EXPOSED: Tony Blair’s lucrative cash-for-contacts deal with 1MDB-funded PetroSaudi

The Sunday Times in the UK has a massive expose on that war criminal Tony Blair:

TONY BLAIR secured a secret contract with an oil company founded by a senior member of the Saudi royal family for a fee of £41,000 a month and a 2% commission on any of the multimillion-pound deals he helped broker, a leaked document reveals.

The contract agreed in November 2010 between Tony Blair Associates (TBA) and the oil firm PetroSaudi involved the former premier arranging introductions to his contacts in China, including senior political figures. The firm was told it could not divulge Blair’s role to anyone without permission.

Interestingly enough, a joint-venture between PetroSaudi and 1MDB was entered into in 2009, a year before the above contract was agreed. Effectively, 1MDB had pumped several billion ringgit into PetroSaudi.

Before that, PetroSaudi had only little money in the bank, according to some top-notch investigative journalism in Sarawak Report, and it was hardly a Saudi state-owned entity.

Here is Tony Blair visiting the Sacred Heart Cathedral while on a “private holiday” in Sabah – in 2009.

The Australian reports:

It (PetroSaudi) is a relative upstart in an industry dominated by big long-term players, but its global ambitions were bolstered in 2009 with a deal with 1 Malaysia Development Board, a company owned by the Malaysian government.

1MDB agreed to participate in a joint venture with an initial $US1bn investment. The money helped established the fledgling company as an international operation.

There were questions in Malaysia over the lack of transparency in the deal, and 1MDB later disposed of its interest

So basically, 1MDB had raised money via bonds, incurring expensive fees, and then lent most of it to PetroSaudi.

In 2010, 1MDB sold its 40 per cent stake in PetroSaudi. This resulted in a “gain” of RM650m from the deal. If not for this “gain”, 1MDB would have made a loss instead of a profit for its financial year 31 March 2010. But 1MDB apparently did not receive cash from the sale at the time. Instead, it was forced to accept a 11-year repayment bond, for which PetroSaudi has to pay 1MDB interest.

1MDB reportedly made more loans to PetroSaudi after that – to help PetroSaudi service the interest? Oh, what a mess!

Hey, it was also in 2010 that Blair again visited KL – to chants of “War criminal!”

If only, the protesters had also known of Blair’s links to PetroSaudi back then.

In 2011, Blair and Bush were found guilty of war crimes by the KL War Crimes Tribunal, a Mahathir-inspired initiative.

But then, two months ago, in September 2014, this war criminal, Tony Blair, was apparently allowed to visit Malaysia and address students at the Subang campus of Inti International University and Colleges. So much for the KL Tribunal!

So that makes it at least three visits by Blair in the last five years. Now, why would a retired British premier – a war criminal at that – be so interested and made to feel so welcome in Malaysia? Cuti-cuti Malaysia?

Something else of note: PetroSaudi is reportedly registered in the Cayman Islands. Does that ring a bell?

1MDB now says RM4bn of its RM7bn parked in the Cayman Islands has been returned to Malaysia since 31 March 2014 with the balance due to be returned by this month.

I can’t wait to see what the auditors of 1MDB have to say about the Cayman Islands money.

Najib has some serious explaining to do.