The Australian government has issued an unprecedented blanket gag order prohibiting anyone in Australia from reporting the names of the current or past leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia or Vietnam “or their relatives and other senior officials” in connection with a multimillion dollar bribery case apparently involving contracts for bank notes in each of the countries.
It isn’t known how the Southeast Asian leaders, totaling 17, are connected to the bribery case, which has been called the biggest scandal in Australian history. But they include three Malaysian prime ministers – Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and current Premier Najib Tun Razak – as well as former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin and former international trade and commerce minister Rafidah Aziz. It also includes Abdullah Badawi’s sister-in-law, Puan Noni.
The gag order also includes two Indonesian presidents, Megawati Sukarnoputri and current leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the current Vietnam President, Truong Tan San as well as lesser officials.
In June, seven senior executives of the Reserve Bank of Australia, the country’s central bank, were secretly indicted on allegations that partly owned subsidiaries, Securency and Note Printing Australia, had paid bribes to government officials of the three countries and others to obtain contracts to supply polymer banknotes. The scandal has been percolating in all of the countries behind the scenes for months if not years.
“This is the worst corruption scandal in our history, not because of the amount of money that's been involved, but because the most respected institutions of our country have failed to discharge their responsibilities to the public," Dr. David Chaikin of the University of Sydney Business School told the Sydney Morning Herald. Full story...
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It isn’t known how the Southeast Asian leaders, totaling 17, are connected to the bribery case, which has been called the biggest scandal in Australian history. But they include three Malaysian prime ministers – Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and current Premier Najib Tun Razak – as well as former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin and former international trade and commerce minister Rafidah Aziz. It also includes Abdullah Badawi’s sister-in-law, Puan Noni.
The gag order also includes two Indonesian presidents, Megawati Sukarnoputri and current leader Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the current Vietnam President, Truong Tan San as well as lesser officials.
In June, seven senior executives of the Reserve Bank of Australia, the country’s central bank, were secretly indicted on allegations that partly owned subsidiaries, Securency and Note Printing Australia, had paid bribes to government officials of the three countries and others to obtain contracts to supply polymer banknotes. The scandal has been percolating in all of the countries behind the scenes for months if not years.
“This is the worst corruption scandal in our history, not because of the amount of money that's been involved, but because the most respected institutions of our country have failed to discharge their responsibilities to the public," Dr. David Chaikin of the University of Sydney Business School told the Sydney Morning Herald. Full story...
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