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Clare Rewcastle Brown

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This British surname is barrelled, being made up of multiple names. It should be written as Rewcastle Brown, not Brown.

Clare Rewcastle Brown
Clare Rewcastle Brown, 2017
Born (1959-06-20) 20 June 1959 (age 65)
Crown Colony of Sarawak
Alma materKing's College London London School of Economics
Occupation(s)Journalist
Activist
Founder of Sarawak Report
SpouseAndrew Brown (m. 1993)
Children2
Parent(s)Karis Rewcastle (mother)
John Rewcastle (father)
RelativesGordon Brown (brother-in-law)

Clare Rewcastle Brown (born 20 June 1959) is a British environmental and anti-corruption journalist and activist who uncovered the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal. Born in the former British Crown Colony of Sarawak (now part of Malaysia), she is the founder and operator of the Sarawak Report blog and Radio Free Sarawak which have exposed corruption driving deforestation and human rights violations in that state along with failures in the global financial systems which facilitate kleptocracy. In 2015 she shifted her focus to the federal government of Malaysia and the country's prime minister, Najib Razak. Her blog Sarawak Report gained widespread recognition for its original and early exposure of the 1MDB scandal which eventually toppled the Barisan Nasional government and was described by the US Department of Justice as its largest ever kleptocracy case.[1][2][3]

Early life, education and career[edit]

Rewcastle Brown was born in colonial Sarawak on 20 June 1959 to British parents (before the territory formed a part of Malaysia) and attended a local primary school in the neighbouring state of Sabah.[4][5] Her father John Rewcastle held a senior position in special branch.[6] Her mother Karis Rewcastle taught midwifery and helped look after indigenous babies at remote clinics.[4] She moved to the United Kingdom when she was eight, attended private boarding school, then went to university at King's College London and subsequently obtained her master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics.[4] She became a journalist, joining the BBC World Service in 1983.[4] She later moved to BBC current affairs television as a producer, then worked as a reporter for Sky TV and subsequently as a news and features correspondent for ITV's Carlton Television.

Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak[edit]

During a visit to Sarawak in 2006 to speak at an environment conference, Rewcastle Brown was asked by local journalists and activists to help publicize the deforestation in the state.[5] However, when she began probing the issue, she was banned from the state and received death threats.[5][7]

In February 2010, she founded Sarawak Report, a blog seeking to highlight the destruction of Sarawak's tropical rainforests for profit and alleged corruption by the state government led by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.[4][5] Sarawak Report alleges that Taib and his family have profited from the land taken away from Sarawak's indigenous communities and have multiplied their wealth in assets and properties across the world.[8]

In December that year, Rewcastle Brown also set up Radio Free Sarawak to broadcast her findings on the radio to local Sarawakians.[5] Radio Free Sarawak's first DJ was Peter John Jaban, who was fired by one of Sarawak's state-controlled radio stations for allowing callers to criticize Taib.[4] Brown met Jaban in 2008 while reporting on a by-election in Sarawak and invited him to become the voice of Radio Free Sarawak in London.[4]

Before February 2011, Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak operated anonymously. However, Rewcastle Brown and Jaban decided to go public after one of her informants, a former Taib aide, was found dead.[4] Ross Boyert, who used to head Taib's supposed real estate arm in the United States, was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room with a plastic bag over his head in September 2011.[9] Boyert had claimed that he and his family had been harassed since he filed a lawsuit against the real estate company in 2007.[9]

During the period leading up to the April 2011 Sarawak state election, Rewcastle Brown said Sarawak Report was forced constantly to switch its internet address after an onslaught of cyber attacks. She blamed the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition for the disruption.[10] She also claimed that Radio Free Sarawak's signal was jammed by a Belgian agent hired to broadcast at the same frequency as the station.[11]

Malaysian Deputy Information Communication and Culture Minister Joseph Salang Gandum called Radio Free Sarawak illegal as it was not licensed with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.[12] However, it was broadcasting from outside Malaysia via shortwave and therefore required no Malaysian licence. In March 2011, Taib's party, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), filed a police report against Radio Free Sarawak.[13]

Rewcastle Brown was banned from entering Sarawak in July 2013. She arrived at Kuching International Airport in Sarawak, only to be detained at the airport and put back on a plane for Singapore.[14] The former Chief Minister of Sarawak Abdul Taib Mahmud was known to bar his critics from entering the Sarawak state.[15]

On 1 August 2015, Najib addressed UMNO delegates in Seremban and, in a clear reference to Rewcastle Brown, demanded that "white people" stay out of Malaysia's affairs.[16]

