by Leo James
'You should talk to the Malaysian opposition party. The wife of Ahmad Rozhan, former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. The current de facto opposition leader, and leader of the PKR, her name is Dr. Sarimah Rozhan.'
'She is a good person,' Adam said.
'Where is she based?'
'Their headquarters are in George Town Penang, but I think she is based near Penang Hill. I will arrange for you to meet her. She is head of the opposition party, standing in for her husband. He was the opposition party leader until they sentenced him to five years in prison for sodomy with one of his aides. It is common knowledge and belief that this was a set-up by the government to stop the opposition party’s progress. Dr. Rozhan is making great progress opposing the current Prime Minister. Good timing.'
'She sounds as though she might help.' Steve nodded.
'I know her daughter,' Eileen said. 'Arrul Izzah Rozhan. She is a Malaysian politician and the current Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, a district of Kuala Lumpur. I am sure she will make an intro to her mother.'
CHAPTER FIFTY
Tuesday 26th May
STEVE, ADAM AND MAI were early for the meeting with Dr. Sarimah Rozhan at her home in Bukit Bendera, located in the north of Penang. They had overestimated the time to drive the ten kilometres, so took a short detour en route and stopped at a tea terrace restaurant. Steve felt oddly familiar with the place, David Brown's on Strawberry Hill Penang, a quintessential colonial restaurant which reminded him of how the British of the past, tried to create their country abroad.
Mai looked worried, 'Can we trust her?'
'Do we have any choice?' Steve shook his head in resignation. 'You are a local, Adam, what do you think of her? Could she be corrupt?'
'No. She has a very good reputation and defends the rights of the people.'
'Do you think she can help?’ Mai said.
Adam sipped his water. 'She is in opposition and her husband is in jail. I am not sure how much power she has to do anything.'
'Let's find out.' Steve breathed out heavily.
They left the restaurant and drove the short distance to Dr. Rozhan's house. As they drove along the private road leading up to the house, a grand white edifice stood to attention in the distance. The large entrance gates were opened after they had shown their ID’s to the security guards and as they passed through them, Steve spotted a trail of yellow powder running along the perimeter. 'What's the yellow stuff?' Steve peered out of the window.
'Trails of sulphur to keep out the snakes,’ Adam answered.
'What?' I’d like to get hold of some and kill the snake, Prem Jothi!
As they approached the perfectly cut green lawn leading to the magnificent house, it felt like going back in time to a colonial past.
The assistant ushered them through the main hall and into a large drawing room to meet Dr. Rozhan. For a person in high authority, she looked serene. She wore a striking green and purple head veil which extended to make a complete dress covering her body, except for her hands and face. Dr. Rozhan looked studious in her spectacles. Born in Malaysia, educated in the UK and a mother of six. Her parlimentary seat was in the northern state of Penang, which was vacated after her husband was jailed for five years on sodomy charges against a former male aide. Her Party knew the government had fabricated the evidence, so Dr. Rozhan was elected by the political party to step in for her husband during his controversial imprisonment.
They shook hands, exchanged pleasantries, and sat around a large oblong table.
Steve looked around. ‘Thank you for seeing us so quickly. This is a beautiful place.'
Dr. Rozhan smiled and bowed. 'Yes, very British. I love it. Amongst the butterflies, mosses and ferns the colonialists came to escape the fierce heat of George Town below.'
'I can see the attraction,' Steve said.
‘Eileen Yeong tells me you bring serious allegations. How can I help?'
'It's good of you to meet with us. Our aim is to get justice for our two murdered colleagues and the release from jail of another colleague. We have found enough evidence to prove corruption within the Malaysian government, Malaysian police and it also involves high profile businessmen in Malaysia. Can you help us to expose it and get justice?' Steve said.
'You are making serious allegations. We need to be sure of our grounds. The Interior Minister can arrest any Malaysian without trial. No one can challenge convictions. The government has control of the media. They can only operate if licensed by the government. I must be careful. Eileen Yeong must be careful. You need to be sure.'
