NINE QUESTIONS FOR SARAWAK REPORT: CURRENT / #ICYMI: CLARE ADMITS TO CONSPIRACY RING, DEFRAUDING JUSTO

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SARAWAK REPORT CONFIRMS JUSTO UPSET WITH TONG FOR NON-PAYMENT BUT WANTED TO HELP EXPOSE NAJIB, 1MDB CORRUPTION

(MALAYSIAKINI) July 25, 2015–

Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of whistleblower website Sarawak Report today said she was not involved in attempts by media tycoon Tong Kooi Ong to mislead former PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) executive Xavier Andre Justo regarding financial payment for information.

Contacted by Malaysiakini, she said Tong had indicated to Justo that he would be paid.

"But when it emerged they were not paying Justo, I had to deal with a lot of upset from him (Justo). I did not want to have anything to do with it but offered to try and mediate.

"It did not come to anything," she said.

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[RELATED: BREAKING / BUSINESSMAN AT CENTER OF MAJOR MALAYSIAN CORRUPTION SCANDAL IS JAILED IN THAILAND – “I did pursue [Justo] doggedly to get the material. In the end he surrendered it for free." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - The Telegraph, August 17, 2015]

[RELATED: CURRENT / JUSTO AND THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP – "Yes, we misled [Justo]. But that was the only way to get hold of the evidence to expose how a small group of Malaysians and foreigners cheated the people of Malaysia of US$1.83 billion (S$2.5 billion)." - Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat - The Straits Times, July 24, 2015]

[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES -"11– Obtaining services dishonestly. (2) A person obtains services in breach of this subsection if– (a) they are made available on the basis that the payment has been, is being, or will be made for or in respect of them, (b) he obtains them without any payment having been made for or in respect of them or without payment having been made in full, and (c) when he obtains them, he knows– (i) that they are being made available on the basis described in paragraph (a), or (ii) that they might be, but intends that payment will not be made, or will not be made in full." - UK FRAUD ACT 2006, August 16, 2015]

[RELATED: EPISODES / DRAMATIS PERSONÆ–WHO'S WHO OF CLARE BROWN –"I further request that Mr Justo is given all the protection due to a whistleblower in this situation and that proper steps are taken to investigate a grave financial fraud in which PetroSaudi International has played a major role." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Sarawak Report, July 24, 2015]

[RELATED: BREAKING / JUSTO TO APPEAL 3-YEAR SENTENCE – "I am not a whistle-blower. I want people to know the real story, not just anything and everything written about me." - Xavier Justo - The Straits Times, September 3, 2015]

[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES - "2– Fraud by false representation; (2) A representation is false if— (b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading." - UK FRAUD ACT 2006, August 16, 2015]

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Tong, who owns The Edge Media Group, had admitted to "misleading" Justo in order to secure documents which would expose alleged shady deals involving 1MDB.

The company's printing permit for two publications - The Edge Financial Daily and The Edge Weekly - has been suspended for three months by the Home Ministry today.

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'Justo wanted to right wrongs'

Recounting her conversations with Justo, Rewcastle-Brown said the Swiss national had often expressed that what mattered was doing the right thing for Malaysians.

"But that had cost him a lot and he felt these costs should have been covered. He is a nice man and was genuinely outraged at the greed and scale of theft in the 1MDB-PetroSaudi International deal.

"I don't doubt that," she said.

"We talked about his feelings and his desire to do the right thing by Malaysia often. There was never any talk but of getting out the truth.

"But PSI and 1MDB folk have preferred to go on the run rather than try and argue against what we have said," she added.

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[RELATED: BREAKING / JUSTO TO APPEAL 3-YEAR SENTENCE – "I am not a whistle-blower. I want people to know the real story, not just anything and everything written about me." - Xavier Justo - The Straits Times, September 3, 2015]

