Vanessa On The Road

BRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL / SWITZERLAND

21st April 2012 for immediate release

UBS faces money-laundering allegations in Malaysian timber scandal

New international timber corruption scandal emerges as Malaysian foreign minister’s brother is accused of laundering millions of dollars through UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong and Switzerland

(ZURICH, SWITZERLAND) UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, is facing serious money-laundering allegations following the disclosure of a series of documents linking Malaysian top politicians to secret UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong and Zurich.

According to Malaysian media reports, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) have been tracing the flow of over 90 million US dollars through UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong, which are alleged to be kickbacks for the illegal logging of tropical hardwoods in the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo.

Bank statements and other documents published by the whistleblower website, Sarawak Report, indicate that several million dollars’ worth of illicit funds have been paid into UBS accounts handled by nominees of Musa Aman (“Musa”), who is the Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah and the brother of Malaysian foreign minister, Anifah Aman. The funds are alleged to be kickbacks from Malaysian timber operators paid to Musa, in return for being allowed to exploit tropical hardwood logging concessions in the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo. The Borneo rainforest is one of the most biodiverse habitats on Earth and is strongly endangered by destructive logging and politically-backed clear-cutting.

In 2008, the Hong Kong authorities arrested one of Musa’s nominees, Malaysian national Chia Tien Foh, while trying to smuggle 16 million Singapore dollars in cash to Malaysia. The subsequent investigation involved the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission but came to a dead end due to interference by the Malaysian Attorney-General, who is a close relative of the Aman family. Musa Aman was also found to be the holder of a UBS bank account in Zurich, Switzerland, that was linked to the Hong Kong transactions.

Prior to this latest disclosure, UBS was in the limelight over dodgy deals with Taib Mahmud, the notoriously corrupt Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. In 2004, the bank ran a 350-million-US-dollar loan for the Taib government in Labuan, a Malaysian offshore finance centre. Taib Mahmud is currently under investigation by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission.

The Bruno Manser Fund condemns UBS for its failure to implement sufficient safeguards against illegal deposits of politically exposed persons from Malaysia and for its complicity in laundering corruption payments linked to illegal logging of the Borneo rainforest.

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For more information, please contact us:

Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel, Switzerland

www.bmf.ch, www.stop-timber-corruption.org

Tel. +41 61 261 94 74

Sources used for this release:

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/04/hold-on-trust-for-aman-more-devastating-evidence-from-the-icac-investigation

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/04/malaysian-foreign-minister-named-in-macc-investigation-into-sabah-timber-corruption-national-expose

www.asiasentinel.comBRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL / SWITZERLAND

21st April 2012 for immediate release

UBS faces money-laundering allegations in Malaysian timber scandal

New international timber corruption scandal emerges as Malaysian foreign minister’s brother is accused of laundering millions of dollars through UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong and Switzerland

(ZURICH, SWITZERLAND) UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, is facing serious money-laundering allegations following the disclosure of a series of documents linking Malaysian top politicians to secret UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong and Zurich.

According to Malaysian media reports, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) have been tracing the flow of over 90 million US dollars through UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong, which are alleged to be kickbacks for the illegal logging of tropical hardwoods in the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo.

Bank statements and other documents published by the whistleblower website, Sarawak Report, indicate that several million dollars’ worth of illicit funds have been paid into UBS accounts handled by nominees of Musa Aman (“Musa”), who is the Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah and the brother of Malaysian foreign minister, Anifah Aman. The funds are alleged to be kickbacks from Malaysian timber operators paid to Musa, in return for being allowed to exploit tropical hardwood logging concessions in the Malaysian state of Sabah in Borneo. The Borneo rainforest is one of the most biodiverse habitats on Earth and is strongly endangered by destructive logging and politically-backed clear-cutting.

In 2008, the Hong Kong authorities arrested one of Musa’s nominees, Malaysian national Chia Tien Foh, while trying to smuggle 16 million Singapore dollars in cash to Malaysia. The subsequent investigation involved the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission but came to a dead end due to interference by the Malaysian Attorney-General, who is a close relative of the Aman family. Musa Aman was also found to be the holder of a UBS bank account in Zurich, Switzerland, that was linked to the Hong Kong transactions.

Prior to this latest disclosure, UBS was in the limelight over dodgy deals with Taib Mahmud, the notoriously corrupt Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. In 2004, the bank ran a 350-million-US-dollar loan for the Taib government in Labuan, a Malaysian offshore finance centre. Taib Mahmud is currently under investigation by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission.

The Bruno Manser Fund condemns UBS for its failure to implement sufficient safeguards against illegal deposits of politically exposed persons from Malaysia and for its complicity in laundering corruption payments linked to illegal logging of the Borneo rainforest.

