Its president Akhbar Satar said, for example, some of the money seized or frozen by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission between 2016 and 2017 – which he said was about RM670 million, including cash, gold, jewellery and other items – should be channelled into Tabung Harapan to help the government reduce the national debt.
The government should similarly use the money it plans to recover from the 1Malaysia Development Fund scandal. He said “some of the estimated US$4.5 billion worth of assets that disappeared from the books of the state investment fund” should be used to improve the lives of the people.
Akbar also called on the government to strictly enforce the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).
He said AMLATFPUAA was an effective tool in preventing money laundering and terrorism financing. It provides wide-ranging investigation powers, including powers to law enforcement agencies and the public prosecutor to freeze, seize and confiscate or forfeit the proceeds or properties that are involved or suspected to be involved in money laundering or terrorism financing, and also gives power to the courts to forfeit properties derived from the proceeds of serious crimes.
“Dirty money is cleverly cleaned using various methods in order to conceal its criminal origins and make it appear ‘clean’ instead of being derived from illegal activities such as corruption, drug trafficking, terrorism, robbery, prostitution, illegal gaming, arms trafficking, bribery, corruption and cigarette smuggling.
“The AMLATFPUAA law is very powerful in that it places the burden on the suspect to explain in the court of law the source of the money in his control or possession. He has the duty to prove or provide the paper trail or documented evidence to show that the money and assets were acquired from legal sources such as business, borrowed money, dealings, inheritance or even lottery.”
Akhbar noted that in early 2018, it was reported that the Saudi Arabian government had seized more than US$124 billion in a corruption purge.
“Crown Prince Mohammed appeared to have won widespread approval amongst ordinary Saudis for this purge, partly because the government had promised it would use some of the money it seizes to provide social benefits. This was a good move and the Malaysian government may consider adopting this approach as well.
“The government should seriously enforce AMLATPUA 2001 as it will serve a warning to the criminals that crime does not pay where apart from being charged with a serious offence as stipulated in the second schedule of the Act it also clearly does not allow any individual to benefit or enjoy the illegal proceeds obtained from unlawful activities,” Akhbar added.