The SC connections

 Knowing that his connection in the YAB ex-PM’s office is so strong, Rashpal then planned to promote one of his countrymen to the position of SC Chairman in late 2011. By early 2012, one Ranjit Ajit Singh, who is also a distant relative to Ranjeet and Rashpal, was curiously promoted to the position of Chairman even though MOF already had a bumiputra only policy for Chairman of SC. Many in the MOF and other ministries were aghast about his appointment but what can you say against the powers that Rashpal yielded. Rashpal presented compelling arguments to Najib, who wore the dual hats of Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. He skilfully advocated for greater representation of non-Malays in leadership positions, a move designed to ensure the non-Malay vote remained a formidable force for BN. With his honeyed words and strategic rationale, Rashpal swayed the opinions of those in power, securing Ranjit Ajit Singh's promotion.  

Ranjit Ajit Singh, a seasoned figure within the SC, had built a strong rapport with the administration team during his many years of service. And so, under the urging of Rashpal, he dutifully extended preferential treatment to select Punjabi colleagues, propelling them into the coveted positions of department heads. Alas, the name of the Punjabi woman who benefited most from this arrangement eludes my memory, as shared with me by a retired MOF deputy director. 

According to VJ, with the influence Rashpal wielded in the AGC, SC and MACC as well as in PDRM, he was able to “help” many businessmen resolve cases involving insider trading, illegal investment schemes, money laundering and others worth hundreds of millions of ringgit. God only knows the “cut” that Rashpal had asked from these criminals to let them off the hook. There was one party who started negotiating with them from a company called Fountain View for some insider trading crime as well as some tax issues. Somehow after paying the initial RM1mil, neither Chin and Hiew of FV agreed to the hefty sum demanded by Rashpal, which led to Rashpal to “drop” their case which led them to be imprisoned. Technically, he made sure these people got the worst outcome of the case for not “settling” with him in a true corporate mafia way. 

Interestingly, some of the other cases Rashpal managed to get SC to push under the carpet involved deals that Ranjeet was involved such as the Koperasi Usahawan Putrajaya Berhad (KOUP), the Boston Investment Scam, the Peninsular Asia Capital illegal investment scheme as well as the Tricapital Ventures scam and Asia Golf membership scam, some of which I was also a victim of. Some of us had made separate complaints to the SC about these schemes or scams by Ranjeet (as I did not know of Rashpal’s involvement) but no action was taken. Instead Ranjeet had appeared in front of my house one day threatening me not to “stir shit” else he would get the LHDN to open file on me. That was one of the very few time I actually uttered the work f-off to him and asked him to get lost.