Jasa, you don’t return ‘stolen goods’ to an alleged thief 

‘Model should have returned diamonds to Jho Low, not DOJ’

SRMan: Special Affairs Department’s (Jasa) Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz, Australian model Miranda Kerr did the right thing as she does not want to keep the jewellery a minute longer. She does not want to be linked to anything said to be bought with money stolen from the people of Malaysia.

Several countries (all with well-established banking systems) have already penalised banks which had allowed 1MDB to launder monies through their banking systems.

But our country, on the other hand, has crippled the task force involved in investigating the mother of all frauds. This action alone by the main suspect aka MO1 (Malaysian Official 1) is enough to deliver a ‘guilty verdict’ on all the personalities involved.

Kerr and many others in the world, including Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, surely know what is going on and she knows what reputation is worth.

But here, we have idiots queuing up to defend the indefensible, alleged thieves advising others not to steal, and so-called protectors of the country protecting the wrongdoers.

Hibiscus: I think Kerr has done the right thing by surrendering the jewellery gifted to her by Jho Low to the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

This is because the DOJ is an authority in the US, part of whose existence is to deter the US from being made a haven for money launderers, and has alleged the jewellery gifted to Kerr by Jho Low were paid for using laundered money.

If I were Jho Low and if I feel I am innocent of the alleged money laundering, I would, without hesitation, go to the US and claim the jewellery in person from the DOJ.

For Kerr to return the jewellery directly to Jho Low (as suggested by Tun Faisal) is akin to a recipient of stolen goods returning the goods to a suspected thief instead of handing them over to the police.

In any case, how can Kerr return the jewellery to Jho Low when his whereabouts is more secretive than the hideout of Osama bin Ladin?

Worried Sick: I just cannot understand some people’s level of intelligence. If one is caught driving a stolen car, can he plead that he will return it to the owner or to the person who sold him the said car?

The DOJ asserts that the diamonds were bought with money siphoned off from the 1MDB fund by Jho Low. Kerr has surrendered them to the DOJ which says it has sufficient evidence that Low bought the diamonds using money that rightly belongs to 1MDB.

Now, what Tun Faisal should do is initiate proceedings against the DOJ and get back the diamonds and then in a ceremony televised to the entire country, return them to Jho Low. He would then have put all things right.

2 Cents: Going by the logic of this so-called Jasa advisory panel member, the jewellery in question are merely personal gifts from a man (who happens to be a Malaysian) in order to impress the model, and nothing more than that.

If it has nothing to do with the federal government, any state-owned enterprises, or any key members of administration (and/or their close family members), why is there a need for a response from Jasa, the propaganda unit of the federal government?

Fly-on-the-Wall: Indeed, why does the government need a propaganda arm? With money paid from my taxes? If the government is doing things appropriately, they wouldn’t need this, as we would believe all news as genuine.

The Cambridge dictionary defines propaganda as “information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people’s opinions”.

So, it is obvious that Jasa’s mission is to lie to the public, and these lies are obvious to all right-thinking people.

Basically: No wonder Jasa is called ‘special affairs’. It is now looking after the affairs of a private individual, Jho Low. Is Jasa working for Jho Low? Who is Low then, to the BN government? Why is Jasa speaking up on his behalf?

Can we sack them and have our money back please, and tell Jasa to get their funding from Jho Low instead?

Fernz: A mere denial by 1MDB that it has not lost any money is not good enough in law. 1MDB has yet to approach the DOJ with proof that it has not lost any money.

The DOJ has repeatedly stated that all the assets being seized were bought with funds looted from 1MDB. Why doesn’t 1MDB challenge this statement in court?

Also, why should Jasa get involved in the surrender of jewellery by Kerr to the DOJ? If the fat boy wants the jewellery back, he should have asked Kerr when the news first broke. Why is he keeping quiet?

Voice: In the DOJ lawsuit, it was stated that a sum of US$4.5 billion equivalent to approximately RM22 billion has been misappropriated from 1MDB. This is not a mere RM22,000.

This is a very huge figure for a small economy like our, and our Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and attorney-general (AG) should have taken the initiative or gone the extra mile to obtain all the information and evidence from DOJ.

Don’t complain DOJ never came to us. We can, and should, go to them. This humongous RM22 billion is our money.

Telestai: Tun Faisal, 1MDB is the subject of investigations of money laundering in at least five countries. The money trail is well-documented across the globe and this is the reason for DOJ’s actions.

In addition, the central banks of Luxembourg, Switzerland and Singapore have fined banks for their role in the money laundering.

Please don’t tell us all these actions taken are to topple the Malaysian government. It is indeed a big slap in the face for Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) for its lack of action on 1MDB.

Ipohcrite: Jasa is giving bad advice, uncalled for as well. You don’t deal with stolen property that way. You hand it to the authorities first.

If there’s no wrongdoing, you can trust the DOJ to return it to the rightful owner. If there’s wrongdoing, the property will be seized and returned to the rightful owners, Malaysia. Why is Jasa so against that?

RM2.6 Billion Turkey Haram: Kerr, you have done Australia, a country which appreciate honesty, proud.

In returning the jewellery, you are helping Malaysians recover some of the allegedly stolen money, which does not mean much to you, being the wife of a legitimate Internet billionaire.

Tholu: Okay, I agree with you. Tun Faisal. Kerr need not to have surrendered the jewellery to DOJ until it is proven in the US courts that it was purchased using money misappropriated from the 1MDB fund.

But can you promise that in the eventuality that it is proven without doubt that the jewellery for Kerr was purchased using 1MDB fund, Mrs MO1 would follow suit and surrender her jewellery too?

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