[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES – "1A-Conspiracy to commit offences outside the United Kingdom. (1) Where each of the following conditions is satisfied in the case of an agreement, this Part of this Act has effect in relation to the agreement as it has effect in relation to an agreement falling within section 1(1) above. (2) The first condition is that the pursuit of the agreed course of conduct would at some stage involve— (a) an act by one or more of the parties, or (b) the happening of some other event, intended to take place in a country or territory outside the United Kingdom. (3) The second condition is that that act or other event constitutes an offence under the law in force in that country or territory. (4) The third condition is that the agreement would fall within section 1(1) above as an agreement relating to the commission of an offence but for the fact that the offence would not be an offence triable in England and Wales if committed in accordance with the parties’ intentions. (5) The fourth condition is that— (a) a party to the agreement, or a party’s agent, did anything in England and Wales in relation to the agreement before its formation, or (b) a party to the agreement became a party in England and Wales (by joining it either in person or through an agent), or (c) a party to the agreement, or a party’s agent, did or omitted anything in England and Wales in pursuance of the agreement. (6) In the application of this Part of this Act to an agreement in the case of which each of the above conditions is satisfied, a reference to an offence is to be read as a reference to what would be the offence in question but for the fact that it is not an offence triable in England and Wales. (7) Conduct punishable under the law in force in any country or territory is an offence under that law for the purposes of this section, however it is described in that law." - UK CRIMINAL LAW ACT 1977, August 11, 2015]

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'Docs were dynamite'

In early March, Sarawak Report ran a series of reports which claimed there were irregularities in the joint-venture between 1MDB and PSI inked in 2009. The JV lasted only six months.

1MDB invested US$1 billion into the project, but leaked documents, exposed by Sarawak Report, indicated that US$700 million was channeled into a company known as Good Star Ltd, owned by Jho Low, a known associate of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

A report by The Star lent credence to Sarawak Report's claims.

According to the July 11 report, 1MDB chairperson Mohd Bakke Salleh and director Azlan Mohd Zainol had quit in protest because US$700 million was diverted.

Rewcastle-Brown still stood by Sarawak Report's articles on this matter and pointed out that London's Sunday Times, which also reported* on the same matter, had believed it too.

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[RELATED: BREAKING / REWCASTLE'S SUSPECTED ACCOMPLICE QUESTIONED BY POLICE – "I answered that I knew Clare, having met her once in London but I do not know Justo and neither have I met him. Questions like what was discussed (in the meeting with her), I said I would only answer these questions if the case was brought to court. I had not received any of the information from Justo except from what I read from Sarawak Report." - Tony Pua - Free Malaysia Today, September 4, 2015]

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"There was no question of tampering these documents. They were dynamite. I could see that and so could the Sunday Times," she said.

*[Rewcastle Brown failed to declare that she also co-wrote the Sunday Times article in reference.]

('Sarawak Report confirms Justo UPSET with Tong for non-payment but wanted to help expose Najib, 1MDB corruption.' - Malaysia Chronicle, July 25, 2015)

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2.
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RELATED: HARROW PLAYBOY LINKED TO TROUBLED MALAYSIAN FUND
REPORTED BY THE SUNDAY TIMES

IN THE summer of 2009, a Malaysian nicknamed “the Whale” appeared on the New York nightclub scene. He would travel with a large entourage in a fleet of Cadillacs and his party would spend tens of thousands of dollars a night in the company of socialites such as Paris Hilton.

“The Whale” is said to have celebrated his 28th birthday with a four-day event in Las Vegas that included a party at a pool surrounded by caged lions and tigers. Manhattan was abuzz with questions over his identity and the source of his wealth.

It emerged that the “mystery man” of the nightclubs was the Malaysian tycoon Taek Jho Low, who had been educated at Harrow School and the Wharton School in Pennsylvania. He claimed his success was due to being in the "right place at the right time".

- Jon Ungoed-Thomas, Clare Rewcastle and Josh Boswell

[Continues on The Sunday Times]

('Harrow playboy linked to troubled Malaysian fund.' - The Sunday Times, March 1, 2015)

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RELATED: THAI COPS: JUSTO 'MET CLARE THREE TIMES'
REPORTED BY FREE MALAYSIA TODAY

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18, 2015–

Thai police said three meetings were held between former PetroSaudi executive Xavier Justo and a woman believed to be Clare Rewcastle Brown of Sarawak Report on leaked information from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, according to media reports.

The Nation newspaper in Bangkok said today that Justo, a Swiss national under arrest here on blackmail charges, had met the woman for negotiations on the purchase of information and data.

The police did not identify Rewcastle-Brown and Sarawak Report by name.

The newspaper said Thai police spokesman Lt-Gen Prawut Thavornsiri had told The Straits Times in Singapore that Justo had met “a Malaysian-born female news blogger who had moved to Britain”.

