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Cowgate scandal

Cowgate also cow-gate is a political scandal that occurred in Malaysia in the 2010s involving a government subsidized program to increase the supply of Halal beef that is slaughtered according to Islamic law. The scandal reminded residents of Malaysia of the Watergate scandal and involved cows, hence the combined term cowgate. For some, cowgate symbolized the problems that occur in a government when one political party, Barisan Nasional, dominates and controls spending.

http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/cowgate-scandal-highlights-najibs-faded-reforms/ Cowgate’ scandal highlights Najib’s faded reforms February 15, 2012 by dinobeano

February 15, 2012

http://www.malaysiakini.com ‘Cowgate’ scandal highlights Najib’s faded reforms

by Stuart Grudgings, Reuters

Shahrizat has denied any personal wrongdoing and has filed a defamation suit against two opposition members, including Zuraida. Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh, Shahrizat’s son and NFCorp’s chief executive, has said the company was allowed to use the loan at its discretion and that the properties were bought to earn rental income. Even some UMNO members are not convinced by the explanation, however, and have called on Shahrizat to quit. Influential former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has added his voice to calls for her dismissal. Reuters

ANALYSIS: A scandal centred on cows and luxury condos raises the chances that Malaysian elections will be delayed and highlights Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s stuttering efforts to reform the corruption-prone South-East Asian nation.‘Cowgate’, as it has inevitably been dubbed, is providing rich fodder for the opposition as it digs up dirt on a publicly funded cattle-rearing project that it says was used as a personal fund for the family of one of Najib’s ministers.It is not the first corruption scandal to hit Najib and his long-ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), but the farmyard connection makes it a potentially damaging one because rural Malays – the bedrock of UMNO’s support – may relate to it more easily than to more obscure financial matters.

“The cow issue is God-given,” Zuraida Kamaruddin, the head of the women’s wing of the opposition People’s Justice Party, told Reuters following a speech at a recent rally, which she punctuated with the occasional “moo” for comic effect.This time we have real evidence that proves their mismanagement.”

The family of Women, Family and Community Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil is accused of using RM250 million (US$83 million) in soft government loans meant to develop the cattle project to buy luxury apartments, expensive overseas trips and a Mercedes.

Meanwhile, the National Feedlot Centre project was found by the Auditor-General to have done little to reach its initial goal of making the country 40 percent self-sufficient in beef production by 2010.

Najib last month froze the assets of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), which is under investigation by Malaysia’s anti-corruption commission. With fresh allegations appearing almost daily on the country’s lively Internet news sites, the scandal adds to growing temptations for him to delay elections that must be called by April 2013.

The 58-year-old son of a former Prime Minister had been expected to call the polls around April, before a looming global slowdown risked hurting Malaysia’s trade-dependent economy. But with the US economy showing signs of recovery and the euro zone not yet imploding, he may feel he can wait and hope for the scandal to blow over while recent government handouts to poorer families take effect.

Gross domestic product figures out today are expected to show South-East Asia’s third-largest economy slowed in the last quarter of 2011 but still grew at a brisk annual pace of 5 percent.

The risk for Najib is that the scandal could balloon further or set off other allegations of graft, implicating other members of his government and giving a further boost to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar was acquitted on sodomy charges last month, leaving him free to campaign.

The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition is expected to hold on to its parliamentary majority after historic gains by the opposition in 2008. But the NFC scandal adds to the difficulty Najib faces in recapturing the coalition’s once impregnable two-thirds majority and winning a mandate to keep up with his tentative reforms.

That could set off an internal power struggle, with many expecting Najib’s more conservative, less reform-minded deputy Muhyiddin Yassin to launch a bid for the UMNO leadership.

“There are people within UMNO who don’t want any change at all,” said a Kuala-Lumpur-based fund manager who asked not to be identified. “If Muhyiddin comes in… he’s an old fashioned sort of politician and the market won’t react well.”

Fading reforms

Malaysia, once mentioned in the same breath as South Korea and Singapore as an Asian “tiger” economy, has mostly disappointed since the region’s financial crisis of 1997 as it struggles to revamp an economy centred on commodities and low-end manufacturing. Corruption has worsened, with the country sliding to 60th in Transparency International’s global ranking of graft perceptions last year compared to 33rd in 2002.

