Was UMNO's 'Big Steal' Theory Inherited By PN?

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has arrested the CEO of a private company for allegedly serving as a middleman in the distribution of government projects.

A source close to the matter linked the arrest to MACC’s investigation into the alleged misappropriation of Covid-19 stimulus packages worth RM92.5 billion by the former Perikatan Nasional-led (PN) government.

When contacted, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki confirmed the arrest and said the case was being investigated under Section 16 (a) of the MACC Act 2009.

The source said MACC had opened investigation papers into at least five individuals believed to have been involved in helping companies obtain projects worth between RM50 million to RM500 million through direct negotiations linked to the stimulus packages.

The source added that several contractors who were also questioned admitted to agreeing to pay a commission of between 3-5% to be deposited into the account of a political party, which was supposedly meant as political funding.

“Almost 90% of the projects that were given through direct negotiations have not been implemented as no acceptance letters were issued,” the source said.

“Thus, MACC will focus on investigating the remaining 10% of ongoing projects. These projects are currently at only 10% to 20% of work completed.”

On Dec 15 last year, MACC raided eight government agencies and nine companies as part of its investigation into the alleged misappropriation of RM92.5 billion by the PN-led government.

A source close to the matter said the eight government agencies received a “huge allocation” from the stimulus packages approved by the government in 2020 and 2021…. The nine companies are believed to be “major suppliers” of the eight agencies.

Our comment

The Nazi theory that if you are going to lie make it a Big Lie seems to have its equivalent in UMNO/PN’s approach to stealing. When setting about abusing office to enrich themselves these political miscreants appear to have done it on an ever-increasing, jaw-dropping scale.

The practice appears not to have been deterred by the arrest and exposure of Najib Razak and so many of his political cronies. To the contrary, when Najib’s former deputy finally got his hands on the top job all the evidence indicates that new scales of larceny got underway under cover of the ‘Emergency’ and ‘Covid Stimulus Package’.

Meanwhile, previously arrested players such as Musa Aman saw their charges dropped – this being the lesson the new kings in the castle preferred to apparently absorb as Najib steadily progressed towards jail.

Based on the above information allegedly sourced from the MACC up to RM4.5 billion in ‘commissions’ had already been extracted on behalf of ‘a political party’ from the RM92.5 billion in un-tendered stimulus projects handed out under the PN led government.

That is considerably more than what Najib spent from his own 2013 billion dollar war chest which he had set up at AmBank using money stolen from 1MDB.

We will leave the MACC to continue their investigations under the present government. However, like so many Big Lies, those behind this apparent heist ought really to have learnt the lesson that Big Steals do tend to get found out in the end …. and punished.

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