Thread: BNM Short news on the investigation

Let's take a bet on how many phonecalls the king will get about pips.

Michael, I suspect you are correct inasmuch as it would be difficult for Marsden himself to issue a statement. However, I am surpised that his attorney has not done so - this would be a more or less normal procedure for a company under any sort of investigation.
Also, one should bear in mind that the "King" referred to is not the king of Malaysia but only the quasi major domo of Negari Sembilan. It is also worth bearing in mind that he is generally regarded as one of the more corrupt of the eight "Kings" of Malaysia - and not very highly regarded by the government. I do speak as one with personal knowledge of the region, by the way.

Originally Posted by michaelr

Hi Mike

I have to disagree with you about the gag order as you call it. IMHO it is quite likely that the BN has the power to apply to the Courts for an injunction to prevent publication of information which is in their possession while they are conducting an investigation. They have restricted Bryans movements by having his passport and personal assets frozen as is already well known and I am sure they would want to restrain him from publishing anything while they consider that the case is sub judice.

Even if no injunction had been served it would not be in Bryans interest or ours for him to say anything that might prolong the investigation. By this I mean that every statement, comment or utterance by him in a public place will be recorded and the reactions of the readers studied by the investigators. Until there is no such activity I believe they will not close their files.

With regards to the involvement of the King this is not a hereditary position in Malaysia. The King is elected every five years and they do have sociological and political influence. Giving visible support to Bryans business ventures means in my view that he was giving his seal of approval to the humanitarian projects in particular as well as to the employment and urban regeneration possibilities that the businesses were carrying out in his Kingdom or Sultanate.

If what you are saying is that the King has asked the BNM to work with Bryan and not against him then that is also quite possible although how much influence he would have over a regulatory body is open to debate.

You also seem to be assuming that the investigation is centered around fraud. I have not actually seen that stated anywhere by the BN but then I might not have been looking in the right places!

I had thought that the investigation was concerned with the contravention of licensing regulations in Malaysia which would probably have been fairly black and white had we made investments but as I understand it loan debentures are a greyer area and this may be what is taking the time.

They may also be challenging the measures that were taken to place the businesses beyond their jurisdiction. There is also a lot of reform taking place in the financial services industry in Malaysia and so there may be some reluctance to pursue a case which would be out of date before it was heard.

Some of this information is heresay from people I spoke to when I was in Malaysia recently but it seems to me to carry some credence.

Just a couple of bobs worth as usual,

Michael

Good post!
Do you have more bobs?

Michael,
I hope that everyone reads what you have written and takes note. I find it quite bewildering that after the number of times people have been advised to refrain from interfering or making enquiries certain of them still find it neccessary to do so. When will they learn that such actions can only serve to slow down the possible return of Pips.

Originally Posted by Carlton Lewis

Michael, I suspect you are correct inasmuch as it would be difficult for Marsden himself to issue a statement. However, I am surpised that his attorney has not done so - this would be a more or less normal procedure for a company under any sort of investigation.
Also, one should bear in mind that the "King" referred to is not the king of Malaysia but only the quasi major domo of Negari Sembilan. It is also worth bearing in mind that he is generally regarded as one of the more corrupt of the eight "Kings" of Malaysia - and not very highly regarded by the government. I do speak as one with personal knowledge of the region, by the way.

Wow, this thread is becoming more interesting by the minute!

I guess now it revolves on "Where is the official statement on what the charges are against pips". Right?

Originally Posted by Carlton Lewis

Michael, I suspect you are correct inasmuch as it would be difficult for Marsden himself to issue a statement. However, I am surpised that his attorney has not done so - this would be a more or less normal procedure for a company under any sort of investigation.
Also, one should bear in mind that the "King" referred to is not the king of Malaysia but only the quasi major domo of Negari Sembilan. It is also worth bearing in mind that he is generally regarded as one of the more corrupt of the eight "Kings" of Malaysia - and not very highly regarded by the government. I do speak as one with personal knowledge of the region, by the way.

BINGO............

That was my point, it makes no logical sense why a statement of affairs cannot be posted on BN site, or by attorney for they could not possibly be under any kind of gag order like Bryan appears to be. This is what it is called in U.S., but not matter what infromation they may not want releases, according to Michaelr, certainly a general statement would not be restricted under normal cases, and that is the point I was making. In my experience, this is totally crazy to keep all of us in the dark for this long.