Najib has reached out to Malaysia’s middle class as a reformer, promising to replace repressive security laws and wean the country off a race-based economic system that has alleviated poverty but increasingly stunted growth, fuelled corruption and turned off foreign investors.

But he has watered down or backtracked on many of his key pledges, encountering opposition from within UMNO and its network of corporate interests that benefit from the system of ethnic Malay privileges.

Najib announced a significant overhaul of the system in 2010 named the New Economic Model (NEM), most of which has not been implemented. “The NEM is not only dead but has also been effectively buried under a new avalanche of preferential policies and contracts that run against the open, transparent and accountable system promised,” said Lim Teck Ghee, the Director of Malaysia’s Centre for Policy Initiatives.

Cowgate is a gift for critics who say little has changed on Najib’s watch since 2009 other than the rhetoric. In the first major red flag over its operations, the auditor-general said in a report last year that the NFC had failed to set up a network of satellite farms and produced less than half of its target of 8,000 head of cattle by 2010.

Whistleblowers, the opposition and Malaysia’s irreverent blogosphere then took up the baton. The opposition has cited accounting and property documents, the authenticity of which has not been disputed, showing that around RM62 million was spent by family members on – among other things – several up-scale apartments in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, land and a US$180,000 Mercedes.

The NFC company that runs the centre is undeniably a family affair, which critics say epitomises the cozy relations between UMNO and well-connected families and businesses. Its chairperson is Mohamad Salleh Ismail, Shahrizat’s husband, and all three of their children are directors.

Shahrizat has denied any personal wrongdoing and has filed a defamation suit against two opposition members, including Zuraida (left). Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh, Shahrizat’s son and NFC’s chief executive, has said the company was allowed to use the loan at its discretion and that the properties were bought to earn rental income.

Even some UMNO members are not convinced by the explanation, however, and have called on Shahrizat to quit. Influential former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has added his voice to calls for her dismissal.

“It looks ugly,” said Shahrir Abdul Samad, an UMNO member of parliament for the southern state of Johor and a former cabinet minister. “This was an opportunity for him (Najib) to show he could handle a crisis.”

http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20120801-362774.html Malaysian opposition whistle-blower charged

The scandal, dubbed "Cowgate", has proven highly embarrassing for Prime Minister Najib Razak (above), who has pledged to stamp out persistent corruption and must call elections by the middle of next year. AFP Wednesday, Aug 01, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian opposition whistleblower was charged Wednesday over his role in exposing a scandal that has rocked the government, a move the opposition said made a mockery of anti-graft efforts.

Rafizi Ramli, a top strategist for the People's Justice Party led by Anwar Ibrahim, has been the key figure behind exposing a financial scandal involving money allegedly siphoned away from a project aimed at boosting beef output.

He was charged under a provision of the country's Banking and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA) that restricts disclosure of bank account details.

Rafizi told AFP he and a former bank clerk charged with abetting him had pleaded not guilty in court before being released on bail.

"This government is not prepared to protect whistleblowers, but persecute them instead," he said.

The scandal, dubbed "Cowgate", has proven highly embarrassing for Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has pledged to stamp out persistent corruption and must call elections by the middle of next year.

The National Feedlot Corporation, which was run by family members of then-minister for women's affairs Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, received a 250-million-ringgit (S$100 million) government soft loan to accelerate Malaysian beef production.

But an auditor-general's report last year said it had failed in its objective.

The opposition pounced, alleging some NFC funds were spent on luxury property in Malaysia and Singapore and other purchases including an exclusive car and overseas travel.

Shahrizat resigned under mounting pressure in April and her husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail has been charged with criminal breach of trust over the affair.

He is alleged to have used nearly 50 million ringgit of NFC funds without approval in 2009, including almost 10 million ringgit to buy two apartments in Kuala Lumpur, the independent news portal Malaysiakini reported earlier.

Rafizi is accused of revealing the details of four bank accounts controlled by the NFC and Mohamad Salleh. The charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail and three million ringgit fine.

Opposition politicians immediately condemned the charge as likely to deter potential whistleblowers.