1Malaysia Development Berhad[edit]

Further information: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

Beginning in July 2013, Rewcastle Brown queried on her blog the involvement of the major US bank Goldman Sachs in the raising of bonds worth $6.5 billion for a Malaysian quasi sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) set up in 2009 under the direct control of Najib Razak, who was then both prime minister and finance minister.[2] [6][8][11]She obtained and released through Sarawak Report previously unpublished details of the offer document which showed that Goldman Sachs had made unwarranted profits (later proven to amount to $600 million) on the bonds, linked to a guarantee by the Abu Dhabi wealth fund Aabar and its parent company the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).[14]

In 2014, she publicly challenged the involvement of Najib’s behind-the-scenes manager of the fund, the Malaysian businessman and playboy Jho Low, in the funding of the $100 million dollar movie The Wolf of Wall Street produced by Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz. She queried if some of the money from 1MDB, the whereabouts of which was unclear, might have been invested in the movie and spent on the lavish living of Jho Low and Najib’s notoriously extravagant wife, Rosmah Mansor, and his family. As a result she received several legal threats.

Sarawak Report continued to raise concerns about Jho Low’s business dealings and their connection to 1MDB’s funds, culminating in an exposé on February 28th 2015, in collaboration with The Sunday Times, where Rewcastle Brown published documents detailing the theft of $1.83 billion from 1MDB’s first investment – a so-called joint venture with a shell company named PetroSaudi. The documents were provided to her by a former director of PetroSaudi, Xavier Justo. His former colleagues at the company, who were in an alleged criminal conspiracy with Najib and Jho Low to defraud 1MDB, later succeeded in engineering Justo’s 18-month imprisonment in Thailand.

Following the initial exposé, Najib’s government redoubled its targeting of Rewcastle Brown. She was banned from the entire country, her site was blocked and Malaysia issued a warrant for her arrest and requested that INTERPOL issue a Red Notice to enforce the arrest warrant worldwide on charges of ‘fake news’ and ‘activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy’ (INTERPOL rejected the request).[17][18][19][20][21] [22] Responding to the arrest warrant, Rewcastle argued that it was the Malaysian government who was "detrimental to parliamentary democracy" by suppressing free speech (closing down two newspapers) and removing officials who attempted to investigate the 1MDB affair.[23]

Over the following few years, Rewcastle Brown continued to uncover and publish further exposés on aspects of the widening 1MDB affair showing, among other things, that most of the billions raised in the Goldman Sachs bonds had been stolen and moreover that at least $681 million had gone into Najib’s personal bank account to fight the 2013 election in Malaysia and fund his lifestyle. She passed this information and introduced some of her sources to journalists at The Wall Street Journal whose publication of it and further focus on the scandal brought it to wider international attention.

Rewcastle Brown had also contacted and passed all her information to the Department of Justice in the United States and its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Unit. In 2016 the US published the details of a massive asset seizure in the United States – its largest to date – which were the criminal proceeds of money laundering from 1MDB.

In July 2016 Rewcastle Brown began to uncover and reveal the role of Chinese state construction companies in helping to launder further billions raised by Najib through inflated contracts for railways and petroleum pipelines. The money was diverted as part of an attempted cover up operation to pay the vast debts (US$11 billion) owed by 1MDB as a result of the earlier thefts. In 2020 she published further evidence that proved much of this money (up to US$2 billion) was channelled through bank accounts belonging to Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, the son of the then Prime Minister of Kuwait, held at the Kuwait branch of the Chinese bank ICBC. Much of the money was then used to repay loans provided by 1MDB’s supposed guarantor IPIC in Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Sabah and his collaborators were found guilty and imprisoned in Kuwait in 2023.

In 2018 the Barisan Nasional government, which had controlled Malaysia since independence, was voted from office, in a result which was generally seen as fallout of the 1MDB affair.[citation needed]

When the new government came to power the arrest warrant for Clare was lifted and she was able to set foot in Peninsular Malaysia again where she received much media attention on her return.[24] Sarawak, however, controls its own immigration and did not remove its ban on her entry.[25] A series of criminal prosecutions were then launched in Malaysia against the former prime minister Najib Razak for his role in the affair. He was found guilty and has been jailed while related cases continue to go through the courts.[citation needed]

Target of harassment and smear campaigns[edit]

Rewcastle Brown has been subject to harassment, spying and smear campaigns, online and in person, which have often turned out to emanate from Western PR firms presumably commissioned by the subjects of her investigations whose criminality she has brought to light. Meanwhile Sarawak Report has been subject to numerous cyber attacks.[citation needed]

