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Audited Financial Statements For 2013 And 2014 Should Be Disregarded: 1MDB

Embattled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) has decided that its 2013 and 2014 audited financial statements should be disregarded, pending a court decision on the civil lawsuit filed by the United States last week to recover more than US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) in American assets bought with money allegedly misappropriated from the state investment firm.

“Whilst the Board remains confident that no wrongdoing has been committed by 1MDB and that the past audited financial statements continue to show a true and fair view of the company’s affairs at the relevant points in time, the Board has decided that, as a precautionary measure, the 2013 and 2014 audited financial statements of 1MDB should no longer be relied on by any party,” 1MDB said in a statement on Tuesday (July 26).

1MDB’s 2013 and 2014 financial statements were signed off by its auditor, international audit firm Deloitte.

Last Wednesday, the US Justice Department (DOJ) filed a civil lawsuit to seize the assets it said were tied to money stolen from 1MDB, overseen by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Hidden in the US in real estate, art and other luxury goods, the DOJ said the money was embezzled from the fund and moved around the world using secretive shell companies that masked its trail.

The Singapore authorities have also said they seized bank accounts and properties worth S$240 million in a probe on possible money laundering linked to the state investment fund.

Mr Najib had said Malaysia takes good governance seriously and will fully cooperate with investigators. He had also maintained that it would be unfair to pass judgment on the individuals identified in the lawsuit — including his stepson Riza Aziz, a Hollywood producer of films, including The Wolf Of Wall Street as well as financier Mr Jho Low, who is a longtime friend of Mr Aziz and his family— simply for being named in the filing.

1MDB, which was founded by Mr Najib in 2009 shortly after he came to office, has accumulated debts of RM50 billion (S$16.7 billion) as of January this year, as opposed to its assets of RM53 billion. It is being investigated in at least six countries, including Switzerland and Singapore, over allegations it was used to funnel money to politically connected individuals. Both Mr Najib and 1MDB have denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Najib has been under intense political pressure over RM2.6 billion deposited into his private accounts, as well as irregularities in 1MDB.

Malaysia’s attorney-general has cleared Mr Najib of wrongdoing, saying that the money in his bank accounts was a political donation from the Saudi royal family. Despite the controversy, Mr Najib has consolidated his political power, removing officials from the governing party who have criticised him.

Some outspoken activists who used social media to question his conduct also face criminal charges.

1MDB also said on Tuesday that it is committed to finding a new auditor to replace Deloitte, after the latter had notified the firm of its intention to resign on Feb 26 this year.

“Until a new auditor is appointed, Deloitte will remain as auditor on record,” it said.

Expressing its appreciation of the professionalism displayed by Deloitte to date, 1MDB said the auditor will continue to audit the company’s key subsidiaries, including its real estate and energy arms such as TRX City, Bandar Malaysia and Edra.

Source: TODAY Online

July 27, 2016
Bapa Dan 2 Anak Lelaki Dicekup Kerana Mencuri, Pecah Rumah

Kata orang, keluarga yang makan bersama atau sembahyang bersama, akan sentiasa bersama.

Bagi tiga beranak ini – seorang bapa dan dua anak lelakinya – mereka bukan sahaja makan bersama, tetapi juga mencuri dan merompak bersama – termasuk mencuri lori.

Kini mereka juga ditangkap secara bersama-sama serta sama-sama masuk lokap dan kemudian akan masuk penjara sama-sama, setelah kegiatan jenayah mereka terbongkar.

Mereka dipercayai terbabit dalam beberapa kes pecah rumah dan samun di negeri Perlis dan Kedah.

Penjenayah tiga beranak itu diberkas di Kedah minggu lepas.

DIBERKAS DI RUMAH

Ketua Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Polis Kontinjen Perlis, Supt Azahar Muda berkata tiga beranak itu diberkas di rumah mereka di Kampung Pida, Kodiang.

Beliau berkata pihak polis turut menemukan barang-barang curi antaranya sebuah lori, sebuah motosikal, sebuah televisyen dan beberapa peralatan pecah rumah.