– Ends –

For more information, please contact us:

Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-timber-corruption.org
Tel. +41 61 261 94 74

Sources used for this release:

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/04/hold-on-trust-for-aman-more-devastating-evidence-from-the-icac-investigation

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/04/malaysian-foreign-minister-named-in-macc-investigation-into-sabah-timber-corruption-national-expose

www.asiasentinel.com

BRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL, SWITZERLAND

20th April 2012 – for immediate release
Penan ask Norwegian manager to respect their rights

Six Penan communities have written letters to Torstein Dale Sjotveit, the Norwegian CEO of Malaysian energy supplier, Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), demanding that an immediate halt be called to all the work being carried out on the Baram dam that is intended to flood their ancestral lands and villages

(SARAWAK, MALAYSIA) The six Penan communities of Long Lutin, Long Pakan, Long Lilim, Ba Abang, Long Kawi and Long Item have sent letters to Torstein Dale Sjotveit, CEO of Sarawak Energy (SEB), the Malaysian power supplier in charge of the implementation of Sarawak’s dam projects, demanding that a stop be put to all further work on the proposed Baram mega-dam. The people are against Torstein Dale Sjotveit’s plans for the dam, since the 1,200 MW Baram dam would flood their ancestral lands and villages, affecting a total of 20,000 natives and a rainforest area of over 400 km2.

“My husband, my children and my brothers and sisters, we will not survive if they build the Baram dam. It is better to kill us with a knife right away than to build the dam”, whispers an old woman at Long Lilim in despair. Another villager asks: “They tell us that the dam will bring development. But how can drowning us be development?”

Torstein Dale Sjotveit is going ahead with his dam projects despite these concerns. He seems to be prepared to violate international social and environmental standards: forcing such mega-projects through without the agreement of the affected communities runs counter to standards like the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Equator Principles, which Torstein Dale Sjotveit himself claims to comply with.

The Penan communities of Middle Baram have never been given any information about the plan to flood their lands and displace those living there, and have certainly never been consulted on the matter. If they had had the chance to participate, Torstein Dale Sjotveit would be aware of the fact that the Penan want genuine development and not dams, as the headman of Long Pakan states: “If they want to develop us, they should build a proper road for us, clinics and schools, this is what we want. We don’t want to be flooded.”

To hear the original demands being voiced in Baram, you can watch the following short clips:

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Sign the online petition against the disaster dams in Sarawak: www.stop-corruption-dams.org

Please consult us for further information:
Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, CH-4051 Basel / Switzerland
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-corruption-dams.org
Tel. +41 61 261 94 74. Follow us on twitter: @bmfonds

By Bruno Manser Fund:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear friends,

The Bruno Manser Fund’s “Stop Corruption Dams” campaign has achieved a major victory today as mining giant Rio Tinto PLC has announced it will scrap plans for a US$2 billion aluminium smelter project in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Rio Tinto decided to scrap the controversial smelter plans as negotiations with the Taib family-controlled Cahya Mata Sarawak and the Taib-controlled Sarawak Energy Bhd failed to bear results. Jacynthe Cote, chief executive of Rio Tinto Alcan’s aluminium division said “agreement on a long term competitive power supply contract couldn’t be reached” with the Taib family businesses.

Rio Tinto’s announcement is a major blow for the Sarawak state government under Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who consistently used the aluminium smelter to promote the recently completed 2’400 MW Bakun dam, Asia’s largest dam outside China. As a result, the Bakun dam will cause a massive power glut in Sarawak whose costs will have to be born by Sarawak consumers, tax payers and Malaysia’s pension fund EPF who funded the mega-project with massive loans. Plans to export Bakun’s excess power to West Malaysia had to be scrapped for economic reasons.

The Bruno Manser Fund welcomes Rio Tinto’s decision to abandon its Sarawak smelter plans as a major victory for the international campaign to preserve the natural environment and the livelihoods of Sarawak’s indigenous peoples.

Rio Tinto’s decision proves that the Taib government’s irresponsible economic policies have completely failed. There is no need to build another twelve dams in the state as envisaged by the Taib government. All these corruption-driven dam plans that would only benefit the Taib family’s construction companies must come tho a halt now.

This is the kind of development that you have to expect from a kleptocratic potentate who believes in witchcraft instead of sound economic analysis and blatantly abuses his public office in order to rob his people.

The Bruno Manser Fund is calling on the Sarawak government to immediately halt the ongoing construction works for the Murum dam and to shelve all further dam plans in Sarawak. We are also calling on the Malaysian federal government to explain how the Bakun dam should ever become profitable and how the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) loans to Bakun will be secured.

