Will the 'aku janji' mess be a factor in GE 13

How PM Najib got unwittingly tangled up in the 'aku janji' mess in Parliament.

Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong apologizes to the people.

A Senator raised the question in Parliament about the questionable registration of PricewaterhouseCoopers by the Audit Oversight Board last week.

Questionable registration of the firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers

Questions:

a) how were the firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and a director from its board, registered as auditors on the 1st of April 2010, by the Audit Oversight Board under Section 31s (1) of the Securities Commission Act, when most of the members of the Audit Oversight Board were themselves appointed after the 1st of April 2010: and

b) who approved and signed the letter of registration for the firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and it's director? Was it the Chairman of the Securities Commission or the Director of the AOB? What mechanism was in place to accept and process the application when the Chairman of the Securities Commission only signed the amendment (sic) on the 8th of April 2010, and the Second Finance Minister signed it on the 13th of April  2010?

These questions were then sent to the Audit Oversight Board, for them to come up with a reply. What the AOB did then is not surprising, knowing the influence PwC has with the regulators in the country.

There was a discussion held with the powers that be in PricewaterhouseCoopers, to come up with a plausible explanation on how the firm was registered by the AOB on the 1st 0f April 2010, when the law only allowed the collection of fees for registration on the 15th of April 2010.

In Singapore we have a Prime Minister who has the humility to apologise to the people, but in Malaysia, the AOB under advice from PwC, decided that a simple apology saying 'sorry we screwed up' , would be too good for the people, so they decided to insult the intelligence of the Rakyat by coming up with the 'surat aku janji' alibi.

PM Najib had no part in this, but because of the 'brains' in PwC and the AOB, he has been unwittingly brought into the picture.

We have seen how Chin Kwai Fatt and his fellow senior partner in PwC, Khoo Chuan Keat had absolutely no problems in signing false declarations in the annual returns for their 'lets defraud our creditors company", PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting Sdn Bhd. So the fact that the senior partners in PwC would have absolutely no qualms about getting the AOB to lie to the Malaysian people in Parliament should not come as a surprise to anyone.

But what should worry the government is this. When the people realise that an auditing firm, PwC Malaysia, has the influence to convince a regulator not only to register them without being put to the same stringent tests as the other auditing firms, but also to submit an answer in Parliament in the name of the Prime Minister, that was crafted purposely to lie to the people, so that they can continue with their 'business', one which places profits above rules and laws.

How will the government convince the people that it has not totally lost control over the regulatory framework of the country? 

Chin Kwai Fatt, the root cause of the 'aku janji' mess

When an auditing firm like PwC can get a lie, which is what the 'surat aku janji' is, to be used as a reply in the Malaysian Parliament, to save its own hide; is that not like a thief being allowed to pass judgment on himself in a court of law.

The litany of misconduct, lies and fraud perpetrated by Chin Kwai Fatt and his fellow senior partners in PwC has reached a pinnacle of sorts with this latest episode. Question is, should they be allowed to get away with it? Or will they finally be exposed as the crooks that they are, by a government that knows when enough is enough?