Steve felt like a broken record explaining yet again the background to the illegal activities and money trail. 'They own condominiums in New York's richest areas. We're sure.'
'Who is responsible?'
'There are at least three prominent Malaysian businessmen and the son-in-law of the Prime Minister of Malaysia. They have at least two high ranking Malaysian policemen in their group,' Steve said.
'If you have the proof, the best way to get justice is to present the evidence to Dr Laksana. He is Malaysia's ex. Prime Minister, in his mid-eighties and longest-serving minister. Dr Laksana has gone on a tirade against Ariff Samahon in recent months, urging the Prime Minister to step down from office because of many scandals. Last week, Dr Laksana again called for him to step down.'
'Could you arrange for us to meet him?' Adam said.
'I will contact him and explain the background to your accusations. Although he has retired, he holds great power and influence in Malaysia. He is a statesman of the Malay ruling party UMNO. He is a leader that the Malay people will listen to. I support the opposition party to UMNO, called PKR. There have been hostilities between the parties, and my husband arrested and imprisoned by the ruling party. I hope he is a just man and will listen. I will try to meet with him and contact you when I find news.'
'Thank you. Much appreciated.' Steve nodded.
######
On the way back from the meeting Adam received a call. 'Hi Eileen, yes thank you. We had a good meeting with Dr. Rozhan. She will introduce us to Dr Laksana, who she thinks will help us… Yes, OK thanks. Why? Who wants to stop the publication? OK, take care and please let no one know where we are staying. Thank you. Goodbye.'
'What's the problem?' Steve asked anxiously.
'That was Eileen Yeong. The paper stopped the publication. This is a major concern.'
'We need to be careful. We are not safe,’ Mai cried.
‘That’s fucking shit!’ Steve said. What do we do? Who can we believe? Have I caused this? Fuck! Think! Think!
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Wednesday 27th May
THEY ARRIVED BACK AT the apartment just after midnight. Steve went straight to bed but could not sleep. Anxious, sweating and heart thumping, he could not shift the adrenaline or the thought of whether they could trust Dr. Rozhan. He decided to call Beth. 'Hiya.’
She replied, 'Hello you, what's the time?'
He brushed his hand through his hair whilst the other hand covered a yawn. ‘Two in the morning.'
‘Can’t you sleep?’
’I’m fine,’ he lied, ‘Thought I’d give you a shout.’
‘We got another letter about the mortgage,‘ Beth said, ‘We need to sort it out Steve, I’m worried.’
'I'll call them tomorrow, don’t worry,’ Steve said.
‘I’m doing my best but it’s a struggle. Trying to stretch to cover the bills. Working part-time just doesn’t cut it. I’ll have to find something full-time. Credit card is nearly at the limit and the house insurance, building content and water bills are all due,’ Beth’s voice tailed off.
‘I’ll talk to Roger and get him to send some money over.’
Fuck. Roger won’t send any over. That’s for sure. Now they have cut us of from Q7, we must be near the overdraft limit again. The pot’s empty.
‘I’m going to talk to a few contacts about getting back into my old job again; full time. We need the money,’ Beth said
.
‘How can you juggle a full-time job, the kids and everything else including Millie?’
‘We’ve got no other choice, Steve,’ Beth said, ‘I’ll have to get help.’
‘As soon as I get sorted here, I’ll be back home,’ Steve said, ’It’ll be OK, Beth. Don’t worry.’
Fuckin hope so!
They chatted about the kids and Millie’s progress during her pregnancy.
Steve missed home so much.
When will this nightmare end?
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Thursday 28th May
ACCOMPANIED BY THREE OF her staff, Dr. Sarimah Rozhan travelled to Kuala Lumpur from Penang arriving at the home of Dr Laksana, Malaysia's ex. Prime Minister. They were greeted by an assistant and taken into a large drawing room. They sat at the dining table and the assistant served them tea and coffee. Dr Laksana and one of his staff came into the room. Dr. Rozhan and her colleagues stood up and bowed to acknowledge Dr Laksana as he and his aide sat at the table.