Lori tersebut dilapor hilang semasa sebuah stor kilang aluminium di Jitra, Kedah dipecah masuk, katanya kepada pemberita hari ini.

ANAK BERANAK BANYAK REKOD JENAYAH

Azahar berkata bapa tersebut yang berumur 47 tahun dipercayai menjalankan
kegiatannya sejak 10 tahun lepas di Kedah dan Perlis serta mempunyai lima rekod
jenayah lampau.

Beliau berkata anak lelaki suspek yang berumur 24 tahun mempunyai sembilan
rekod manakala yang berumur 17 tahun mempunyai enam rekod jenayah.

Katanya tiga beranak itu dipercayai turut terbabit dalam kes pecah peti besi pejabat Pertubuhan Peladang Padang Siding di Arau pada 4 Julai lepas.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

July 27, 2016
NUS To Crack Down On Sexualised Games

National University of Singapore (NUS) is promising that “strong disciplinary action will be taken” against those responsible for inappropriate orientation activities.

This follows a report in The New Paper concerning sexualised orientation activities. Activities that have continued despite complaints over the past decade.

One student complained that her peers were made to re-enact a rape scene as a forfeit, while another was asked whose bodily fluids she would like to drink.

Netizens expressed outrage with many calling for swift action to be taken against the camp organisers.

Readers also contacted The New Paper and said that it was unbecoming of the school.

Madam Josephine Ng, 46, a mother of two daughters aged 12 and 14, told TNP that the activities are ridiculous and embarrassing.

“When I read the article, I could not believe it. I’ve read past reports, and this is not excusable,” she said.

“Enough is enough. It has been a whole decade and yet nothing has changed.”

“Such activities have a long term impact, not just on students, but on Singapore’s image as well.”

Mr Seah Kian Peng, member of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Education, expressed surprise that such “unnecessary and humiliating” games have not stopped despite complaints over the years.

He told TNP: “They have definitely crossed the line. During the planning process, the leaders should just ask themselves – is this something they would want their younger siblings to go through. If they had a daughter, would they want her to experience this?”

Earlier this evening, NUS released a statement:

The National University of Singapore (NUS) takes an extremely serious view of the recent media report and feedback on instances of offensive and completely inappropriate orientation activities.

Orientation is intended to welcome and introduce our freshmen to the NUS community. The University expects that orientation activities are carried out in ways that are fully respectful of the dignity of all those participating, regardless of gender.

We do not condone any behaviour or activity that denigrates the dignity of individuals, and that has sexual connotations. Our students, particularly freshmen, must feel safe and secure at all times during orientation. If they decide to opt out of an activity, their wishes must be respected.

As is the practice each year, before the start of this orientation period at NUS, the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) had conducted sessions with the students involved in organising and leading orientation activities, including student orientation leaders from NUS Students’ Union, Clubs, Societies, Freshmen Orientation Committees, project directors, and Residential Hall Junior Common Room Committees.

During these sessions, OSA went through with the student leaders the do’s and don’ts of orientation, as well as banned activities. It was mandatory for these students to go through the written materials with examples of “do’s and don’ts”. Students were also made aware that strong disciplinary actions will be taken against offenders. In addition, all proposed orientation programmes and activities had to be endorsed and cleared by the relevant supervisors, such as Hall Masters and Vice Deans, as well as OSA, before they could proceed. Students were asked to remove inappropriate activities.

Separately, from the beginning of the year, OSA had worked with the Deaneries in Faculties, and the Masters of Halls and Residential Colleges on the necessary steps needed to ensure the acceptability of all planned student orientation activities.

We are very disappointed that despite these efforts, instances of offensive and completely inappropriate orientation activities that were not submitted nor endorsed have surfaced. We take these reports very seriously, and are carrying out thorough investigations. Strong disciplinary action will be taken against those found responsible.

OSA has met with the student leaders of the ongoing and remaining camps, and briefed them on the guidelines for acceptable orientation activities. NUS staff will also be on site at these camps.

Any student who has concerns with orientation activities can contact the NUS Office of Student Affairs at [email protected] on a strictly confidential basis.

