Kuwaitis May Be Red-faced By Malaysia's File

After several Malaysians launched a campaign to collect signatures on the “Change” website to recover the funds they claim were looted by Kuwaiti officials and are still frozen in bank accounts inside Kuwait worth USD 6.7 billion, the file of "The Malaysian Sovereign Fund" took an increasingly dangerous turn that threatens the country, its reputation and its international standing.

The campaign had received about 26,000 signatures by Tuesday last week. It also published the names of 17 Kuwaiti personalities who are familiar with the fund's case and were not questioned by the country's authorities. It was the signatories to the campaign who called on various decision-makers including the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha), the Public Prosecution, and the US Department of Justice to return the Malaysian money. Despite the world's largest corruption problem, Nazaha and the Public Prosecution remained silent. A table containing the value and date of the money transfers claimed to be returned was included in the signed petition.

On September 20, 2016, transfers of $ 70 million were made to the account of the company Comoros Golf, owned by Bashar Kiwan. Also on August 28, 2017, one billion dollars was transferred to Al-Sabah International General Trading Company in eight installments in one day. A $5 billion transfer was also made to Montrian International in 2016 and 2018. As part of its demands from Kuwaiti authorities, the campaign threatened to pressure Malaysian parliamentarians to transfer the case to the International Court of Justice, in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Cross-Border Organized Crime, signed by Kuwait and Malaysia. Kuwait submitted 12 demands in the petition, including details of transfers received by the Chinese Bank branch, the parties receiving these transfers, as well as the names of the officials and shareholders in those entities. Additionally, the Kuwaiti authorities kept the names of all persons involved in the sovereign fund case confidential, attached to the investigation reports of the Kuwaiti authorities on this case.

On April 19, 2016, the petition sought the minutes of the full meeting between the former Kuwaiti Prime Minister and "Jo Low" - the fugitive accused, as well as all reports relating to the purchase of land by a Malaysian company in Kuala Lumpur as well as a list of blocked or frozen accounts and a written permit to meet the whistleblowers, Colonel Faisal Al-Sabah and Colonel Nasir Al-Tayyar.

Comments Post Comment

Leave a Comment

Submit