexy' and ‘newsworthy'.
“Civil recovery is the one that's underrated and not understood at all. It is essentially to recover as much of the stolen stuff as possible, and most of them are [found] abroad,” he said.
Malaysia has so far secured custody of the Equanimity, the RM1 billion superyacht allegedly owned by Low Taek Jho, the fugitive financier increasingly becoming the main mover behind the 1MDB saga.
On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said negotiations are also underway for the seizure of a private jet grounded abroad and believed to also be owned by Low.
Thomas said such efforts had been hampered by the defeated Barisan Nasional government's refusal to acknowledge or claim any of the assets and funds seized by foreign authorities pursuing the 1MDB scandal.
Aside from the yacht, US authorities in particular have taken possession of jewellery, paintings, and more suspected to have been procured using stolen 1MDB funds; the Attorney General's Chambers is working closely with the DoJ on this matter now.
Thomas said his office has appointed lawyers in foreign jurisdictions such as Singapore to begin claiming the “low-hanging fruits” first, but stressed that this could still take months before any results are visible.
“Seldom would a beneficiary tell the world ‘these are not my assets', and that's what Malaysia was doing. We only started telling the truth after GE14,” Thomas said.
On the criminal side of the 1MDB investigation, Thomas said his office was limited to the investigation papers that are presented.
Saying he does not know the exact number of active investigations on the matter, he also emphasised that there is no single “1MDB investigation” due to the complexity of the alleged financial crimes perpetrated.
This was illustrated by the number of criminal breach of trust and money laundering charges filed against Najib alone over the miniscule sum of RM42 million, which represents 0.001 per cent of the total debt 1MDB is believed to have amassed.
“You really have to look at it the way the fraudsters had planned it. The fraudsters designed one transaction after another, deal by deal.
“So there could be a 2011 fraud, a 2012 fraud, a 2013 transaction, a 2014 deal and so on.”
In the same interview, Thomas conceded that despite years of private practice, he did not fully appreciate the gravity of the office of the AG until he assumed the position.
Thomas said that while he was clear about his priorities when taking over the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC), he had not understood the responsibilities that now rest on his shoulders.
“It's difficult for anyone from the outside — certainly not a private practitioner, as I was. Even somebody from this Attorney General's Chambers — there are about 1,200 lawyers here — even they won't understand the amount of responsibilities (of the AG).
“So that has surprised me,” he was quoted as saying after a news portal falsely reported that he had resigned.
The AG also said there is no plan now to charge his predecessor Tan Sri Apandi Ali accused of covering up the 1MDB corruption scandal.
“I don't know anything about (charging Apandi). We have not gone in that direction. What I can tell you is — and all of you know it — there were no prosecutions during his three-year tenure on 1MDB, that's a fact.
“You have to ask him why there were no prosecutions, and none during the previous AG's time too,” he said in the interview.
Thomas said the stench of alleged wrongdoings in 1MDB had been present since 2010 and suggested these had been open secrets from as far back as the rebranding of the Terengganu Investment Authority.
“So why didn't my predecessors do anything about it? You have to ask them.”
The AG before Apandi was Tan Sri Gani Patail, who was alleged to be preparing to charge former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak before he was replaced for purported health reasons.
Since Thomas took office in June, investigations and prosecutions over 1MDB have accelerated, resulting in formal charges against Najib as well his defence lawyer, Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad accused Apandi of conspiring to cover up the 1MDB scandal when he put the latter on garden leave and set in motion the plan to replace him with Thomas.
Thomas became the AG in June after minor controversy over the selection of a non-Malay and nonMuslim for the role.