Good morning, here’s what you need to know today.
Key Highlights
Ex-Goldman banker's bombshell
Jobs for Najib's children
Zahid fights back
Ex-Goldman banker's bombshell
Tim Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs banker, dropped several bombshells while testifying before a US court during the trial of fellow former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng.
Ng is facing charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and money laundering over the 1MDB scandal.
During the trial, Leissner testified that he had an affair with three Malaysians, some of who were politically connected.
They include the niece of a former Sarawak chief minister, the chief executive of a major media company in Malaysia and the daughter of a Malaysian ambassador to the US.
The prosecution asked if Leissner had used the relationships to benefit Goldman Sachs to which he replied: "not directly".
Leissner also testified that he was informed by Ng that a bribe was paid to then Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz's husband Tawfiq Ayman.
This was to approve a US$1 billion transfer from 1MDB to PetroSaudi's overseas account, which was later misappropriated.
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Jobs for Najib's children
Tim Leissner, during the US trial, also revealed that a meeting between ex-Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein with then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2009 had an agenda.
He claimed it was to lobby for jobs for Najib's three children at the multinational bank that went on to serve as 1MDB's banker for bond deals that were misappropriated.
Najib, in an immediate response, pointed out that none of his children ever worked for Goldman Sachs nor received offers from the bank.
However, Semambu assemblyperson Lee Chean Chung said Najib missed the point, stating that the issue was not whether his children took up jobs at the bank.
Lee added that the issue was the lobbying itself, which he said is an abuse of power.
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Zahid fights back
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi continued to push back against allegations that he had lobbied to have his graft cases dropped, this time threatening legal action against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
This was after Mahathir said Zahid's lobbying was "true" and that he had also tried to get into Mahathir's good books for those reasons.
Previously, Zahid challenged another former prime minister to a ”sumpah laknat” after Muhyiddin Yassin made the same claim.
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A daily glance at Covid-19
31,199 new cases yesterday (Feb 23), a new record high.
Another 55 new fatalities, the highest since Dec 21, 2021. The death toll is now at 32,488.
Cases by states:
Selangor (7,798)
Sabah (3,971)
Kedah (2,684)
Penang (2,575)
Johor (2,281)
Kuala Lumpur (2,186)
Kelantan (2,135)
Negeri Sembilan (1,998)
Pahang (1,560)
Perak (1,222)
Terengganu (773)
Malacca (600)
Labuan (499)
Sarawak (424)
Perlis (304)
Putrajaya (189)
What else is happening?
Malaysiakini, in a special report, looked at how firms are breaking up the clearing of forest for plantations into several smaller parts in order to bypass the need to produce an environmental impact assessment, similar to how the reclamation of Forest City was done to bypass environmental scrutiny.
DAP's Bekok candidate M Kanan complained about vote-buying after his PN rival Tan Lek Khang went on a spree of giving out free food, motor oil and cash.
Nur Sajat, who has received asylum in Australia, has formally changed her gender to a woman. However, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Ahmad Marzuk Shaary insisted that she remains a male in Malaysia.
HIGHLIGHTS
Polls watchdogs find 60 misconducts, irregularities in S'wak election
Poverty pushes Rohingya kids out of school, into work and marriage
Armed forces aim to buy additional equipment for use in Lebanon
What are people saying?
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