Australia probes Taib family for breaching disclosure laws
Australian Securities & Investments Commission (Asic) is investigating the family of Sarawak governor Abdul Taib Mahmud for allegedly failing to comply to disclosure laws.
However, corporate regulator stops short at probing the family for corruption, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Asic formed a "specilaist team" to probe the Taib family's failure to lodge accounts after a petition by Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fund.
Asic also proposed that BMF contact the Australian Federal Police for further action on the alleged corruption, the Australian daily reported.
BMF detailed the Taib family's corporate dealings in Australia in its report 'The Adelaide Hilton Case - how a Malaysian politician's family launder $30 million in South Australia'.
It detailed how Taib's daughter Jamilah, reportedly the richest woman in Canada, and her husband bought $9.5 million of shares in Australian company Sitehost in 1993.
Sitehost acquired Adelaide's $50 million Hilton Hotel the next year, but failed to lodge financial statements until 2006. Its latest filing is for the year 2011.
The Taib family's riches were a point of contention during the 2011 Sarawak election.
In a video to rebut claims of corruption, the then Sarawak chief minister said his daughter made her fortune through her own business acumen .
He said Jamilah invested a small fund he gave her, which he made through business before joining politics.
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