In August 2011, Sarawak Report highlighted the fact that FBC Media, a media production company which produced programs for CNBC and the BBC among others, had been doubling as a public relations firm for Malaysian politicians, including Chief Minister of Sarawak Abdul Taib Mahmud.[26] It alleged that FBC produced shows designed to cover Taib and the state government in a positive light and that it was performing similar services for corrupt regimes across the globe.[26] In light of the revelations, CNBC cancelled World Business, a programme produced by FBC, while the BBC suspended all FBC-produced shows from their programming.[26][27]

Rewcastle Brown had earlier suggested that the PR firm was part of a network commissioned by Taib to conduct a "defamation campaign" against her, including hiring journalists from a right-wing American blog The New Ledger to publish attacks on her.[28] She also accused the PR firm hired by Taib of creating a "rival" website called Sarawak Reports, to attack her and post "propaganda material promoting Taib," and of editing her Wikipedia entry to include false allegations from such attack sites.[28] The "rival" blog has since been taken down[29] while FBC Media went into administration on 24 October 2011.[30]

At the same time Rewcastle Brown was subject to stalking and harassment in London by presumed agents of Malaysia’s secret service, a stream of legal threats from UK law firms working on behalf of those whose criminality she had written about and approaches by supposed journalists actually working for PR and private investigation firms variously attempting to collect information on her and conduct hostile interviews which they hoped to be able to use to discredit her.[31]

Criminal prosecution[edit]

Rewcastle Brown has been the subject of a criminal libel prosecution for allegedly defaming the Sultanah of Terengganu that was launched in the courts in Malaysia in 2021 during the 2020-2023 return of a ‘backdoor’ Barisan Nasional-allied government. The case centred on whether a phrase in Rewcastle Brown’s book The Sarawak Report implied that the Sultanah had exercised undue influence in Terengganu state affairs.The criminal prosecution occurred in parallel to a civil case over the same matter brought by the Sultanah against Rewcastle Brown and the book’s distributor and printer.

In 2021 the courts issued an arrest warrant for Rewcastle Brown for failing to attend the initial hearing; she responded that she had never heard about the hearing prior to the issuance of the arrest warrant. Rewcastle Brown unsuccessfully tried to get the case transferred from the Terengganu magistrates court to the Malaysian federal court. In February 2024 she was tried in absentia (again without being informed of the trial), convicted in the Terengganu court and sentenced to two years in prison. Rewcastle Brown is appealing the conviction and INTERPOL has again declined to issue an international arrest warrant for her.

Target of civil legal action[edit]

Sultanah of Terengganu's libel case[edit]

The civil case brought by the Sultanah of Terengganu in 2018 against Rewcastle Brown centred on whether a phrase in Rewcastle Brown’s book The Sarawak Report implied that the Sultanah had exercised undue influence in state affairs. Rewcastle Brown’s Malaysian distributor, Gerakbudaya Enterprise publisher Chong Ton Sin, and printer, Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd, were co-defendants.

In December 2023, Rewcastle Brown and her co-defendants were ordered to pay RM300,000 in defamation damages and RM120,000 in legal costs to the Sultanah.[32] They are appealing the verdict.

Publications[edit]

Clare Rewcastle Brown is the author of two books which are first-hand accounts of her role in exposing the 1MDB scandal.[33]

  • The Sarawak Report (2018) ISBN 9781527219366
  • The Wolf Catcher (2019) ISBN 152724475X

(The latter book is an abridged version of the former.)

She is also the author of a chapter, 'Malaysia: a case study in global corruption' in the third edition of Investigative Journalism, published by Routledge, and co-author (with Caleb Diamond) of another chapter, 'Sovereign Wealth Funds as Vehicles for Money Laundering: The Case of 1MDB' in Sovereign Wealth Funds: Corruption and Other Governance Risks, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Awards and accolades[edit]

Media appearances[edit]

In April 2011, Rewcastle Brown was featured on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on the programme "The fight for Sarawak".[34] In December 2011, she was featured on Canadian Global News television on a programme entitled Family Trees which highlighted the Taib family property company Sakto Corporation in Canada.[35] In September 2012, Rewcastle Brown was featured on Al Jazeera's 101 East[36] and SBS's Dateline "The Last Frontier" which focused on Australian investment in Sarawak's dam and timber business with links to Chief Minister of Sarawak Abdul Taib Mahmud's cousin Hamed Sepawi.[37]

