Road trip about DoJ actions on 1MDB funds to start in July

‘Sayangkan Malaysia Hapuskan Kleptokrasi’ campaign will be launched by the opposition on July 6 in Kepala Batas, with a protest rally planned at the end of the two-month road trip.

(FMT) – Opposition parties are organising a two-month road trip across the country to ensure the claims made in the United States Department of Justice’s (DoJ) civil lawsuits related to 1MDB are made known to the people.

The campaign, which the opposition has dubbed “Sayangkan Malaysia Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” (Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy), starts on July 6 in Kepala Batas, Penang, and will end with a protest rally in September.

However, the press conference today organised by opposition leaders and led by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, did not reveal any further information as to the dates and venues for the road trip, nor for the protest rally.

Other opposition leaders present included DAP’s Teresa Kok, Gobind Singh Deo and Tony Pua; Amanah’s Khalid Samad and PSM’s Michael Jeyakumar.

In its court filing in California on June 5, the DoJ sought to seize US$540 million (RM2.3 billion) in assets, including art works, jewellery, a luxury yacht and film rights purchased with funds allegedly embezzled from 1MDB.

The assets named in the applications included the film rights to the two comedies “Dumb and Dumber To” starring Jim Carrey and “Daddy’s Home” featuring Will Ferrell.

The action follows last July’s civil forfeiture suit by the DoJ which sought to recover all the assets including but not limited to the Park Lane Hotel in New York, a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills, condominiums in New York, a private jet and expensive works of art, as well as finances related to Martin Scorsese’s movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Wan Azizah added that opposition parties will form a 1MDB action committee to ensure there is a single source to inform the public on what the DoJ action entails.

Meanwhile, the Permatang Pauh MP called for Prime Minister Najib Razak to hold an emergency session of the Dewan Rakyat to provide an in-depth explanation over the DoJ’s allegations and the links to 1MDB.

“We will be making a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). We will also be requesting that an investigation be re-opened by Bank Negara Malaysia,” Wan Azizah said.

She highlighted that these steps were agreed upon by Pakatan Harapan, as well as Parti Warisan Sabah and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM). However, she said, PAS did not respond to overtures made to join the action committee.