Jed Yoong

Asia Sentinel: Tangled up in Bumi: Disgraced Former Malaysian Banker Linked to Irish Premier’s Fall

Posted in famous malaysians, international, macam2ada, politics by jedyoong on April 5th, 2008

OOpps. My article in Asia Sentinel came out today. So had to post it. ;)

Jed Yoong
AsiaSentinel.Com
05 April 2008

Lorrain Esme Osman, who was at the center of the Bank Bumiputra scandal, appears to be a factor in the downfall of Bertie Ahern

The abrupt resignation in Dublin Wednesday of Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern over allegations of corruption in land planning in the 1990s brings back to the stage the name of Lorrain Esme Osman, the central figure in what 25 years ago was the world’s biggest banking scandal, the collapse of Bank Bumiputra Malaysia.

Lorrain now is the subject of an inquiry into a rezoning scheme worth £7.75 million over one of Ireland’s most storied pieces of property, the site of the Battle of the Boyne, fought between Protestants and Catholics in 1690 in a vain attempt, backed by the French, to restore the Catholic King James to the throne.

Ahern has been battling allegations for months that he secretly received massive amounts of cash from businessmen in the mid 1990s. He resigned suddenly after an Irish Times report that said a tribunal looking into his affairs was going over accounts controlled by himself, his daughters, a former girlfriend and his local political party office from 1988 through 1997. The accounts were said to total as much as 452,000 Irish pounds (US$897,845 in today’s dollars). He has denied the allegations.

Continue reading @ AsiaSentinel.Com

5 Responses to 'Asia Sentinel: Tangled up in Bumi: Disgraced Former Malaysian Banker Linked to Irish Premier’s Fall'

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  1. ktemoc said, on April 5th, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    good article - well written Jed ;-)

  2. kowtim said, on April 5th, 2008 at 11:07 pm

    Well, well , the 3 Muskeeters are still around. By the way, is Lorrain Esme still staying at St John’s Wood. What are the missing duo; Rais Saniman and Hashim Shamsuddin doing? Better ask them to return home and do us a “Bertie Ahern” Malaysian Style. Maybe they can seek the help of George Tan if they are not strong enough. Anyone knows if the great Mak Fook Than is released or still languishing in HongKi penitentiary or maybe Jiang ZiMin had put a bullet through his head. So the saying ” A leopard never change its spots ” is always true.

  3. Joshua said, on April 5th, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    first time reading jed’s article. so privileged. ;)

  4. hutchrun said, on April 6th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    In 1987, when former BMF director Hashim Shamsuddin was charged in Hong Kong, further embarrassment for Ku Li surfaced. According to a statement of facts agreed by both prosecution and defense some of the proceeds from corrupt payments had been passed to Razaleigh.

    In a statement of mitigation, counsel for Hashim said the most important figure in the affair was Lorrain Osman.
    http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1113&Itemid=31

  5. lesterchan said, on April 6th, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    wah! jed… there’s a huge difference between when you are paid to write and when you are not. ha ha :)

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