Rewcastle Brown has featured in the Netflix “Dirty Money” series and the 2023 documentary about 1MDB, Man on the Run, also released on Netflix. She also appeared in The Borneo Case, a documentary about the devastation of Sarawak.[citation needed]

Personal life[edit]

Clare Rewcastle Brown is married to Andrew Brown, the younger brother of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[citation needed]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Accidental Whistle-Blower: Clare Rewcastle Brown and 1MDB". Time. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Malaysia's mega 1MDB scandal that brought down a prime minister". Reuters. 26 July 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "U.S. Seeks to Recover $1 Billion in Largest Kleptocracy Case to Date". FBI. 20 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cohen, David (22 February 2011). "Gordon Brown's sister-in-law tackles corruption in Borneo". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e Brown, Gordon (10 March 2011). "Fight for the Borneo rainforest: Gordon Brown celebrates the role of journalist Clare Rewcastle". The Independent. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Malaysian 1MDB scandal: How Clare Rewcastle Brown and Sarawak Report are taking on Najib Razak". International Business Times UK. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Rewcastle-Brown still barred from Sarawak, says CM". Free Malaysia Today. 23 May 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ a b "The Godfather of Sarawak - Time To Investigate His Legacy". Sarawak Report. 21 February 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ a b "Swiss NGO Links Los Angeles Killing to Timber Corruption in Malaysia". Environment News Service. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2011. {{cite news}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help)
  10. ^ Teoh, Shannon (12 April 2011). "Sarawak Report 'on the run' after cyber-attacks". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  11. ^ a b Teoh, Shannon (15 April 2011). "Radio Free Sarawak says signal jammed". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 18 April 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  12. ^ Bernama (25 February 2011). "MCMC can act against Radio Free Sarawak, says Salang". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 28 February 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  13. ^ "Rogue radio under investigation". The Star. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  14. ^ a b Mullany, Gerry (16 August 2013). "Barred From Malaysia, but Still Connecting With Critical Jabs". The New York Times.
  15. ^ "Sarawak ban on Bersih's Ambiga a mockery of democracy". Archived from the original on 14 September 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  16. ^ "'White people' should stay out of Malaysia's affairs, Najib says". The Malay Mail Online. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  17. ^ "Interpol left for Clare Rewcastle Brown in 190 countries". The Rakyat Post. 7 August 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Court issues warrant for Rewcastle-Brown's arrest". Free Malaysia Today. 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 24 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  19. ^ "Police have arrest warrant for Sarawak Report editor". New Straits Times. 4 August 2015.
  20. ^ "Arrest warrant out for Clare Rewcastle Brown — Police". Astro Awani. 4 August 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. ^ "REFUSED! — INTERPOL Rejects Najib's 'Red Notice' Request Against Sarawak Report". Sarawak Report. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 29 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  22. ^ "Interpol rejects M'sian cops' red notice bid on Clare". Malaysiakini. 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 29 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Response to warrant of arrest from Malaysian police – Clare Rewcastle-Brown". The Malaysian Insider. 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  24. ^ "Once-banned Rewcastle-Brown returns to Malaysia". Free Malaysia Today. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  25. ^ "Sarawak govt yet to decide on Rewcastle Brown travel ban". The Star.
  26. ^ a b c "CNBC drops 'World Business'". Politico. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  27. ^ Coy, Kevin (4 August 2011). "BBC Drop FBC Media Programming Over Partiality Concerns". News on News. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  28. ^ a b "Gordon Brown Made Victim of Taib's Malicious Internet Campaign". Sarawak Report. 29 June 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  29. ^ "Bye Bye Sarawak Reports!". Sarawak Report. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  30. ^ "FBC's Final Betrayal – Friedman Accused of Dumping Workers!". Sarawak Report. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  31. ^ Newman, Melanie; Pegg, David (8 December 2011). "Bell Pottinger targeted environmental campaigner on Wikipedia". thebureauinvestigates.com. Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2011. A writer on Wikipedia working under the user name, 'Biggleswiki', which Bell Pottinger has admitted was used by its staff, amended Ms Rewcastle Brown's entry to include criticisms of Radio Free Sarawak, which she runs.
  32. ^ https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/689702
  33. ^ Report, Sarawak. "The Sarawak Report Book". Sarawak Report. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  34. ^ "The fight for Sarawak". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  35. ^ "16x9 The Bigger Picture — Family Trees". Global Television Network. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  36. ^ 101 East. "The Last Frontier — 101 East". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ "SBS Dateline | The Last Frontier". Sbs.com.au. 21 August 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2014.

External links[edit]

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