The ‘Lone Gunman’ Behind the Investigation into 1MDB
“Big Brother is watching you” – 1984, George Orwell
Big Brother alive and kicking indeed.
From the time he first went to see Najib, Datuk Seri Khairuddin’s life came under close scrutiny. For every move he made, there was a counter-move. As he says cheekily, “My wife has been very upset with me the last few years.”
He insists he is the “lone gunman” behind the investigation into 1MDB.
“In this struggle to seek the truth, I have lost almost everything. My penthouse in Mont Kiara has been auctioned, my companies destroyed, all my licenses revoked and all my bank accounts and assets that I own have been frozen.”
With Big Brother Najib on his tail, he was fired from his position in the party in March 2015. His sacking was in accordance with the UMNO constitution and UMNO Conference Regulations. It is also in accordance with Section 9A(1)(d) of the Societies Act, which states that an undischarged bankrupt cannot hold positions in an organisation.
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He was declared a bankrupt by the court on 24 May 2014 and a report on his bankruptcy was sent to the UMNO headquarters. Strangely, it took UMNO more than two years to dismiss him and the timing conveniently coincided with Khairuddin lodging reports with the international authorities.
In September 2015, his lawyer Matthias Chang announced that “Khairuddin has been arrested under Act 124C for allegations of attempting to overthrow the government.”
One month later, Chang himself was charged under the same Act, and he went on a hunger strike for seven days until health issues prevented him from continuing his strike.
Khairuddin has always insisted that he has acted alone. It is well known that Chang is associated with Tun Mahathir, and some speculated that Tun M was the secret hand guiding the investigations. However, Khairuddin insists that “I have always believed that one of us needs to sacrifice to make it happen. I never got assistance from anyone to seek the truth…” Although he does state in the next sentence, “Tun Dr Mahathir is always my mentor and source of inspiration.
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