21 Jul 2016
Confirmed – no Saudi Royal was involved in the 2013 Tanore Finance Corporation transfers
Breaking…
The story of the ‘Saudi Royal Donation’ has gone up in smoke, thanks to the clear and forensic detail provided by the FBI.
Step by step, down to the date of each dollar transfer, the Feds have
spelt out in their report how, in just a matter of days, $681 million
(RM2.6bn) raised from 1MDB’s so-called Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) bond
issue was passed to Najib’s now notorious personal AmBank account in KL.
They point out that this was the very same bank account into which
earlier transfers were traced from the previous 1MDB heists, processed
through the companies Good Star and Blackstone, which were both
controlled by Jho Low.
Tanore Finance was in the name of Jho Low’s associate, Eric Tan and a
named signatory was none other than the lawyer Jasmine Loo, whom Low
had brought from Sarawak’s UBG corporation to be Executive Director of
Group Strategy at 1MDB (before using 1MDB’s money to buy out his own and
Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s interests in UBG).
Out of $2.7 billion raised from the 2013 TRX bond issue $1.59 billion
was immediately siphoned into a network of off-shore funds that had
been used before to launder money. These companies passed $835,000,000
straight to Tanore, which in turn passed the $681 million on to Najib’s
account, thanks to instructions from Loo.
No Saudi Royal in sight.
Stop pretending folks!
The scheme laid out
by the FBI reveals how a tight group of key players had been brought
together by this astonishing theft – a gang that had already been
identified by Sarawak Report as we observed their partying and close
connections.
These were the people around Jho Low and they include the American
Joey McFarland, who had become the Co-Producer of Red Granite Pictures
together with Najib’s step-son Riza Aziz.
Red
Granite producer, Joey McFarland, has been identified by the FBI as a
key player in Jho Low’s art purchases using money from Tanore, in his
role as ‘authorised agent’ for the Tanore account at Christies….
Joey, who fancies himself as a discerning art collector, was at the
centre of a picture-buying spree, in the period after the 2013 election,
when Najib sent much of the money back to Tanore from KL.
The FBI details how Jho Low and his gang set about laundering it through art and other high value purchases.
This is the very same party gang, whom Sarawak Report earlier
pin-pointed through their online presence, enjoying themselves in the
ski centres of the world, cruising on mega-yachts and clubbing in Vegas.
According to their instagram accounts, this tight gang of thieves
considered themselves “family” – tied together by their joint misdeeds,
which are now bared to the world in this report.
They include Jho Low, Riza Aziz, Jasmine Loo, Joey McFarland, Khadem
Al Qubaisi and a pack of Hollywood hangers on, who have been happy to
enjoy their lavish hospitality, gambling chips, magnums of champagne,
yachts, jets, art auction donations and the like and they include Leo Di
Caprio, Alicia Keays, Swizz Beatz and a number of other well known
celebrities.
The money trail
There is not a shred of doubt in this indictment that the person identified as ‘Malaysian Official 1′ is Najib Razak.
There are numerous confirmations and clear pointers that the only
person to whom the DOJ is referring is the Malaysian Prime Minister and
anyone saying otherwise is merely seeking to convince those who have not
read the report or the wilfully gullible.
The section on ‘The Tanore Finance Stage’ of the 1MDB theft is as
clear an indicator as any of the Prime Minister’s guilt as a mega-thief
and liar, in that it deals with the money trail of $681 million, which
led from 1MDB’s 2013 bond issue (supposedly for the Tun Razak Exchange
project) into Najib’s personal AmBank Account in KL.
The DOJ points out that this is the very same sum and the very same
transaction that has been acknowledged by Najib as having entered his
account, confirmed by the Malaysian Attorney General.
Except Najib claimed that it was a ‘Saudi Royal Donation’ and said it
was later largely returned to the ‘anonymous donor’, whereas the DOJ
explains in detail how the money was flashed within two days from the
1MDB bond issue into Najib’s account through a few short banking moves
via Tanore Finance which was controlled by Low and his associates.
