Uncanny parallels in ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ saga

WSJ: US$155m of 1MDB funds went to ‘Wolf of Wall Street’

FellowMalaysian: The resentful, disgruntled, peeved and piqued Wall Street Journal (WSJ), embarrassed by their own admission that the donations that went into PM Najib Razak’s bank account came from a generous Arab prince, had to resort going for the jugular in their retaliation against Najib and his family.

Najib’s stepson, Riza Aziz, has been singled out as the benefactor of funds worth US$155 million deriving from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB by WSJ in their latest onslaught of ‘unsubstantiated and unverified’ damning accusations against our beloved and untainted prime minister.

WSJ‘s claims and revelations against 1MDB has caused much embarrassment to Najib as his integrity, credibility and moral standing has been seriously eroded and call to question.

Out of concern on the wellbeing of the people in this country, the time has come for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to rein in the worsening situation and charge WSJ for making unsolicited and damaging accusations.

After all, what else is there left to stop the tide?

Odin Tajué: Yes, this is all nonsense. It is pure fabrication. The story was fed to WSJ by a cabal comprising the Chinese, Christians, the DAP, Jews and Mossad in its attempt to topple the democratically-elected prime minister of Malaysia.

WSJ, being a publication that is not selling well and struggling even to pay its staff, has published it in order to increase sales. Don’t you believe a word of it.

The production of ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ was fully funded by Riza, who has made billions through his exceptional investing skills when he was a bank employee stationed in London. He is even better than George Soros and Warren Buffett combined.

All righty, folks? Now get back to reading some real news in New Straits Times, The Star and Utusan Malaysia.

SusahKes: Well, we need to ask Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak, if he still thinks that WSJ should apologise for “failing” to admit that the “donation” was from Saudi Arabia.

Because it sure looks to me that WSJ is anything but slowing down on their expose. Which could only mean that there is more to come.

And this further lends credence to why there is reluctance on Najib’s part to sue WSJ and other news organisations, such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

From here onwards, Najib’s immediate political survival depends on only one thing – the Sarawak elections. Blow that and my guess is that it will be the end of his political career.

Negarawan: There are actually two dimensions to the issues surrounding Riza’s involvement with this Hollywood movie. The channelling of funds from 1MDB has already been highlighted here and needs no further elaboration.

However, there is the Islamic dimension. Although the film was banned for screening in Malaysia and many Islamic countries, why hasn’t any Islamic body in Malaysia taken action against Riza for making such a highly immoral movie, almost akin to soft porn?

Does the syariah laws in Malaysia have double standards too?

Anonymous 29051438068738: Turbaned PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and his followers have not said a word about the funding of this movie for very good reasons.

Based on the WSJ report, the money came from Najib’s 1MDB, populated mainly by handpicked Muslims, and it passed through the very holy hands of a rich Arab who handed it to Najib’s stepson, whom I believe is still a very devout Muslim, and he then produced a movie that best encapsulates the teachings of Islam.

Can anything be more logical than that? So all you Hadi bashers, give the man a break.

RM2.6 Billion Turkey Haram: The puzzle pieces are coming together. One needs not be a rocket scientist to figure out that a young man, out of the blue, could come out with such huge amount of money to finance such an ambitious project.

Unless he has the backing of some very influential people, no institution, financial or otherwise, would have lend such a big sum to him.

There is no point just denying the allegations. There is only one way to prove one’s innocence – sue WSJ.

Kee Thuan Chye: I find the WSJ report very believable. If you watch ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, you will see at the movie’s end credits a single frame totally dedicated to this: “Special thanks to Jho Low”. An entire frame!

Nothing else appears on it except that dedication. Why thank Jho Low? Go check it out if you have the DVD or any other access to the movie and see it for yourself.

Not Convinced: The similarities between the alleged scam, where 1MDB money was said to be channelled to Red Granite through shadowy intermediaries, and the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ are uncanny.

An alleged crooked scheme was apparently used to fund a movie about a crook.

Anonymous 29051438068738: As WSJ reader David Pearlman summarised:

“Let’s see… So money embezzled from a corrupt regime was used to fund a semi-pornographic movie featuring a cast of utterly reprehensible characters with no moral compasses. Sounds about right to me.”

Explain US$1.4b transfers to BVI firm, 1MDB told

Youths want Najib to resign now amid corruption claims

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.