AS THE DAYS WEAR ON, MORE REVELATIONS SURROUNDING THE WHATSAPP EXCHANGES BETWEEN BROWN & CO. AND THE SWORN CONFESSION OF XAVIER ANDRE JUSTO SURFACE
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REWCASTLE-BROWN AND ALLEGED CO-CONSPIRATORS ASKED TO DENY PARTICIPATION IN WHATSAPP GROUP 'MEET'
REPORTED BY THE NEW STRAITS TIMES
Those implicated in an alleged conspiracy to topple Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration have been challenged to deny that they had any part or were involved in the WhatsApp group "Meet".
"Meet" was so named to signify a meeting the key personalities had in Singapore in February, and is part of the evidence Thai authorities had been looking into in its investigations into Xavier Andre Justo's blackmail of his former employer PetroSaudi International Ltd. It is a three-month long thread between Justo, Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who was acting as his broker, as well as The Edge Media Group's top guns, Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat.
Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament and Public Accounts Comittee member Tony Pua, while not a part of "Meet", was widely mentioned, especially by Rewcastle-Brown and Justo.
Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said, it was just a matter of time before the evidence detailing any individual's involvement in the alleged conspiracy or any criminal acts came out in the open.
"There have been denials ... selective parts, I noticed.
"Let the whole truth come out now so we can compare them when everything comes out," he said, adding that although what had been published in recent days were attributed to Thai authorities' investigations, they matched what Thai police had suggested in the past.
"Meet" was allegedly set up by Ho on March 19, to discuss alleged money laundering, for the sale of data stolen from PetroSaudi by Justo which Ho and Tong took possession of in Singapore on February 15.
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Xavier Andre Justo in his confession to Thai authorities said this invoice signed by The Edge Media Group owner Datuk Tong Kooi Ong was for the US$2mil purchase of the stolen data. The IT software and source codes written in this document as items being traded, were "allegedly" to cover their tracks. – NST Photo
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The New Straits Times for three days, from September 7, front-paged reports of the alleged plot and scheme to launder money by those said to be in the WhatsApp group.
Immediately after the reports were published, Tong and Ho issued a statement to deny that they were involved in a political conspiracy to topple Najib.
Both said they were neither involved in any political conspiracy, nor did they have any political agenda when they published articles on the problems at 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), and that they have never linked Najib or the government to the problems at 1MDB.
Rewcastle-Brown who had, in investigation documents, appeared to have planned in detail how Justo was going to get his US$2 million from Tong, had said that what she did was not a crime.
Their discussion was through a separate WhatsApp thread where she and Justo were slagging off Ho and Tong. They also spoke about bringing Pua into the picture to help seal the deal.
She had also said that she would toast Najib's departure.
Meanwhile, a source who had been privy to the document from the Thai investigations, pointed out to the NST that while Tong and Ho had admitted to lying to the Swiss national about paying him for the stolen data, the alleged plan to launder money only came to an abrupt halt when Justo was arrested by Thai police on June 22.
Thai authorities initiated the probe against Justo following PetroSaudi's report on the stolen data and that their former employee was using it to blackmail them.
"In mid June, they were allegedly still discussing how the money for the sale of the stolen property was to be "cleansed" and channelled.
"According to Justo's confession, he passed the stolen data to Tong and Ho when they met at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore in early February.
“So, I would expect someone with no intention of paying to just go quiet on Justo. After all, you would be stealing from a thief ... But of course, there were threats made by Justo to expose those in on it, if he didn't get the money," he said, adding that investigators should also check for a possible money-laundering trail following the agreed deal.
Justo, in his confession, had allegedly said Rewcastle-Brown had told him in early June that Tong had agreed to pay him via her accounts.
She would then pass him US$300,000 first which would be disguised as a payment to him for helping her revamp her Free Sarawak Radio.
"I was arrested a couple of weeks later before receiving the payment. I don't know whether Tong made the payment to Clare ... before I was arrested, but I haven’t been paid," he was quoted as saying in his confession.
The Singapore Straits Times had on July 24, first blew the lid on their involvement, without naming them. But Tong and Ho issued a statement to admit they were among those mentioned as having met Justo in Singapore to negotiate the sale of the stolen property.
Thai police had, in mid July, said the case should also be reported to Singaporean authorities because the money-laundering to attack the PM started in Singapore.
“If Singapore police asks me for evidence [through] the foreign affairs protocol, I can send it,” Thai police spokesman Lt-Gen Prawut Thavornsir said.
- NST Team
('Rewcastle-Brown and alleged co-conspirators asked to deny participation in WhatsApp group "Meet".' - The New Straits Times, September 15, 2015)
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2.
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RELATED: IS REWCASTLE-BROWN CREDIBLE?
REPORTED BY THE NEW STRAITS TIMES
KUALA LUMPUR, September 13, 2015–
CRIMINAL experts warn that Clare Rewcastle-Brown’s willingness to break international laws in the pursuit of her ultimate aim — the toppling of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s government — brings into question her objectivity.
As such, they caution that anything published by Rewcastle-Brown may be prejudiced and distorted by her personal agenda.
Documents traced to Thai authorities investigating former PetroSaudi International employee Xavier Andre Justo had quoted Rewcastle-Brown as saying that she wanted to see Najib destroyed.
In his written confession, Justo had said Rewcastle-Brown had told him that she was “experienced in dealing with stolen data without anyone finding out”.
“Justo had accused her of various wrongdoings, including engaging in illegal and criminal activities.
“As such, the world cannot be faulted for calling into question her credibility when she speaks,” said criminal lawyer Datuk Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos.