Prawut said Justo met the woman three times in Thailand, and also in Singapore, for “negotiation”, the report said.

Asked if the woman’s blog was the Sarawak Report website, he said: “Maybe. I didn’t name it, you named it. The website tampered with the data to discredit the [Malaysian] PM.”

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[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE'S CONTRADICTIONS–THE FORKING OF THE TONGUE –"I believe in balance and objectivity. But if you can't have that, I believe you have to be honest about it. Yes, we are associated with the opposition." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Foreign Policy, March 13, 2013]

[RELATED: BREAKING / SWISS NATIONAL GIVEN 3-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR 1MDB-LINKED BLACKMAIL – "A report published last month in Singaporean daily the Straits Times claimed that Justo had affirmed that the businessman and Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of the Sarawak report, wanted to use the data to “bring down the Malaysian government.” He also said that his interlocutors had evoked the possibility of “modifying the documents”, which Rewcastle-Brown has denied. The country’s anti-corruption agency later said the $700 million was donations, effectively clearing Razak of wrongdoing." – FultonCounty.COM, August 17, 2015]

[CURRENT / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL NEWSASIA REGARDING THE WARRANT FOR HER ARREST – "The Prime Minister has now finally had it announced through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that that was not anything to do with 1MDB money, which actually certainly I and I don’t know of any investigative reporters who said it was." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Channel NewsAsia, August 5, 2015]

[RELATED: SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK’S PERSONAL ACCOUNTS LINKED TO 1MDB MONEY TRAIL - MALAYSIA EXCLUSIVE - Sarawak Report, July 2, 2015]

[RELATED: CURRENT / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL NEWSASIA REGARDING THE WARRANT FOR HER ARREST – "[PM Najib Razak] is saying that was just a donation, an anonymous donation and really Malaysians are asking: "Who donated and where did the money go?." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Channel NewsAsia, August 5, 2015]

[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE'S CONTRADICTIONS – THE FORKING OF THE TONGUE – "Clare told 16×9 she has received no money from Malaysian politicians and that her donors are 'all non-politically motivated Europeans'." - Global News Canada, December 2, 2011]

[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE'S CONTRADICTIONS – THE FORKING OF THE TONGUE – "The funding for her radio, she says, comes primarily from a single “European philanthropist” who wishes to remain anonymous; listeners also send donations through the website." - Foreign Policy, March 13, 2013]

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However, his description fits that of Sarawak-born Rewcastle Brown, who runs the Sarawak Report news blog that has reported extensively on 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s controversial and dubious financial transactions and investments. PetroSaudi was a partner in a joint venture that was later aborted.

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[CURRENT / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL NEWSASIA REGARDING THE WARRANT FOR HER ARREST – "The Prime Minister has now finally had it announced through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that that was not anything to do with 1MDB money, which actually certainly I and I don’t know of any investigative reporters who said it was." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Channel NewsAsia, August 5, 2015]

[RELATED: SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK’S PERSONAL ACCOUNTS LINKED TO 1MDB MONEY TRAIL - MALAYSIA EXCLUSIVE - Sarawak Report, July 2, 2015]

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1MDB, a government-owned strategic investment company, is reported to have debts of RM42 billion. Last week, the Wall Street Journal and Sarawak Report reported on a trail of financial transactions that ended in deposits of US$900 million (about RM2.8 billion) in bank accounts under the name of Najib Razak, the prime minister.

The Nation said Prawut had based his information on Justo’s confession, who he said had admitted to everything and surrendered a document, even records from his phone. It is believed to include a full transcript of all the WhatsApp chats he had with a group of 10 Malaysians who he had during negotiations and discussions on how he would be paid.

Justo had worked for PetroSaudi from 2010 to 2011 and the chief executive officer was said to be Justo’s close friend. Justo walked out and the company paid him about 4 million Swiss francs (Bt140 million).

Prawut said Justo called the CEO after two years and asked for more money. Before he left, he had copied every e-mail of the company from the server. “It was in 2013 that he called the company and said I know all your secrets and I want US$2.5million. When the firm turned down his demand, Justo approached the other group,” Prawut said.

“This case should be reported in Singapore because the money-laundering to attack the PM started in Singapore,” Prawut said. “If the Singapore police ask me for evidence [through] the foreign affairs protocol, I can send it,” he was quoted as saying.