Charlie Chaplin, the acknowledged king of slapstick comedy, would have felt right at home in contemporary India, where a new type of body language is proving to be a great hit, literally. From the realm of national politics to the glitzy world of Bollywood's show biz, slapping is becoming an increasingly popular form of non-verbal expression
Shamsubahrin Ismail, the businessman at the centre of National Feedlot Centre’s scandal who was arrested for allegedly trying to cheat its boss Mohamad Salleh, has claimed that Salleh instructed him to bribe police over a probe involving financial abuses of the company.
Shamsubahrin was earlier charged for allegedly cheating Salleh, the husband of Wanita UMNO head Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, of RM1.76 million in consultation fees.
In a police report, Shamsubahrin who was arrested for trying to cheat Salleh of RM1.76 million claimed that he had been made a scapegoat in the NFC scandal.
Revealing the contents of his police report, his lawyer N Surendran said Shamsubahrin was cheated by Salleh into believing that his appointment as a ‘corporate adviser and consultant’ for NFC on November 24 and November 28 last year was genuine.
“However, it was actually a false appointment and I was made a scapegoat in the NFCorp scandal,” he said, adding that he had proposed a blueprint to explain the business processes of NFCorp, and that Salleh had instructed him to deal with the police about the investigations on NFCorp.
“I was told to explain about the business process. However, I had received instruction and pressure to close the NFCorp case with the police... Mohamad Salleh had, by SMSes and phone, asked me to bribe the police,” he wrote.
Shamsubahrin further claimed that he was reluctant to “bribe” the police, telling Salleh that he would “try to help to settle the matter”.
It was then that he was arrested and charged with cheating.
"That’s not true at all because the RM1.755 million which was paid in stages was for my consultation services,” he said.
The latest development in the controversy surrounding NFC, managed by Shahrizat's family, followed a claim by PKR's Rafizi Ramli that Shamsubahrin was just the middleman for Salleh in the attempt to bribe police and MACC officers to influence the course of the investigation into NFC.
"PKR has ascertained through sources that the RM1.755 million Mohamad Salleh paid (to Shamsubahrin Ismail) was intended to bribe police and MACC investigators. Shamsubahrin was just the middleman, in collusion with Mohamad Salleh,” Rafizi had said.
Shamsubahrin was first arrested on December 22 for attempting to bribe investigating officers involved in the NFC probe, and had his remand extended three times before being charged in court.
Surendran meanwhile said Shamsubahrin had only managed to lodge the police report after obtaining a court order to allow him to do so last Friday.
“His claims are backed up by SMSes and other evidence and records. What do they (NFC) have to say about this now? We are highlighting the abuse of power by the authorities: for failing to bring charges against the correct party and trying all means to silence one who is now being made a scapegoat,” said Surendran.
Surendran had earlier called for his client's personal security as a main witness in the scandal.
In an era that prides itself on ripping away dreamy veils to reveal ugly truths, a sense of mystique is a rare, undervalued commodity!
Umno minister Shahrizat Jalil is unfazed at the prospect of further revelations about her family's alleged abuse of power and misappropriation of funds in the RM250 million NFC financial debacle.
"It's okay. We are politicians. We become more spirited when we are subjected to tests," she told reporters on Saturday.
She was responding to PKR leader Rafizi Ramli's promise to greet her return from a 3-week leave with further revelations of NFC corruption.
Gross abuse of govt soft loan
Shahrizat's husband children were awarded the NFC cattle breeding project by the then Agricultural minister Muhyiddin Yassin, now the deputy prime minister. The Auditor-General in his 2010 report had pointed out serious weakness in the project aimed to provide everyday Malaysians with reasonably-priced beef.
PKR leaders too have produced shocking evidence of the purchase of luxury condos, Mercedes Benz, expensive family holidays, cash transfers to other family-owned firms, inferring gross abuse of aRM250 million government soft loan extended to develop the cattle breeding project.
Just days ago, Shahrizat's Umno party was rocked by news that Shamsubahrin Ismail, a businessman well-known in Umno circles, had accused Shahrizat's husband Ismail Salleh of offering him RM1.76million to bribe police officers so as to bribe the outcome of a probe into the NFC.
This has prompted many Umno seniors to call for Shahrizat's resignation, but she has also rebuffed their calls
If most people were left gawking after Cow-lady’s verbal ‘full monty’ recently at an event in the capital, it was certainly not in admiration! Some snickered, others turned up their noses, while yet more frowned in disapproval.
Raja Petra Kamarudin'S new sleeping partner says Kill the issues, kill Pakatan Currently, the National Feedlot Corporation issue is getting less and less coverage. The mainstream broadcast media has almost stopped talking about it,for the mainstream newspapers and certain new media.
PKR has accused Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad of having close ties with Zionists and pro-Israeli US leaders back when he was prime minister, stating that these were well-recorded facts.
Dr Mahathir had yesterday labelled arch rival Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as a Jewish sympathiser and a leader who disregarded the plight of the Palestinians. The former prime minister was responding to Anwar’s recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, in which the latter expressed support for “all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel.”
The PKR leader claimed that Dr Mahathir paid Jack Abramoff, a Zionist lobbyist, US$1.2 million (RM3.7 million) to arrange a meeting with former US President George W. Bush shortly after Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister.
“This has been admitted by Dr Mahathir himself,” said Nik Nazmi, adding that Abramoff had close ties with Bush as well as Israeli extremists.
Corruption Watchdogs Have a Hot New Blogger: Jack Abramoff
And to the naysayers out there, it's probably better for Abramoff to be writing out about how DC-style corruption works so as to help those unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of 'how to make a Senator smile' do a better job reforming the system rather than getting Ambramoff back out there advising the bad guys how to cash in on the system.
The other bloggers in the group are outstanding and have, for the most part, crystal clear clean progressive track records -- including former Think Progress writer Lee Fang, former Center for American Progress youth and college program activist David Halperin, also another former Think Progress correspondent Zaid Jilani, former Foreign Policy and The Atlantic staffer Suzanne Merkelson, tough-minded investigator for the conservative Senator Charles Grassley Paul Thacker -- and one of the undisputed early leaders of modern grassroots, digital political activism, Matt Stoller.
Thacker the exception -- the rest are real progressives and none have done felony convicted jail time. Bringing Abramoff into this mix is one really interesting way for this blog to distinguish itself in a very crowded marketplace.
Nick Penniman, the well known former TomPaine.com editor and former lead of The Huffington Post's investigative unit is the president of United Republic, which has launched the blog.
I really want to go to the holiday party these folks throw and see if Stoller and Abramoff can do a buddy to buddy thing under the mistletoe -- and unite in their common work highlighting the corruption of America's key democratic platforms.
Abramoff's first post has gone up -- and in it he offers a Joe Kennedy-esque rationale for why he's doing this with a bit of confession:
It is a privilege for me to add my insights and experience to their strong and sagacious team and I look forward to working with them to reveal to our nation the way Washington really works.
There is a rising tide of outrage in our land about the abuse in our system. Sadly, in my former life as a lobbyist, I participated in this dysfunctional and byzantine world. But now, in these pages, and with my other efforts, I intend to do what I can as we all attempt to repair our democracy.
Interesting move by Nick Penniman and his team. We really look forward to following the entire line up there, but also to the next and next next contributions by Jack Abramoff.
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