Your BMF team

Sources used for this release:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/03/27/cahya-mata-sarawak-rio-tinto-halt-plans-for-aluminum-smelter-in-malaysia/

http://www.4-traders.com/RIO-TINTO-PLC-9590196/news/Cahya-Mata-Sarawak-Rio-Tinto-Drop-Plans-for-Aluminum-Smelter-14240426/

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/333106

Please contact us for further information:

Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
Tel. +41 61 261 94 74
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-corruption-dams.org

Please make a donation today to stop Taib corruption in Sarawak:

http://stop-timber-corruption.org/donate

BRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL, SWITZERLAND

25thd February 2012 – for immediate release

Timber corruption: Malaysian trade minister caught red-handed

Jacob Dungau Sagan, Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, involved in secret deals with Belian, an endangered tropical hardwood species

(KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA) Jacob Dungau Sagan, Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry and Member of Parliament for Baram (Sarawak), has been caught red-handed in a timber corruption scandal that is likely to become a major embarrassment for the Malaysian government under Prime Minster Najib Razak

According to confidential documents published today by the whistleblower website, Sarawak Report, Jacob Dungau Sagan and his wife and daughter are the secret holders of three timber concessions in Sagan’s parliamentary constituency of Baram in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo. Sagan’s concessions, with an estimated worth of several million dollars, are specifically licensed to harvest Belian (Borneo ironwood), a particularly rare and sought-after South-East Asian tree species. Belian has been classified by IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, as a vulnerable species and is banned for export from Sarawak and from Indonesia.

Baram MP Jacob Dungau Sagan has recently come under fire for supporting the Barisan Nasional government’s controversial plans to construct a 1000 MW dam on the Baram river that would drown 26 villages in his constituency, including Jacob’s birthplace, Long Anap. It is estimated that the construction Baram dam would force the displacement of 20’000 indigenous people in Upper Baram but Malaysian officials are extremely secretive about the details of the dam plans. It is believed that the three Belian concessioins have been given to Jacob by Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud in order to buy his political support for the controversial Baram dam project.

The corruption scandal hits the Malaysian government at an inconvenient moment, with a General Election expected to come up within months. Jacob Sagan is already the second Malaysian minister involved in a corruption scandal. For weeks, cabinet minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who heads the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, has been in the headlines for mismanagement and the abuse of funds in Malaysia’s National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).

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Source used for this release:

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2012/02/bought-by-belian-barams-betrayal-by-bn-mp-major-exclusive

Sign the online petition against the planned dams in Sarawak: www.stop-corruption-dams.org

Please consult us for further information:

Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, CH-4051 Basel / Switzerland
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-corruption-dams.org
Tel. +41 61 261 94 74. Follow us on twitter: @bmfonds

BRUNO MANSER FUND, BASEL, SWITZERLAND

23rd February 2012 – for immediate release

Malaysian Minister accused of drowning his own constituency

Jacob Dungau Sagan, Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, under pressure over his support for government plans for the planned Baram dam

(LONG ANAP, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA) Jacob Dungau Sagan, Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry and Member of Parliament for Baram, is under increasing pressure over government plans to construct another mega dam in Sarawak’s Upper Baram region on Borneo. Villagers from his own birthplace, Long Anap, a Kenyah village situated on the banks of the Baram river, are accusing him of supporting government plans to drown his own constituency. “How can our own MP flood our ancestral lands, our grandparents’ graves, our schools and homes?”, a woman from Long Anap said. Another angry villager asked: “The government officials coming here usually promise that the dam will bring us development, but how can the destruction of our homes mean development?”

Jacob has always been a strong supporter of Sarawak’s corrupt long-term Chief Minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, and has now even endorsed the construction of the controversial Baram dam, which would displace close to 20’000 indigeneous people in his own constituency. The planned construction of the 1,000 MW Baram dam would set 26 Kenyah, Kayan and Penan villages under water and flood an estimated 412 km2 of farmlands and rainforests in Sarawak.

With resistance against the Baram dam plans growing among the indigenous population, it is increasingly unlikely people in Baram are willing to follow Jacob as their lemming leader. Several Long Anap villagers recently were unimpressed after seeing the Bakun dam impoundment and the resettlement site with their own eyes. “If they build the Baram dam, this will be the end of our lives”, a local commented. “It will create a human made Tsunami which will destroy everything: land, crop, churches, schools, graveyards… just everything.”

Last week, over 150 indigenous representatives gathered in Miri, Sarawak, and called on Malaysian authorities to stall their dam plans. In an attempt to challenge the government over public support for such endeavours, they asked for a referendum over all further dam plans in Sarawak after the copmpletion of the Bakun dam, Asia’s largest dam outside China.

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Sign the online petition against the planned dams in Sarawak: www.stop-corruption-dams.org

Please consult us for further information:
Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, CH-4051 Basel / Switzerland
www.bmf.ch, www.stop-corruption-dams.org
Tel. +41 61 261 94 74. Follow us on twitter: @bmfonds