Jahaberdeen said the Sarawak-born Briton, who is wanted by police under Section 124B of the Penal Code for “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, could also be charged under Section 411 and 414 of the Penal Code for dealing with stolen property.
Thai authorities initiated the probe against Justo following PetroSaudi’s report that it was being blackmailed by its former executive, who quit in 2011, for US$2.5 million. It was reported that the 49-year-old Geneva native had met a representative of PetroSaudi at a Bangkok hotel where he made his demands. The company brought this to the attention of the police. Justo was arrested in June in Koh Samui where he was living at the time.
The company had, on March 1, also lodged a report with the City of London Police Action Fraud Unit at the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre in connection with allegations made by Sarawak Report on the firm’s relationship with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Malaysia’s strategic development company.
Rewcastle-Brown, the founder of Sarawak Report, is also being investigated under Section 124I of the same law for having allegedly disseminated false reports. If guilty, she could be jailed for up to five years.
Experts say while she could be looking at being slapped with multiple charges in Malaysia, she could be looking at other charges in the United Kingdom and Singapore. Rewcastle-Brown, through her Sarawak Report and association with opposition leaders, had been vociferous and relentless in levelling allegations against Najib and his administration.
Jahaberdeen said if Rewcastle-Brown, who operates from the UK, had indeed breached the two sections, she would have committed an offence with dual criminality (offences that are also a crime in the host country). If that were the case, extraditing her would be easy.
Section 411 punishes “whoever dishonestly receives or retains any stolen property, knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen property” with a jail term which may extend to five years or with fine, or both. The other deals with those “assisting in concealment, disposing of, or making away with property, which he knows or has reason to believe to be stolen property”. They can be imprisoned for up to seven years or with fine, or both.
These sections of the law, Jahaberdeen said, should cover alleged offences committed by The Edge Media Group chairman Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and chief executive officer Ho Kay Tat who had, on July 24, admitted that they were in possession of the stolen data. The two believe that they had done nothing wrong and said they had misled Justo by promising US$2 million in exchange for the data he had secretly downloaded from his workplace.
“If the data Justo had was stolen and if Clare and The Edge had it in their possession, these laws apply. The bottom line is simple, if the data was stolen, those in possession of it, what more using it, would have committed a crime,” the senior lawyer said, adding that authorities could also look at Section 414 of the code in probing Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua.
On Tuesday, Pua admitted that he had introduced Rewcastle-Brown, who is spearheading a smear campaign against Najib, to Tong and Ho. This admission came only after the NST published evidence from the Thai authorities’ investigations into Justo’s case, in which Pua’s name was mentioned a number of times. He had, before that, never mentioned anything about being the go-between connecting Rewcastle-Brown and the Edge.
While Pua was quick to qualify that he was not privy to what was in the drive that was being traded for US$2 million, he refused to commit when the NST asked him on WhatsApp if it made sense for a person, acting as the go-between for a supposedly valuable commodity with that kind of price tag, to not want to know what was being put up for sale, its authenticity or even where it came from.
“This gives the police a strong basis to establish if Pua had knowingly dealt with something that had been established as stolen.”
According to Thai investigation documents, Rewcastle-Brown, who was allegedly acting as Justo’s broker in selling the stolen data, had contacted him in February to say that she, together with Pua, had arranged for the sale of the stolen data to Tong.
The NST confirmed with the police, who had called him in for questioning on September 4, that Pua had withheld this piece of information from them. Following the report, Bukit Aman said an investigation paper against the DAP lawmaker would be opened under Section 120 of the Penal Code for alleged attempts to topple the government.
If guilty of “concealing a design to commit an offence punishable with imprisonment”, Pua could be punished with a prison term which may extend to one-fourth, and if the offence is not committed, to one-eighth of the longest term provided for the offence or with such fine as is provided for the offence, or with both.
(Section 120 finds guilty, whoever intends to facilitate, or knows it to be likely that he will thereby facilitate, the commission of an offence punishable with imprisonment, or voluntarily conceals by any act or illegal omission, the existence of a design to commit such offence, or makes any representation which he knows to be false, respecting such design).
Among the evidence that have emerged from the Thai investigators include a conversation between Rewcastle-Brown and Justo where Pua had seemingly been touted as the man who could move things, as well as a three-month-long WhatsApp conversation involving Rewcastle-Brown, Justo, Tong and Ho, where heated talks of money-laundering and plotting took place, until just before Justo was arrested in June. While all of them have come out to defend themselves, none have denied being engaged in the WhatsApp group named “Meet”.
A criminologist, meanwhile, said police should reapply for Rewcastle-Brown to be extradited following the emergence of evidence that she had broken Malaysia’s laws, which is also a crime in the state where the process would be requested, the UK.
Brian Lord, managing director of Protection Group International (PGI), a cyber security firm PetroSaudi hired to investigate and look into Sarawak Report articles, had, in July, told the Malay Mail that the blog had a “subtract of some email chain and some documentation”.
Lord, who has more than 20 years of experience in cyber security, explained that the inconsistency between the original contents of the report with the one that was published denoted circumstantial inaccuracy and unreliability of the information.
“It is a combination of all those three things; inconsistency between the original and published reports, substitutable communication and the whole private information claim into Sarawak Report… I can firmly say the information is unreliable and, therefore, it is unfair for anybody to draw judgments on it,” he was quoted as saying.
('Is Rewcastle-Brown Credible?' - The New Straits Times, September 13, 2015)
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The NINE QUESTIONS Blog will return with more facts.
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