Kadir: Autastan, near Tipustan, donated the RM2.6b

'Hopefully, not another silap mata (illusion) and sihir (black magic) in the 1MDB saga.'

KUALA LUMPUR: Lying is a major sin, warns a veteran newsman in a blog posting on the infamous RM2.6 billion allegedly in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank accounts.

“Hopefully, we are not being presented with yet another round of silap mata (illusion) and sihir (black magic) in the 1MDB saga,” said A Kadir Jasin. “In Saudi Arabia, if you are found guilty of practising sihir you can be put to death. For stealing, you will have your hand chopped off.”

The latest that he had heard, he said, was a story similar to the one told in the P Ramliee classic, “Ali Baba Bujang Lapok”. It seems that “a very rich trader with thousands of camels and a magic carpet in the nation of Autastan, neighbouring Tipustan, had presented Najib with billions in sadakah (alms). God Almighty! So wealthy is the Sheikh! God be praised! So bountiful is Najib’s provision!”

(“Auta” and “tipu” are synonyms meaning “lie” or “cheat”, depending on the context.)

Kadir said the story had some credibility since it was publicly known that Rosmah Mansor, Najib’s wife, was “close to wealthy Arabs, including members of royal families.”

He said everyone could breath a sigh of relief, now that the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) had confirmed that the RM2.6 billion was from donations, not from 1MDB.

“The entire MACC top management should resign voluntarily or be sacked for failing to discover that the USD700 million (RM2.6 billion) in Najib’s personal banking accounts at AmBank Islamic was from donations.”

All’s well that ends well. “But if the unaccounted 1MDB monies did not go into Najib’s accounts, where did it go?”

Kadir confesses to being puzzled by Najib’s failure to disclose from the start that the funds were donations, allowing the controversy to rage for so long.

“Why didn’t you say so from the start? Why did Najib and his entire brigade of spin masters have to beat around the senduduk bush? Why couldn’t they flog this donation story from the start? Why didn’t Jho Low say so?

“There are more questions than answers.”

He said that with the fast turn of events that included the sacking of the Attorney-General and the Cabinet, “it’s hard for the people not to speculate. Who are these donors? Why did MACC and the Special Task Force take such a long time to confirm that the USD700 million was from donations?”

Also, there’s the issue of the people connected with the 1MDB monies running away from the country. “The people being sought by the Special Task Force, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and Suboh Mohd Yassin, should now come forward to clear the Prime Minister’s name.”