Source: The New Paper

July 27, 2016
AGO Report Flags Several Ministries For Lapses

When two universities failed to recover tuition-fee and study loans given to their students within a specified period,the Ministry of Education (MOE) did not take the necessary follow-up actions promptly.

Called out for its lack of oversight in administering schemes and programmes such as scholarship bonds and study loans, the MOE was one of 12 government bodies whose lapses were flagged by the Auditor-General’s Office’s (AGO) annual audit of the public sector.

Others cited for lapses in the AGO’s 61-page report, made public on Tuesday (July 26), included the Defence Ministry (Mindef) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

The AGO report highlighted four areas that public sector entities should improve on: Inadequate financial controls; weak governance of public funds; lack of oversight of external entities; and lapses in management of contracts.

As of June 30 last year, the two universities — National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) — saw an outstanding balance of loans totalling S$228.04 million. For 23.3 per cent — 27 out of 116 — of the outstanding loans audited by the AGO, recovery action was delayed by one to 3.5 years.

The report found that the MOE was not prompt in following up on long outstanding loans to ensure that the banks had taken adequate recovery actions. It also noted discrepancies among records of loans in default kept by the MOE, the universities and the banks. The MOE was also rapped for lapses in monitoring and enforcing bonds related to scholarships disbursed by the two universities.

The universities lagged in sending out letters of demand to half of the scholars — 16 out of 30 test-checked — who were not serving the required bonds, with delays of up to 26 months.

The MOE over-contributed S$4.14 million over nine years to NTU’s sinking fund for replacement of MOE-funded buildings and facilities, a sum that the ministry said on Tuesday had been recovered.

In a statement, issued following the release of the AGO’s report, the MOE said it is working with the universities and banks to ensure prompt follow-up of loans in arrears. It may allow borrowers facing financial hardship to defer repayment of monthly instalments or temporarily reduce the amount payable in some cases. It added that measures are also in place to reduce default on scholarship bonds — such as working with government agencies to track bond service records — noting that many of the lapses flagged were from “earlier graduation batches”.

Default rates have come down significantly over the last three years, said the MOE, adding that 1 per cent of international scholarship recipients had intentionally defaulted.

As for the HDB, the AGO noted that final payments to contractors totalling S$37.62 million were delayed for up to 3.3 years — a move it described as an “unfair business practice” since it could have hurt the contractors’ cashflow. The HDB said it will implement new processes, such as a tracking system, to ensure that delayed accounts are brought to the management’s attention so that final payments can be made promptly.

The AGO also found inadequate monitoring of car parks at industrial and residential estates, which allowed motorists to use the facilities without being charged. Of five industrial car parks audited, the AGO found 243 instances where the motorists, on multiple occasions, had manipulated the electronic parking systems to allow another vehicle to exit the car parks for free, such as through tailgating.

Mindef was cited for investing S$50.26 million in a United States real estate investment trust exchange-traded fund without approval from its board of trustees. It also failed to provide Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions on bonuses paid to members on the Savings and Employee Retirement Plan.

According to the AGO report, Mindef said that it had since obtained approval from the board of trustees for the investment, and will make the required CPF contributions — amounting to about S$324,000 for 215 members — by next month.

Other government bodies chided for lapses included the Land Transport Authority, whose weak controls over toll collection at checkpoints resulted in under-collection of S$13.9 million; and the Law Ministry for lapses in its handling of deceased persons’ assets received from nursing homes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was taken to task for continuing to subscribe to phone lines that were no longer needed, resulting in wastage amounting to S$80,744.

Source: TODAY Online

July 27, 2016
Mentally Unsound Auntie “Tortures” Muslim Neighbour With Pork, Racist Taunts

Dear Friends, please help me spread awareness of this hatred crime that is being done to my family.

My Sister In Law has suffered this abuse for the past 6 years and it needs attention from the LAW!

Action needs to be taken ASAP on this neighbour! Thank you…PLEASE SHARE! TURN ON “CC” BUTTON FOR ENGLISH SUBTITLES

https://youtu.be/WFX5S2BoNK4

Source: Hanis Hussey

July 26, 2016