As this was a meeting between two opposition groups, both parties were diplomatic and cagey in their mannerisms and speech, mainly discussing non-political current events. After several topics’ Dr Laksana gestured to his aide and assistant, and they both left the room. He nodded towards Dr. Rozhan who asked her own staff to leave the house and wait in the car.
Once they were alone, Dr Laksana held her hand. 'Sorry to hear your husband is in prison.'
She bowed her head slightly. 'Thank you. He is innocent. The Prime Minister framed him. I will carry on in my husband's name whilst he is in prison. I know we are from opposing parties, but you are a good man and Ariff Samahon is an atrocious man.'
'We lobbied for Ariff Samahon to become Prime Minister because of our gratitude to his father, Tun Abdul Samahon,' Dr Laksana said, 'he was my mentor and idol. He paved the way for his son, Ariff Samahon to take over as Prime Minister later. When you are thankful to someone who has died, you want to repay them through their children.'
'I understand.' Dr. Rozhan nodded.
'So, we ensured Samahon's son became Prime Minister. I don’t want to betray Samahon's memory, but I cannot keep silent any longer, because of Ariff's terrible actions. I thought I was choosing a good man. Absolute power corrupts even the greatest leaders. He doesn’t have to ask the permission of the Cabinet before he does or decides anything.'
'I have information which will help you to remove him from his position.' She pointed to a folder on the table.
Dr Laksana looked across and nodded. 'I know we are on opposing sides but we both have the interest of our country at heart. Thank you for your help and loyalty to our country.’
'The evidence in here proves corruption within the our government, the police and some high-profile businessmen in Malaysia. The corruption is making millions of ringgit for the Ariff Samahon family.' She pushed the folder towards Dr Laksana, keeping her hand on top.
He nodded.
'I need you to help me too,’ she said.
'How can I help?' he asked.
‘Help free my husband from prison, get the charges dropped. Our parties have differences, but we have Malaysia in our hearts.'
'I will try to help you.'
'One more request. This evidence has been found by a British citizen, together with the brother of one of the corrupt Malaysian businessmen and a Vietnamese subject. Another British citizen has been framed and is in prison. I need you to pardon him, and help all four of them with safe passage back to the UK or any other country of their preference?'
'If they can help to remove Ariff Samahon, we must help them,' Dr Laksana said.
Dr. Rozhan pushed the folder further across the table to Dr Laksana and removed her hand… 'This folder has the details of the bank accounts and companies involved in Malaysia, Singapore and New York. The shareholding shows details of the ownership trail. The documents also detail the real estate held in the US.' All the evidence is captured electronically on the disk drive included.
'Is there any involvement in drugs?' he asked.
'Yes. The British subjects are computer experts. They found a lot of corruption,’ she answered.
'Can you estimate how much they laundered?' Dr Laksana opened the folder carefully.
'The estimate is one point two billion US dollars in sales and eighty million US dollars in commission, so far.'
'When I was in office, I recognised the need for computer forensic ability in the country. I asked the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to set-up CyberSecurity Malaysia under its control for computer forensic matters. I will need their support and to involve our military commanders.'
‘I hope this evidence is sufficient for your needs and that we can reach a mutually beneficial and positive outcome. Contact me again if you need any further assistance’ Dr. Rozhan said.
'Thank you’, Dr Laksana smiled.
They both stood up, bowed to each other and Dr. Rozhan left the room and joined her staff for the journey back to Penang.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
Monday 1st June
A REPRESENTATIVE OF DR Laksana had called them the previous day and asked to meet. They were fearful of going back to Kuala Lumpur, but Steve felt they had no choice but to trust Dr Laksana.
After the long journey, they reached the city. They headed along the handsome tree-lined avenue of a large private house and diplomatic residence, past the Royal Selangor Golf Club in the north area of the city.
