Probe on Taib’s expensive art gift to South Australia
BRUNO Manser Funds (BMF) is investigating an art painting donated to the Art Gallery of South Australia by a a company linked to Abdul Taib Mahmud, a Malaysian politician who ruled Sarawak for over three decades.
The conservation group is calling on the art gallery to disclose the full value of the donation, along with other details of the Taib’s donation to its collection.
BMF has been a strong critic of the Taib group, exposing alleged corruptions and money laundering activities in the timber business. Any collection donated by Taib should be credited as a gift by the people of Sarawak, the BMF said.
BMF found the painting “Meandering Murray and wattles” was donated in 2013 by Sitehost Pty Ltd through an Australian government cultural gifts program. The painting is said to be estimated at several $10,000. Olsen’s most expensive paintings are sold for over AUD $300,000 at major auctions.
The BMF said Sitehost, which owns the Adelaide Hilton hotel, has recently been accused of money-laundering and various regulatory breaches. The company is owned by Taib’s children and a Taib family offshore trust in the British Virgin Islands.
The Swiss group disclosed in September that AUD $30 million of unexplained wealth had flown into Sitehost. The money is believed to be linked to corruption in Malaysia.
BMF added the Australian corporate regulator ASIC commissioned a specialist team with a probe on Sitehost. The Australian Foreign Ministry and the South Australian Government referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police.
Last month, Adelaide University was forced to disclose that it had received AUD $400,000 in donations from Taib Mahmud during his 33-year tenure as Chief Minister of Sarawak. Taib Mahmud is currently under investigation for corruption by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC).
The BMF suspects South Australian lawyer and art collector, Michael Abbott QC, to have played a key role in Taib’s Australia relations. The group said Abbott was the chairman of the Art Gallery of South Australia when the gallery received Olsen’s painting from Sitehost.
Abbott also assisted Adelaide University in a major fundraising drive with the Sarawak chief minister. From 2002 until 2014, he and Taib were directors of the Australian Universities International Alumni Convention, an Australian proprietary company.
