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Canadian ex-general intervened with OECD procedure on behalf of Taib daughter
Jamilah Taib’s “friend“, former Canadian Forces Lieutnant-General and MP Andrew Leslie, may have helped scuttle review of Ottawa-based Sakto Corporation
(OTTAWA / CANADA) An investigation published today by Ricochet, a Canadian public-interest journalism platform, is showing that retired Canadian Forces Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie, MP for Orléans and the former Chief Whip of the Trudeau Government, intervened with an OECD procedure on behalf of Jamilah Taib Murray, the daughter of Sarawak Governor Taib Mahmud, and her husband Sean Murray.
According to Ricochet, Leslie wrote two letters to the Canadian Minister of International Trade on behalf of Jamilah Taib Murray and her husband. In the second letter, dated 20 March 2018, Mr. Leslie criticized a statement issued by the National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The NCP had issued a public statement on Sakto, a group of real estate companies controlled by Jamilah Taib Murray and her husband.
After a year-long review, the NCP had come to the conclusion that Sakto qualified as a multinational enterprise. The NCP recommended on 11 July 2017 that Sakto should implement the OECD Guidelines, which require companies to disclose information “regarding their activities, structure, financial situation, performance, ownership and governance.“ The NCP statement was the result of a complaint against Sakto by the Bruno Manser Fund.
Mr. Leslie was apparently so unhappy with the NCP’s statement that he requested the Minister to “conduct an investigation into the conduct of the relevant officials“. Two months later, the NCP pulled its "Final Statement“ on Sakto and replaced it with a revised Final Statement that failed to make any recommendations on Sakto.
“I would consider them, among many, to be my friends“, Mr. Leslie told Ricochet regarding his relationship with Jamilah Taib Murray and her husband.
Click here to access the Ricochet story
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