Squarely said. Is there any Malaysian who can read the above and not conclude that Malaysian Official No 1 is not Najib Razak?
Most of the money was indeed returned to Tanore after the election in
August the US investigators say, but it was then used by Jho Low and
his gang to invest in art, real estate and other business ventures.
The DOJ devastatingly uses Malaysia’s own Attorney General’s
statements, made during his bid to ‘clear’ his boss Najib, against
himself, as they quote his admissions about the money:
“263. The Attorney General of Malaysia publicly stated
that he conducted an inquiry into the $681 million in payments. In a
press release issued on January 26, 2016, the Malaysian Attorney General
confirmed that, “the sum of USD681 million (RM2.08 billion) [was]
transferred into the personal account of [MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1] between
22.03.2013 and 10.04.2013,” and that, “in August 2013, a sum of USD620
million (RM2.03 billion) was returned by [MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1]. . . .”
The Malaysian Attorney General ultimately characterized the payment of
$681 million as a “personal donation to [MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1] from the
Saudi royal family which was given to him without any consideration.”
It leaves no doubt that the man in question is Najib, as confirmed by AG Apandi’s own statement.
Sarawak Report has distilled the detailed information provided in Section III of the DOJ indictment on the path of the funds raised by the March 2013 bond issue – see the money trail below:
No Saudi Royal Donor in the trail – only 1MDB and Najib!
Sky-Box Art!
The gang of conspirators around Najib and Jho Low are thrown into
sharp relief by the ongoing story of the Tanore cash flows. The account
at Falcon Bank in Singapore was in the name of Low’s associate Eric Tan,
says the DOJ, but the day before the transfers to Najib were made
1MDB’s Executive Director of Group Strategy, Jasmine Loo, was added as a
signatory. Loo, a lawyer, was also a long-standing associate of Low,
having followed him from UBG in Sarawak.
The DOJ make clear that the reason for adding Loo to the account was
to facilitate the transfers and it showed a clear purpose to defraud the
fund involving some of its most senior officers.
When in August 2013, after the election, the bulk of the money was
returned from Najib’s AmBank account to Tanore Finance, it was used for
purposes of self-enrichment by the same gang of conspirators with no
care for the public purpose of the fund:
Buying art on the Tanore account
The FBI has traced a huge haul of valuable modern art purchased by
the conspirators, often at record prices, over the following months via
their account at Christies, as Jho Low and his pals started to style
themselves as ‘art lovers’ and ‘art patrons’.
Christies allegedly believed that Low was the owner of Tanore and was
making purchases for his corporate collection, although Low went to
considerable lengths to attempt to disguise his connection by working
through Eric Tan as the nominee beneficial owner and Joey McFarland as
the bidder for the pictures.
Christies told the FBI that McFarland and Low attended art auctions
in New York together and that at those auctions, McFarland would bid for
Tanore.
These items are now on the asset seizure list and they include a number of paintings already identified by Sarawak Report:
“..an unnamed work by Mark Ryden for $714,000 (“Ryden
work”) and an unnamed work by Ed Ruscha for $367,500 (“Ruscha work”). At
a Post-War & Contemporary Evening Sale on May 15, 2013, Tanore
purchased Dustheads, by Jean- Michel Basquiat (“Dustheads”) for
$48,843,750; Untitled – Standing Mobile, Alexander Calder (“Calder
Standing Mobile”) for $5,387,750; and Tic Tac Toe, by Alexander Calder
(“Tic Tac Toe”) for $3,035,750….two works of art in a private sale
arranged by Christie’s: Concetto spaziale, Attese, by Lucio Fontana
(“the Fontana piece”); and Untitled (Yellow and Blue) by Mark Rothko
(“the Rothko piece”)…[and]…a work by Vincent Van Gogh entitled La maison
de Vincent a Arles (“VAN GOGH ARTWORK”) for $5,485,000.”
Yet, it is clear that art was not in fact the primary love of
partying Jho Low and his friends, who even treated their purchasing jobs
like further trips to Vegas casinos.
