COMMENT | Expose crony capitalism, time for unexplained wealth law

COMMENT | So Malaysia has made the podium with a top-three finish!

Unfortunately, it’s nothing much to be proud of as our beloved country has been ranked third out of 43 countries in the 2023 crony-capitalism index recently published by reputed financial publication, The Economist.

This is no surprise to anyone who understands how our economy has worked. Our policies did not really help the masses as much as they could have but have instead created an elite class of extremely rich individuals who engorged themselves during the country’s boom economic period.

One need look no further than the barbs being exchanged by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his nemesis Anwar Ibrahim as the two are squabbling all the way to court.

Mahathir filed a RM150 million lawsuit over claims that he amassed wealth for personal riches while in power.

He also stated that all his children are individuals who succeeded in the world of business without his intervention or any abuse of power by him as a then-prime minister.

I say let’s settle this through the courts indeed, but not through this kind of suit. I think what this country really needs is a law allowing for an investigation into unexplained wealth.

For example, if you were a civil servant and worked for 30 years earning a cumulative total of RM3 million and yet appearing to have a net value of well over RM10 million, such a law could have you probed.

Four years ago, on July 1, I penned an op-ed entitled Loopholes Of The Rich And Famous, in which I made such a call and I must say, it seems like it is needed more than ever.

Alongside talk of asset declaration, then finance minister Lim Guan Eng said Malaysia was looking to study legislation such as the UK’s Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), with a view to introducing it here.

The UWO is a relatively new law under the UK’s Criminal Finances Act 2017 where a court order can be issued to compel someone to reveal their sources of wealth.

Those who fail to account for their wealth will have their assets seized by its National Crime Agency.

Just imagine what that would mean in a country like ours, currently burdened by the financial mismanagement of 1MDB and other such overspending scandals.

The truth is that when money meant for hospitals, roads, and amenities is siphoned off so that children of crony capitalists can play in their Porsches - people die.

‘Great businesspeople’

In my memory, the first example of a kleptocratic ruler being toppled and exposed was Ferdinand Marcos of The Philippines. According to an estimate by the Philippine supreme court, he accumulated up to US$10 billion (RM44 billion) while in office even as his official salary never rose above U$13,500 (RM60,000) a year.

After his toppling and death, his family were disgraced but not stripped of their ill-gotten gains. And guess what? Ferdinand Jr is sitting on the presidential throne right now!

How many Malaysian politicians, corporate figures, and bureaucrats do you think would be shivering if Malaysia has an unexplained wealth law?

I do sometimes wonder. The other day I was reading that there was no settlement yet over some estimated RM2 billion assets claimed by the mother of the late former minister Jamaludin Jarjis, Jamaludin’s widow, and the couple’s four children.

I was also reminded of when another former minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor testified during a corruption trial that RM2 million was like pocket money to him. His wealth apparently reached a peak in 2001, when he declared RM938.64 million in assets.

So these are great businesspeople, the sort who would probably welcome an unexplained wealth order as it would prove that their assets were built up legitimately from humble beginnings.

At the moment, Section 36 of the MACC Act empowers the MACC to obtain information in relation to any property held or acquired by an individual, but the power is limited in its reach as it has to be in connection with an offence provided for under the MACC Act.

It does not make possessing unusual or unexplained wealth an offence, which severely restricts the MACC’s power to comprehensively investigate matters related to corruption.

I for one, think we should not let corruption reforms end with asset declaration.

Corruption is a serious cancer that has diminished our nation for decades and we will all pay the price if we don’t tackle it seriously with an unexplained wealth law.

Martin Vengadesan is an associate editor at Malaysiakini.

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