6.72 Billion dollars from the Malaysian public funds has been transferred and arrived to the Kuwaiti royal family through fake accounts. Money which has never been seen since, and yet it seems no one is doing anything about it even after 2 years of this news being publicly released and verified. Since the Wall Street Journal has uncovered this truth, the Kuwaiti and Malaysian government has been trying to bury it. It is time to wake up and pressure the government of both sides to recover Malaysia’s funds and bring answers.

The 1MDB Affair is an international embezzlement scandal. According to the FBI, “the most serious case of kleptocracy in the world”.

The victim is Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund and therefore the Malaysian people who have been robbed. Several billion US dollars have been embezzled. The central actor in this misappropriation is the Malaysian billionaire Jho Low and the Family of the former prime minister of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah.

This affair was updated by the Wall Street Journal and the Sarawak Report in 2020.

Since 2020, three whistleblowers, French businessman Bachar Kiwan, Kuwaiti Colonel Faisal al-Sabah, and Kuwaiti Colonel Nasser al-Tayar, have revealed the Kuwaiti part of the 1MDB affair, where some of the embezzled funds were transferred to bank accounts of members of Kuwait’s ruling family, with the help of several senior officials and the State authorities. 

It is a matter of vital importance for the Malaysian population. However, for more than two years, it is clear that Kuwait’s Anti-Corruption Authority (NAZAHA) and the general prosecutor of Kuwait has been practicing a real Omertà (code of silence), the worst mafia practice, in order to cover up the involvement of these personalities. You must realize that this policy of burying your head in the sand is no longer tenable.

In this regard, we remind you that Malaysia and Kuwait are both signatories to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, of November 15, 2000, which makes it compulsory for the signatories to fully cooperate in combatting such type of crime.

However, several reliable sources prove that no serious investigation has been conducted on the behalf of Kuwait, neither by NAZAHA nor by the general prosecutor and that they are even about to dismiss the entire case without any further action.

This is a suicidal way of tackling the problem, as the foreseeable consequences for the image, credibility and the relationship between Malaysia and Kuwait will be greatly hurt.

Several billion US dollars of Malaysian public funds have been embezzled. Trying to cover up the affair, stubbornly refusing to allow Malaysia to obtain the truth and the restitution to which it is entitled, is in effect proclaiming to the world that the State of Kuwait is a thief, a hypocrite, and an untrustworthy business partner. In good conscience, we are certain that Kuwait cannot agree to bring dishonor on its own Country.

This embezzlement scheme could not have existed without the active participation of several Kuwaiti dignitaries and senior officials, some of whom we have also identified. The funds diverted to Kuwait arrived via transfers from China and Hong Kong, to the bank accounts of fictitious companies at the Kuwaiti branch of the Chinese bank ICBC

(see table 1).

The three key Kuwaiti persons who managed these accounts are:

-Sheikh Sabah Jaber el Mubarak el Sabah, member of the princely family and son of a former Prime Minister;
-Mr. Hamad Ali Al Wazzan, businessman;
-Mr. Soud Abd El Mohsen, lawyer.

At least 17 other personalities were accomplices or whistleblowers in this case

(see Table 2).

All things considered, none of these individuals have been questioned by Kuwaiti authorities through an investigation with regard to this case.

Furthermore, when NAZAHA (Kuwaiti anti-corruption commission) and MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) met on several occasions, Kuwait did not provide the Malaysian counterpart with any response, information, or show any cooperation. Once again, in a mafia-like logic of Omertà, Kuwait even went so far as to advise the MACC not to refer to a whistleblower from the Kuwaiti side of the 1MDB Affair (MRs Dashti who clearly advised against any communication with whistleblowers).

Taking this into consideration there are very serious doubts on the real capacity and willingness of the Kuwaiti judiciary to get to the truth, punish the guilty, and return to Malaysia the billions of US dollars embezzled for the benefit of the most blatantly corrupt branch of the Kuwaiti royal family. Returning all the stolen public money to Malaysia is the most obvious moral and legal responsibility. It is a matter of honor for Kuwait.