As to Bryan's King buddy being the most corrupt, this was my point, something is happening behind the scenes that more and more points in this direction. I would agree with Michaelr on this point, Malaysia is trying to put their best foot forward as having a trustworthy banking system, and imagine what it would look like if the truth was released on this whole PIPS fiasco? I can see the headlines now, which I won't repeat here. LOL

Good luck to all, Mike

Originally Posted by Carlton Lewis

Also, one should bear in mind that the "King" referred to is not the king of Malaysia but only the quasi major domo of Negari Sembilan. It is also worth bearing in mind that he is generally regarded as one of the more corrupt of the eight "Kings" of Malaysia - and not very highly regarded by the government. I do speak as one with personal knowledge of the region, by the way.

I was curious if this will come into discussion. A few months ago it came to my attention an article portraying the Negari family as the most corrupted and manipulating (if I remember well, they bought their way to the royalty by manipulation, as they were not the rightful candidates to the throne). At the time of reading the article, I was wondering why Bryan gets involved with these kind of people.

it seems more and more to me like Bryan aligned himself with these"TRUSTWORTHY" people .......maybe the conspiracy theme that many on here would like for us all to believe is not that at all ......food for thought anyhow...its hard to believe that Bryan was "THIS" much in the dark about certain individuals.....at least the :KING"......hmmmmm.....i agree with u MIKE{OSW}....the strangest case i have ever seen ....by far.....it will be good to finally.IF EVER,here the "REAL' truth and story IMHO....Pat

Originally Posted by Offshore-Wealth.com

BINGO............

That was my point, it makes no logical sense why a statement of affairs cannot be posted on BN site, or by attorney for they could not possibly be under any kind of gag order like Bryan appears to be. This is what it is called in U.S., but not matter what infromation they may not want releases, according to Michaelr, certainly a general statement would not be restricted under normal cases, and that is the point I was making. In my experience, this is totally crazy to keep all of us in the dark for this long.

As to Bryan's King buddy being the most corrupt, this was my point, something is happening behind the scenes that more and more points in this direction. I would agree with Michaelr on this point, Malaysia is trying to put their best foot forward as having a trustworthy banking system, and imagine what it would look like if the truth was released on this whole PIPS fiasco? I can see the headlines now, which I won't repeat here. LOL

Good luck to all, Mike

I have also been puzzled about this. Let us not forget however that in the first months of the investigation Bryan did not have an attorney as he had no access to funds whatsoever. A limited amount was made available by a whip round amongst pioneers but my impression has been that there has been no on-going representation as such, rather a series of consultations as and when necessary.

This has reinforced my growing belief that there is unlikely now (and I hope I am not tempting providence) to be any prosecution. My personal belief and hope for what it is worth is that a restructured business will be allowed to trade but that much emphasis will be placed on conformity and compliance issues before that can happen. That there was a Malaysian Director on the Board who was an accountant and speciallist in the field of Banking reulations indicates that Bryan was always perfectly aware of the need for care to be taken especially given the post 9/11 paranoia in the Banking Industry.

Alan Foo Ming Lam (Executive Director of PureInvestor)
A qualified accountant by training and profession. Alan is also a graduate in Food Science from Wyoming University, USA. His initial years as an accountant, between 1989 and 1994 with Tor & Cp, a Kuala Lumpur-based public accountants, exposed him to auditing, accounting, taxation and financial consultancy.

Eising from an audit trainee to general manager of Tor & Co, Alan took on more complex tasks, includinf financial consultancy for SMIs in multiple industries.

Five years later he joined as a business partner in Cheng & Co, another Kuala Lumpur-based public accountant and was primarily involved in business development activity of the firm, adding new top-notch companies to its portfolio of clients.

In 1996, Alan was appointed executive director of Top Assignments Consulting and since then he has been actively involved in the development of SMIs in Malaysia between 1997 and 2000, Alan has successfully assisted in securing close to RM90 million in loans for more than 20 companies from major commercial and goverment banks in Malaysia.

As the executive director of consulting firm for SMLs, Alan holds regular dialogue with Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara), Credit Guarantee Corporation, Goverment Development Banks, the Malaysia Economic Planning Unit, under the Prime minister's Department, the Ministry of Finance in Malaysia and Commercial Banks, including offshore banks.

One also wonders if Mr Lam is still holding "regular dialogue" with BN or whether Bryan has been left to carry the whole weight of this onerous investigation on his own?

Just another couple of bobs worth

Michael

Michael,
younare far too inexpensive. Your 'couple of bobs worth' is always very informative and I am grateful for it
Peter