This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 9, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Part of the problem in apprehending fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low is that the moles within the civil service and enforcement agencies continue to feed information to members of the previous Barisan Nasional government, Council of the Elders (CEP) chairman Tun Daim Zainuddin said in a Channel NewsAsia (CNA) report yesterday.

Daim told CNA Jho Low had reached out to him to help locate assets linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd. He also requested the government grant him immunity.

“I don’t know what role he’s playing. I said why don’t you come back and discuss with me first,” said Daim in the report.

“He said he can help us get back the assets and give us one or two names (of the people involved). I said (to ask) them to come see me.”

On the immunity request, Daim said: “I told him ‘no’. If he wants to help, better come back first so that we can discuss. He claimed he is innocent, so if you are innocent you come back here. Why you are running away?”

For pulling such a complex scheme, Daim believes that Jho Low did not act alone.

“He has good advisers. He paid them,” Daim said in the CNA report, adding that the advisers were bankers that Jho Low paid handsomely to execute the plan and help cover his tracks.

Asked whether Malaysia would go after the bankers, Daim said the government only wants to get the people’s money back.

“He (Jho Low) has his people everywhere — using taxpayers’ money. He was able to hire the best lawyers in town,” CNA quoted Daim as saying.

As part of its look into government finances, Daim said the CEP had interviewed over 300 individuals, including bankers, businessmen, civil servants, civil society members and union officials.

These conversations revealed a culture of turning a blind eye to corruption, he added.

“They were bold and blatant in their corruption. No one dare to raise it, for to raise it means you are out. So people were silent, no backbone and no principled stand,“ Daim said in the report.

On the economic legacy left by the previous government, Daim told CNA there are significant challenges to overcome.

“It’s far, far more difficult and complicated this time because it’s the (previous) government that had created the problem; lots of money were wasted and stolen.

“I was asked to look into the figures, analyse and send back to the prime minister. It will take some time before we can put the economy back to shape,” he added.

Daim served as Malaysia’s finance minister from 1984 to 1991.

Meanwhile, CNA reported Daim as saying that an option to help shore up finances could be listing some of the government’s assets on the stock market.

“At the CEP, we have studied the proposal submitted to us on monetisation. We don’t advise to sell these assets directly to the market. Where companies are profitable, we recommend them to go for an initial public offering, create value and let Malaysians invest in these companies,” he said.

Given the current state of finances, Daim understands that the government will be hard-pressed to fulfill some of the electoral promises that were in its manifesto.  

“Malaysians are very kind, patient and understanding. If you explain to them, they will understand and accept. Deliver what you promised in the manifesto and if for any reasons you cannot, explain clearly.  Daim also urged the government to make the CEP’s recommendations available to the public.