Raghad’s viral photos highlight Taib’s insane wealth and years of alleged corruption

[UPDATE 21/2/24]: Earlier this morning, Taib passed away at a hospital in KL.

Belum habis cerita about Tun Daim and already there’s another oligarch hogging the limelight. If you’re anything like the everyday Malaysian who enjoys doom scrolling on social media, chances are you would’ve seen these pictures floating around:

It’s as they say–the woman on the right is Raghad Waleed Alkurdi, the wife of the former Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud. And based on the picture on the left, netizens speculate she’s in the process of packing up to move out of her husband’s mansion, though *cough* finding a place big enough for all that stuff is gonna be a real headache.

At first glance, you might think this whole thing is just another chaotic love saga. But in truth, 87-year-old Taib was recently in hospital and in a pretty bad state, up until the moment his wife allegedly whisked him away right under his doctor’s nose. In the original report, the word “absconded” was used, so you can probably see why these pictures have netizens in such a chokehold. It’s come to the point that even the police are involved.

Raghad took to her Instagram to refute those claims by posting Taib’s discharge papers. Though she probably meant to prove everything was legit, it’s kinda sus a bummer that the writing is barely legible.

But why the drama? Why the flurry of conspiracy theories? Well, things may start to make more sense once you find out what’s at stake: Billions of Ringgit. But before we get into that, turns out, this isn’t the first time that Raghad has found herself under public scrutiny.

Raghad allegedly got her Malaysian IC at record breaking speed

If Raghad’s name is new to you, it might interest you to learn that she was originally Syrian before tying the knot with Taib. She’s Malaysian now, along with her two sons from her previous marriage. And hey, you might have spotted one of her sons in that TikTok video that’s been making rounds recently.

Reminder that Taib Mahmud's "bumiputera Melanau" stepson (Raghad's son) ate a burger on TikTok & wiped his mouth obnoxiously with cash that probably belongs to the people of Sarawak. 🤮 (Video credit: Sarawak Report) https://t.co/VohGV794vV pic.twitter.com/NdSR3Gs61X

— Annoyed Malaysian 🇲🇾 (@annoyedmsian) February 6, 2024

They say money can’t buy you happiness, but it can certainly pay for your treatment after you wipe a wad of germ-loaded cash all over your mouth 🤧 Anyways, the issue here is that both Raghad and her sons were given citizenship and native Melanau status within six years of her marriage to Taib. While that might seem like a lengthy (and fairly reasonable) period to the average Malaysian, it’s actually quite brief. So brief, in fact, that it might be against the law.

You see, Raghad could have acquired her citizenship in two ways: either by marrying a Malaysian or through naturalization. The thing is, no matter which path she took, she’d need at least 7 years to see the process through. And that’s considered an optimistic estimate. Once you factor in the customary bureaucratic hurdles, it can actually take upwards of a decade to secure a Malaysian IC.

To add salt to injury, she and her sons were accorded Melanau statuses, which are notoriously hard to acquire even for Sarawakians themselves. Most of the locals born into mix marriages can’t inherit lands because the rules are so strict and tedious. According to Sarawakian activist, Peter John Jaban, it’s totally unfair that Raghad and her sons have gained such easy access to wealth and status denied to true natives.

“We are facing the very real prospect that this Syria-born woman, with precious little connection to Sarawak other than an advantageous marriage, might walk away with a fortune in Sarawak’s wealth,” –Peter John Jaban via Malay Mail

Now wait a minute…. how exactly is she walking away with Sarawak’s wealth?

Raghad, Taib and the kids are in court fighting over millions in Sarawak company shares

Why watch Desperate Housewives when all you have to do is tune into Malaysian politics? Seriously, this story has it all:

• A geriatric billionaire husband,
• A young attractive wife,
• Kids hauling their stepmom to court over her sudden windfall of millions in shares from the family company

Um, wait–what?