In November 2013 Low had ordered a special ‘Sky-Box’ to entertain his
art auction guests at Christies. A staff email explained to colleagues
who were setting up the structure:
“It better look like Ceasar Palace [sic] in there . . .The box is almost more important for the client than the art.”
The DOJ investigation rips apart all attempts by Low to pretend it
was not himself behind the art, despite endless subterfuge recorded in
emails to disguise his role. Christies apparently tolerated the deceit
and kept his identity secret, although Joey’s presence at the auctions
alerted SR!
Gift letters – ‘This is definitely not corrupt”!
The fact that these paintings were then “gifted” by Tan to Jho Low
and McFarland is the final give-away in the Tanore art buying spree.
However, the DOJ detail a fascinating touch, whereby Jho Low arranged
for letters to be sent to justify these various multi-million dollar
gifts.
It is a modus-operandi that followers of the donation trails to Najib’s AmBank account will find familiar:
These “gifts” of art purchased by Tanore were
memorialized in several “gift letters.” While the body of each letter
was identical, each letter referenced a different work or works being
gifted,
Likewise, the various ‘donations’ made to Najib via Blackstone, Tanore and a supposed Saudi sheikh
(Saud Abdulaziz Majid al-Saud/Prince Faisal bin Turkey bin Bandar
Alsaud), were all accompanied by the same pro-forma donation letters
addressed to AmBank – and written in similar tone!
“Each of these gift letters was: (a) dated October 2,
2013, (b) addressed to LOW from TAN and Tanore, and (c) contained the
subject line: “RE: GIFT OF ART- WORK(S) AS STATED BELOW IN CONSIDERATION
OF YOUR FRIENDSHIP, YOUR CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE WORLD, AND
PASSION IN PROMOTING THE UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION OF ART-WORKS …
I wish to gift you ALL of the art-work(s) mentioned in this gift letter in consideration of the followings [sic]:
– all the generosity, support and trust that you have shared with me
over the course of our friendship, especially during the difficult
periods of my life; and
– your continuous generosity in providing charitable contributions to
advance the well-being and development of our global communities; and
– your passion in promoting the understanding and appreciation of art- works.
287. Each gift letter closes by stating:
All the art-work(s) gifted to you should not in any event be
construed as an act of corruption since this is against the Company
and/or my principles and I personally do not encourage such practices in
any manner whatsoever.
As the DOJ leaves any reader to conclude, this ludicrous and childish
denial of specified corruption bears an almost identical flavour to the
letters sent to AmBank
by the supposed Sheikh donor to Najib Razak – and the author can only
be the youthful, ridiculous and party-loving poser, Jho Low
Same style, same denial as the donation letters to Najib – “The
Gift should not in any event be construed as an act of corruption since
this is against the practice of Islam and I personally do not encourage
such practices in any manner whatsoever…”
Proceeds of money laundering confiscated in the US
The DOJ as plaintiff then proceeds to demand the confiscation of a
number of purchases by Jho Low and others with 1MDB’s stolen cash.
The L’Ermitage Hotel in Hollywood was bought from money which can be
traced to the theft of $700 million from the PetroSaudi joint venture,
says the DOJ.
The Hillcrest Drive, Hollywood Mansion also bought by Jho Low and
then passed to Najib’s step-son Riza was also bought with the same
stolen money, along with further funds which were stolen from the later
scheme with Aabar.
All the money for the $15,917,189.63 purchase of this house for Riza
Aziz came from the money stolen by Good Star according to charts
provided by the DOJ, thus wholly vindicating Sarawak Report’s expose
back in 2014, for which Riza Aziz’s lawyers sought to sue us.
Likewise, Riza’s fancy New York flat was also purchased from the same theft from the PetroSaudi deal “Funds
traceable to the $700 million wire transfer from 1MDB to the Good Star
Account were used in 2010 to acquire the PARK LAUREL CONDOMINIUM in New
York, New York”
Jho Low even bought himself a Bombardier Jet from the same haul: “In
2010, LOW used funds traceable to the $700 million wire transfer from
1MDB to the Good Star Account to acquire the BOMBARDIER JET, a
Bombardier Global 5000 aircraft bearing manufacturer serial number 9265
and registration number N689WM, with two Rolls Royce engines bearing
manufacturer’s serial numbers 12487 and 12488, for approximately
$35,371,335.”