Therefore, Kuwait should understand that at this stage of the case cooperating with Malaysia is unavoidable, while refusing to cooperate is simply unimagineable. Indeed, if Kuwait insists on sticking to code of silence, the Malaysian people will demand that their representatives take the case to the International Court of Justice, in accordance with the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of November 15, 2000 (which Kuwait has signed). The members of the princely family and the senior officials of your State bodies involved in this case would then be brought before this Court, and almost certainly sentenced to relatively heavy penalties. The State of Kuwait would also in all likelihood be ordered to return to Malaysia all misappropriated funds, in addition to substantial damages and interests.

Kuwait's State apparatus has been used to cover up misappropriated funds transfers. The judiciary has been complicit due to its silence and passivity. At this stage Kuwait itself is also complicit, in particular because it is obstructing rather than cooperating with requests from the Malaysian authorities. Going into more depth, the involvement of members of the ruling family and senior officials means that this affair, with its extremely serious ramifications extending right to the heart of Kuwait’s power, poses a grave danger to the legitimacy of the Kuwaiti elites as a whole. In other words, does Kuwait, through its non-cooperation, want to be seen by the entire business community as an untrustworthy kleptocracy as a trading partner?

The evidence disclosed by the media has identified several transfers of these embezzled funds. These include international transfers and internal transfers in Kuwait (Table 3). We demand that Kuwait provide all documentation in its possession of these transfers, as this will identify all of the ramifications of this transnational crime.

(See Table 3)

In addition to this, there were several very substantial transfers of jewelry, watches, perfumery products, precious essences, private jets, and real estate companies. These funds were therefore partly used to finance the lifestyle of Sheikh Jaber al Sabah (former prime minister of Kuwait) and his family. They were also partly used to make financial and real estate investments in the United States and England.

Kuwait has had this information for several years. We demand, before it is too late that the matter is referred to the International Court of Justice by the Malaysian government, so that Kuwait provides the following information to Malaysia:

1. All transfers received at ICBC Bank Kuwait Branch accounts and all supporting documentation;

2.The names of all entities having received transfers of these funds, the names of the officers and shareholders of these entities, and all documentation;

3. The names of all persons involved locally in Kuwait in the 1MDB Case;

4. All investigation reports already carried out by the Kuwaiti authorities on this case but kept secret;

5. The full minutes of the meeting between the Kuwaiti Prime Minister and Mr. Jho Low dated April 19, 2016;

6. All reports from the Kuwaiti authorities on the ATNB Malaysian land acquisition transaction;

7. The list of all seized or frozen accounts related to this case;

8. All exchanges and letters concerning this case;

9. Written authorization to meet Colonel Faisal al Sabah and Colonel Nasser el Tayar, whistleblowers in this case;

10. All information relating to the accounts, contracts and financial interests of Mr. Jho Low in Kuwait;

11. All information on CCCC Group activities in Kuwait;

12. A precise timeline of the entire case and of the decisions and actions of the Kuwaiti government in this case.

In 2017 and 2018, Sheikh Sabah, son of Sheikh Jaber Mubarak el-Sabah and member of the Kuwaiti ruling family, invested in the purchase of land in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, owned by the Malaysian government, named Ayer Itam, worth 4.25 billion Ringgit (650 million USD).

Additionally tens of millions of dollars of stolen Malaysian funds (The 1MDB Fund) were invested into the SUMMIT ACTION FUND LLC US & UK and its subsidiariesImportant message to the Summit Fund Board and all related parties, We believe that the management of the fund and all related parties are not aware of this laundering scheme. Which is why we want accountability and justice. Since 2016 all money injected into your fund from Hamad Al Wazan or coming from Kuwait (At least $50 Million) are stolen Malaysian funds.

We ask the SUMMIT ACTION FUND LLC ( US & UK) that these stolen funds are frozen immediately and returned to the Malaysian people.

(See Table 4)

In conclusion, as part of the Kuwaiti involvement in the 1MDB Case, Kuwait must therefore return to Malaysia all of the following amounts:

(See Table 5)

We must salute the courage of the three whistleblowers who stood up against the fraud and denounced this transnational crime at the cost of their freedom, and we must salute the courage of the Kuwaiti parliamentarians and activists who expressed their anger at seeing the state of Kuwait involved in this scandal and it is by counting on them and the friendship and respect between our two nations that we will succeed in bringing the truth and recovering our embezzled funds

Together we can make a change and recover the stolen funds for Malaysia. We need to be united and share this petition with people around us to pressure the Kuwaiti and Malaysian government to do their job and get the Money back, together we are strong.