Steve narrowed his gaze. 'I hope this journey is worth it. It's dangerous for us being anywhere near Kuala Lumpur.'
'Yes, I hope so too. Dr Laksana is a very important man in Malaysia,' Adam said.
‘Am I OK to come to meeting or should I stay in car?’ Mai asked nervously.
’No, we are a team.’ Steve smiled.
‘As a woman from Vietnam?’ Mai said.
‘Yes, you should be with us,’ Adam endorsed Steve’s answer.
They arrived at the entrance to Dr Laksana's very expansive property and stopped at the sentry point. A soldier in full uniform, with an assortment of weapons, including a rifle, asked for their ID's and radioed the house. He opened the barrier and Adam drove his car along the road, and up to the house.
Steve looked at the house set in a tropical landscape. 'Reminds me of colonial British India.’
'Yes, a colonial house owned by the British before Malaysia's independence,’ Adam said, ‘A long time before Malaysia and Singapore split as countries, with riots here between the Malays and Singaporeans, back in the sixties.'
'I didn't know you were a history buff?’ Steve smiled.
'There are many things you do not know about me. This part of Kuala Lumpur is one of the most sought after addresses in Malaysia,’ Adam continued.
On arrival at the house, a well-dressed concierge directed them to a parking spot just beyond the entrance.
'Nice motors,’ Steve remarked as he looked at the parked vehicles.
‘Those are diplomat limousines.’
Once out of the car, the concierge ushered them into the house. A magnificent hallway with antique furniture and an enormous crystal glass chandelier hanging over the opulent double stairway greeted them.
They were shown into a large sitting room, which featured a grand stone fireplace, and a Persian rug centre piece. Dr Laksana was sitting on a plush camel-back sofa positioned opposite two identical sofas on the other side of a large mahogany coffee table.
'Good morning. I am Dr Laksana. Good to meet you.'
They reciprocated before they sat down next to two men regaled in striking Malaysian official uniforms.
Dr Laksana pointed to the army officers. 'May I introduce Sri Khalid bin Abu Bakar, Inspector General of Police at the Commercial Crime Investigation Department – CCID. Tan Sri Kassim, Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission – MACC.'
They completed the formalities and Steve gave the officers a complete update, and a breakdown of the technical invest
igation and findings.
Dr Laksana opened the conversation. 'We thank you for the information you have provided. I have asked Inspector General Bakar and Chief Commissioner Kassim to form a joint operation to investigate Prem Jothi, Cliff Lin and the son-in-law of Ariff Samahon. We will also investigate Sergeant TetLeong and Superintendent Anwar,'
The two officers nodded in agreement.
‘Perhaps it would be useful if you could give us some background on your dealings with Q7 and how this has all unfolded?’ Dr Laksana said.
Steve summarised the events to date.
'Thank you, Mr Roussos,' Inspector General Bakar said. 'We will set-up a covert investigation room in George Town.'
‘Would you be willing to wear a wire?’ Chief Commissioner Kassim said, ’I know it is dangerous, but can you do this?’ He directed the question to all three of them.
Steve thought for a few moments. ’We have forensic data which should prove them guilty, but I understand if we could get a confession that would help enormously.’
'Can you provide the forensic data?' Chief Commissioner Kassim said.
'OK, we have a complete copy of the data across two Linux computers back at the apartment,' Steve said.
'We will collect the systems from you.' Chief Commissioner Kassim nodded.
'Great,' Steve said.
’Tomorrow,’ Chief Commissioner Kassim said.
'Do you want to move to the operation centre at the police station in George Town for your protection?' Dr Laksana said.
'Thank you. Let us discuss this and get back to you,' Steve said.
Dr Laksana nodded.
######
Although they had a four-hour journey ahead of them, they were glad to be heading away from Kuala Lumpur.
'Can we trust them?' Mai asked.
Steve raised his eyebrows. 'I trust no one, but I guess we have no choice. I'm not sure about moving to George Town. What if they are corrupt too?’