Low’s Time Warner Building penthouse came from the same stolen money as was the most expensive Hollywood mansion in Oriole Drive, which had also been identified by Sarawak Report as belonging to Jho Low.
Research
by Sarawak Report indicates that in 2012 Jho Low purchased the most
expensive ever mansion in Hollywood Hills at 1423 Oriole Drive, for just
under USD$39million
Larry Low
Sarawak Report is also vindicated in its coverage of the role of
Low’s father Larry Low in helping him transfer and launder the billions
filtched from 1MDB. Millions were passed from Good Star through Larry’s
BSI account.
Low continued to use the Good Star money stolen from 1MDB to fund
business venture, such as his prestige purchase of the world’s third
largest music publishing company EMI Publishing for over a hundred
million dollars and Greene Condominium in New York.
The investigators show how Jho Low’s sudden representation of his
previously modest family as extremely wealthy had a purpose. It was an
attempt to convince business partners that his funds came from
legitimate family sources, as opposed to being stolen. It is for this
reason says the DOJ, Low funnelled much of the stolen Good Star and
Aabar money through his father’s accounts before purchasing concerns
such as EMI Publishing:
In materials that LOW submitted to entities with whom he
sought to do business… LOW represented that family resources were a
significant source of his wealth. By funneling money through his
father’s account for a brief period of time, LOW created the appearance
that funds in his personal account, which were used to acquire an
interest in EMI Partner A, came from his father rather than from Good
Star or ADKMIC.
These acquisitions are now set to be confiscated by the DOJ and the
fugitive Jho Low has few secrets left in the game he has tried to play,
first his his role as ‘youthful business prodigy’ then as a ‘third
generation billionaire’.
It is now for all to see that Jho Low is merely a thief who has been assisted by Malaysian Official No 1.
Red Granite and the Hollywood Jet Set – ‘Hollywood Actor 1′ !
The funds used to pay for the prestige production of the Wolf of Wall Street are “directly
traceable to the $700 million wire transfer and $330 million wire
transfers unlawfully diverted from 1MDB to the Good Star Account”, says the DOJ.
It entirely vindicates Sarawak Report’s original query whether the
film was funded by Riza’s friend Jho Low, despite furious denials at the
time. Referring to lead actor Leonardo Di Caprio as “Hollywood Actor 1″
the DOJ confirms that Jho Low’s ring of gangsters was behind the film:
“In his acceptance speech upon winning a Golden Globe for
his role in “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Hollywood Actor 1 thanked “the
entire production team,” singling out in particular “Joey, Riz, and
Jho,” whom he characterized as “collaborators” on the film. Upon
information and belief, this reference was to Joey McFarland, a
co-founder of Red Granite Pictures, AZIZ, and LOW”
The DOJ report is as detailed as it is damning and now that the Prime
Minister of Malaysia has been revealed to be a common crook, he must
leave office.
Najib Razak may yet protest his innocence in the face of the
overwhelming evidence and claim that he will be vindicated in court.
However, people in positions of leadership can never expect to continue
in office with such outrageous and well-founded charges against his
head.
If under such circumstances he does not step aside to allow a
credible candidate to take his place that in itself would be a criminal
act against his people.
Najib must go before he causes further instability in Malaysia.
It’s
criminal in Malaysia too! DOJ reminds Malaysia’s law and order
enforcers what their duty is regarding Malaysian Official No 1
The details and individuals involved in this caper are all familiar to us. Their names roll off our tongues with the same ease as we have done in the past for Botak Chin, Bentong Kali, Mat Kommando, Mona Fandy, Man Telur....rogues, villains and murderers among them. Today the guys in the big leagues are Riza Aziz, Jho Low, Najib Razak, Rosmah Mansor and their cohorts. 
