The Big Boys of UMNO may have snatched hold of the driving wheel behind puppet ‘PM8’, with the likes of Najib remaining free to wander (without his mask) preaching he was only stealing billions to ‘help the poor’, however in Malaysia’s courtrooms the real story continues to pour out.

The coup coalition has sought to reverse reforms, restored multiple corrupt practices and suspended prosecutions, but halting trials already under way is somewhat harder.

Today, Najib’s claims that he is a latter day ‘Robin Hood’ fleecing his own government to dispense charity far and wide were slapped down by a trenchant judge Nazlan, who stated the obvious in his judgement, saying “this case can be characterised as one that falls within the range of the worst kind of abuse of position, of CBT and of money-laundering”. Ouch:

“There is quite simply no virtue in donating what one does not own …. The money was  used to fund Barisan Nasional and Umno, which Najib was president at the time before the 14th general election [and] .. overtly political purposes as even those activities and projects which appeared to be targeted at the less fortunate in the society were channelled through political organisations, which served the accused’s political benefit and power given his standing as the president of Umno and chairman of BN. And the overriding yet basic point has always been manifest. The RM42 million is the property of SRC,” [Malaysian Insight]

Najib’s main case is still on-going, of course, as is UMNO boss Zahid Hamidi’s. However, the putrid nature of their methods of governance was most starkly portrayed today by the jaw dropping testimony of Rosmah Mansor’s former chief fixer, Rizal Mansor, in the separate on-going trial involving Najib’s wife.

Rizal had fled to Indonesia following Najib’s downfall at GE14 and Sarawak Report’s expose of the Sarawak schools solar power scandal shortly after. However, realising he “could not run forever” now the game was up, he later returned as chief witness against Rosmah instead.

And today, he not only confirmed the sordid details of how he channelled so-called ‘political donations’ to Rosmah from the supplicants of Sarawak’s Jepak holdings (who stole hundreds of millions meant for schoolchildren thanks to her pushing their contract through her husband) he also described it as common practice:

“To my knowledge, there are several entrepreneurs or contractors that successfully secured government projects after they were helped by Datin Seri Rosmah.
“Usually, these entrepreneurs or contractors would give gifts to her as a sign of appreciation for having helped them. These gifts included cash,” he said.

“From my experience working with the civil service, I found Datin Seri Rosmah had a significant influence over them due to several factors. The main factor was the fear that the civil service had of Datin Seri Rosmah, who was seen as the wife of the prime minister, and someone who is fierce and can influence the actions and decisions of the prime minister. [Malay Mail]

Thus the charming Rosmah was left exposed by the aide who knew her best and did her dirty work for years. The bags of cash that arrived in banks around Kuala Lumpur during her greedy heyday, deposited by her known bodyguards, were thus neatly explained in exactly the manner everyone in KL already suspected and insiders knew.

In response? Rosmah’s legal team has sought to pile on blame on all her agents and employees, much in the same way that Najib has blamed his underlings for funnelling stolen billions into his personal accounts – unbeknown to him he claims!

Wreaking vengeance on underlings was something Rizal explained civil servants new all about under their regime:

“In the eyes of the public servants, Rosmah has the ability to influence the prime minister in transferring government servants who oppose or defy her requests to lesser positions, or in other words, to be put in ‘cold storage’, or have them moved to places farther than where they live,” [Star]

Damaged Goods

As PN’s fragile coalition turns in on itself under pressures such as these revelations there is a clear divide emerging between those like Najib, already caught on the hook, who view their support for the coup in terms of being let off the hook by their fellow crooks and those ready to get rid of the ‘damaged goods’ in the hope of re-instituting the system of ‘money politics’ to help themselves.

Witness Sabah, where the noble UMNO leader of the ‘revanchist strike’ (i.e. bribery of defectors against the elected state government), ex-chief minister Musa Aman, was today left devastated by his party’s decision to leave him off the list of candidates altogether now that they have been forced to test their support with the electorate.

The reason is clear to see. Musa may have managed to get the 49 corruption charges dropped against him before they got to court, thanks to the PM8 coup, however all his colleagues know that the world knows he is guilty as sin.

For all PN’s big talk about their alleged popular support, having betrayed their elected leaders to snatch power, it is clear they understand as well as anybody else that an acceptable candidate for a backdoor coup becomes toxic damaged goods when voters get to have their say.

Najib likewise, along with Zahid and all the rest will be consigned under the bus by the Azmins of this world and fellow PN leaders all keen to project themselves as un-tainted by such scandals.

Except they are tainted as the world can see, by their actions and alliances and indeed their very existence and survival under BN and now PN, widely flashing cash. They are all from the same can of worms now turning on each other.