"This act by the Malaysian authorities marks a serious blow to the purported anti-corruption campaign launched by (Najib) himself," opposition lawmaker Tony Pua said in a statement.

http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/newscommentaries/50064-another-cow-gate-in-the-making Another cow-gate in the making? ARCHIVES 2012

Monday, 18 June 2012 Super Admin

Malaysia's largest livestock integrated centre will be based in Sabah and is a joint venture between Brunei and the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia).

(FMT) - KENINGAU: When Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony, of the proposed 834ha Keningau Livestock Integrated Centre here (KLIC) here on Saturday, uppermost on most people’s mind was: “Is this another NFC?”

Can’t blame the local folk, really.

The widely reported RM250 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) “cow-gate” scandal has filtered down to the farmers here courtesy of the opposition.

The scandal saw federal Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil walk away unscathed despite the fact that her husband and children were directly linked to the “deal” which allegedly spawned purchases of multi-million ringgit penthouses, opulent lifestyles and whatnots.

The KLIC to be located in Sook will be the country’s largest livestock centre when fully operational supposedly by next year.

It’s a flagship project under the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) and aims to increase the population of (again) high-quality yield cows, and also (again) to develop the “sustainable” breeding of cattle.

The KLIC, aiming to have 2,000 head of cattle producing six million litres of milk annually, will “likely” learn a thing or two from Keningau millionaire and the country’s largest breeder and dairy farmer Yap Yun Fook.

Yap, according to Najib, “started with only two cows and RM1,000 in the 1980s and now has a 110 hectare high-tech farm”.

Urging farmers to emulate Yap, Najib said the federal government was aware of “our people’s hardship and needs”.

He said the KLIC project “is part of our strategy for rural development” which the federal government is “vehemently undertaking”.

“We have a clear roadmap, and we know our people’s hardship and needs because we have a sufficient database,” he said.

Sedia ‘wholly funded’ by PMD

Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman said the KLIC is estimated to generate investment opportunities worth RM763 million for the interior areas.

“It would become a catalyst for agriculture and agro-based development in the country, in general, and specifically Sabah,” he said.

The next obvious question is who’s in on the deal.

http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4323&Itemid=178

Malaysia's Cowgate Minister Quits PDF Print E-mail Written by Our Correspondent Monday, 12 March 2012

Women's minister departs after five-month scandal over misuse of public funds

After months of controversy that have crippled the United Malays National Organization, the country’s biggest political party, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Malaysia’s minister for women, family and community development, has been forced out of her position as a result of what has become known as the “cowgate” scandal.

It was the second major recent announcement of a top official stepping down in the middle of a scandal. Late last week, after months of controversy, Malaysia’s Securities Commission said its embattled chairwoman, Zarinah Anwar, will step down on Mar. 31 in the wake of a blatant conflict of interest involving her husband’s trading in shares (read related story here).

Shahrizat’s decision to quit, which takes effect on April 8, was followed with an announcement today that her husband, Mohamed Salleh Ismail, would be charged with criminal breach of trust and violating the Companies Act in relation to RM49 million in federal funds given to the National Feedlot Corporation, a scandal-plagued scheme to slaughter as many as 60,000 cattle per year by halal, or Islamic religious standards. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Shahrizat’s departure “removes a thorn ahead of elections for the Barisan Nasional,” an UMNO insider told Asia Sentinel. Najib’s approval ratings have been driven back up from a low of 59 percent after the government cracked down harshly on civil rights demonstrators in the Bersih 2.0 march last July to 69 percent, according to the latest poll by Malaysia’s Merdeka Center, primarily on a lavish budget that delivered up wage increases and other benefits to the rank and file. Elections are now targeted for either May or June. They must be held before April 2013 “if hopefully nothing else derails that plan,” the source said.

Party reformers were agitating even before the UMNO general assembly in December to push Shahrizat out of the party, saying the depth of the scandal would have a crippling effect on both UMNO and the ruling Barisan Nasional, not least because a scandal over cattle was something their rural constituency could understand in a way they didn’t understand major financial shenanigans.

The party, however, has waffled about pushingssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss her out. In addition to being minister for women and family, Shahrizat is also chairwoman of UMNO Wanita, the women’s wing of the party, which leads the Barisan National, or national ruling coalition. There is considerable speculation that the minister has significant information on other misdoings in the party, and that if she is threatened she would use it.