So sometime last year, two of Taib’s biological sons, including ex-Deputy Minister of Tourism, Sulaiman Abdul Rahman, filed an injuction against their stepmom, Raghad. The reason? They weren’t too thrilled about her getting her hands on some 50 million Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB) shares.

For those who don’t know, CMSB is basically a Big Brother conglomerate in Sarawak that has its fingers dipped in many lucrative ventures. Whether it’s development or construction or investment, they’re the epitome of ‘been there, done that’. And as it so happens, CMSB is what many would consider to be the Taib family company. We’ll circle back to this part in a bit, but what you should know right now is that Taib’s late wife, Laila, owned a major stake in it.

Now at present, Laila’s shares were meant to be passed down to her children, but in an unexpected turn, they’ve somehow ended up with Raghad. The order purportedly came from Taib himself but the real plot twist here is the allegation, as per court proceedings, that Taib’s signature could have been falsified.

The case is currently pending so we’ll find out soon enough whether the transfer was genuine, but truth be told, there’s a bigger, more concerning matter that this whole ordeal has raised question to and that is– how rich is Taib, really?

One modest gain for Taib’s wealth, one giant stolen livelihood from an entire Sarawak community

Well, let’s just put it this way–here’s his mansion of a house:

We could honestly just end this here but let’s talk numbers instead 😍.

Back in 2012, Bruno Manser Fonds, a Swiss-based NGO, dropped a bombshell report estimating Taib’s family assets at a massive RM64 billion. Taib alone was supposedly worth RM46 billion. To put things in perspective, as of 2024, Malaysia’s richest man Robert Kuok clocks in at RM56 billion. Meaning to say, Taib could very well top Malaysia’s richest list, if he declared his assets that is.

Now you might be wondering, why did Bruno Manser Fund write that report? And here’s where things get messy. For years Taib has actually been linked with widespread corruption, and in particular, corruption related to timber logging. Reports surfaced over illegally shipped timber to Hong Kong, with its profits allegedly laundered in Canada. All these shady transactions seem to circle back to his many affiliated companies. And just how many companies does he own, you ask?

….Over 400!!

And among these 400 is CMSB, the company that Taib’s kids and his wife are currently fighting over. Now, the story with CMSB is that it was once a state-owned entity until the 90s when, under Taib’s reign, it got privatized and ended up in the possession of his family. Ever since then, it has benefitted from state contracts worth around RM5 billion, all granted between 1993 and 2013 without the hassle of proper public tender procedures.

Frankly speaking, we’ve barely scratched the tip of the sheer scale of his empire and all the wrongdoings he’s allegedly committed. So, why haven’t the authorities done anything about it?

Surprise, surprise, MACC has opened and closed multiple investigations into Taib

In 2014, a petition by DAP detailed the extent of Taib’s crimes. In his pursuit for wealth, he had mass displaced natives from their homes by using their lands for mega projects. His environmental offences are equally as severe, with Sarawak’s primary forest being shrunk to one-tenth of its original size. He also stands accused of tax evasion, land grabbing and corruption.

At this point, the source of Taib’s wealth feels like a bit of an open secret. Back in 2018 when Mahathir was still PM, he said that action could only be taken if someone would report it. And yet, there’s evidence that people have been lodging official complaints since 2011. Then it was revealed that MACC had in fact looked into Taib, but couldn’t physically tie him to any of his abuses.

“It is true he was involved in part of the allegations. But there was not even in one case where he chaired the meeting or made the decision,” –Dato’ Sri Mohd Shukri Abdull, ex-MACC Chief Commissioner via The Edge Malaysia

While it makes sense that the laws prevent Taib from being prosecuted for decisions he didn’t directly make, it still doesn’t clarify why his tax evasion allegations haven’t led to any consequences. Nor any of his other purported crimes, like helming multiple companies while serving as Sarawak’s Chief Minister–which is against state laws.

And now with Raghad in the picture and standing to inherit his fortune, the complexity of Taib’s situation deepens further. With the lack of transparent investigation into his alleged wrongdoings, there’s no accountability, no resolution and it’s the people of Sarawak who ultimately pay the price.