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Extracted from
Malaysiakini
RM32 mil
kickbacks for
Apr
6,
Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has been implicated in a
scandal allegedly involving RM32 million in kickbacks paid by Japanese shipping
companies for timber from the resource-rich state.
According to Japan Times,
the multi-million ringgit ‘bribe’ - made over a period of seven years - was
paid to a
The money came from a Japanese cartel consisting of nine companies which buy
timber from
They pay a Hong Kong-based company, Regent Star, 1.1 billion yen (RM32 million)
for services rendered in this transaction. This was disguised as business
expenses, and was therefore not taxed.
However, the Japanese tax authorities have discovered that the payments were
“illegitimate expenses” as the
The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau has instead classified the payment as a
"rebate", which is taxable.
The newspaper reported that the shipping firms were likely to be slapped with
well over 400 million yen (RM11.6 million) in back taxes along with heavy
penalties for “hiding” the funds from the tax authorities.
The companies are suspected of having made payments to the
Money
used as ‘lubricant’
According to Japan Times in
its report last Thursday, the shipping companies were
believed to have used the money as a “lubricant to facilitate their lumber
trade”.
The shipping
firms, which have rejected the tax authorities' claim and argued that the
transactions with Regent Star were legitimate, have denied any wrongdoing.
The Japanese cartel was established in 1962 to avoid stiff competition among
the shipping companies in the import of lumber from
Among the companies implicated in the alleged tax evasion scandal are top
shippers Mitsui OSK. Kinkai Ltd and NYK-Hinode Line.
The cartel signed an agreement in 1981 with Dewaniaga Sarawak for the export of
timber to
'Mediating
charges'
The shipping companies have to pay 'mediating charges', whose sums were tied to
the amounts of lumber exported, to Regent Star as instructed by Dewaniaga.
The shipping firms posted the payments to Regent Star as expenses for transport
operations.
The Japanese tax authorities, however, have concluded that the
Taib, who is the country’s longest-serving chief minister, is believed to be
one of
His family has wide-ranging business interests in
This is
mainly through public-listed conglomerate Cahaya Mata Sarawak - with interests
in banking, financial services and construction - and many of its subsidiaries,
which Taib’s wife, Laila, has a substantial stake.
It has been estimated that Taib's family is worth at least RM2 billion, though
this is not officially confirmed.
Pak
Lah, explain in Parliament
In an immediate response, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said that he had sent
a letter today to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi regarding the matter.
“In my letter, I reminded Abdullah of his pledge when he became
prime minister ... to make anti-corruption his top agenda, (and) his
proclamation of ‘zero tolerance for corruption’.”
Lim urged Abdullah to come personally to Parliament next Monday to respond to
the many serious allegations of high-profile corruption in his government.
Malaysiakini has last week
reported that another chief minister,
These recent scandals came in the wake of explosive allegations of corruption
involving Anti-Corruption Agency chief Zulkipli Mat Noor, who has since step
down, and Abdullah’s deputy in the Internal Security Minister, Mohd Johari
Baharum.
Both individuals, who have denied the allegations, are currently under
investigations.