The feedlot scandal, first uncovered last October in a report by Malaysia’s Auditor General, has become a gift that has never stopped giving for the Pakatan Rakyat headed by opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. Opposition party leaders have been fed voluminous information by insiders about the affair, which began with allegations that Shahrizat’s family was given the concession, through a company called Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd, and a RM250 million (US$80 million) soft loan along with a RM13 million grant to operate the feedlot business although none of them had ever had any connection with livestock production or the management of a major business before.

The company never slaughtered 10 percent of the projected total and has since scaled back its target to 8,000 head but hasn’t been able to meet that target either. Worse, the company has been losing millions of dollars of government funds every year – while pouring funds into premium land, condominium properties in the upscale district of Bangsar in Kuala Lumpur and in Singapore as well as restaurants and supermarkets, spending hundreds of thousands of ringgit for overseas travel and entertainment, and buying an expensive Mercedes-Benz sedan for Shahrizat.

The agreement to establish the National Feedlot Corporation was made when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister but it also involves Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister, who was the agriculture minister when the award was made to Shahrizat and her family. Muhyiddin, Abdullah Badawi and his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, the head of the UMNO Youth wing, have all defended her in the past. However, the steady drip of new allegations from the opposition has largely silenced her defenders.

On Sunday Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak commended Shahrizat for what he said was her sacrifice, adding that “Although there is no proof so far that she has committed any offense, because the NFC issue has drawn controversy and dispute, she was willing to withdraw from the government.”

Lim Kit Siang, the head of the opposition Democratic Action Party, called Najib’s response “inane.” Shahirizat, Lim said on his website, didn’t sacrifice herself. “She was forced out by an administration and political party that had run out of excuses and wayang kulit plays but yet did not have the guts to remove her.”

Najib, he said, “did not remove her earlier because he did not want to upset Umno rank and file and he could not get her to go earlier because only those without skeletons in their closets can act with strength and clarity in difficult situations.”

Mitt Romney Cranbrook incident

In May 2012, while Mitt Romney was running as the U.S. Presidential Candidate for the Republican Party, a story appeared in the press regarding an incident he was involved in at the Cranbrook academy.

The story first appeared in the Washington Post and described how Romney at the age of 18 bullied a younger student who came to school with “bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye”. He reportedly stated: “He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!”

The Cranbrook School Quadrangle

Romney along with several other students allegedly attacked the student in question who was named John Lauber. Lauber was tackled, pinned him to the ground, and as Lauber's eyes filled with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors. Witnesses

The article was researched by Washington Post reporter Jason Horowitz and Julie Tate. Five classmates were reportedly interviewed as well as Lauber's sisters. Four classmates made collaborating statements and permitted their names to be used. The statements attributed to the classmates were:

• Philip Maxwell “What a senseless, stupid, idiotic thing to do.” “It was vicious,”

• Matthew Friedemann “He was just easy pickins,”

• Thomas Buford “It happened very quickly, and to this day it troubles me,”

• David Seed recalled meeting Lauber 30-years later in O'Hare airport. According to Seed, Lauber recalled the incident as being "horrible" and “It’s something I have thought about a lot since then.”

John Lauber died in 2004, prior to the story, however, the Washington Post interviewed his surviving sisters. His sister Chris confirmed he bleached his hair and continued to do so until he died.

His sister Betsy Lauber released a statement on behalf of the family to ABC News, saying, "The family of John Lauber is releasing a statement saying the portrayal of John is factually incorrect and we are aggrieved that he would be used to further a political agenda. There will be no more comments from the family."

Romney Response Romney's campaign provided a statement that was published in the Washington Post that read: “The stories of fifty years ago seem exaggerated and off base and Governor Romney has no memory of participating in these incidents.”

Romney himself on May 10, 2012 offered a blanket apology for anything that might have slipped his mind. According to an interview on Fox Radio:

Back in high school, you know, I did some dumb things, and if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously, I apologize for that… You know, I don’t, I don’t remember that particular incident [laughs]… I participated in a lot of high jinks and pranks during high school, and some might have gone too far, and for that I apologize.

References

Category:Cranbrook Educational Community alumni Romney, George W. Category:Living people Category:Massachusetts Republicans Mitt Romney Category:People from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Category:People from Detroit, Michigan Category:Romney family Category:United States presidential candidates, 2012 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000