While Sarawak continues to house some of the nation’s poorest, Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his family appear to be wallowing in wealth, with businesses spanning the globe, including a massive property empire in far-off Canada.

According to anti-Taib website Sarawak Report , the CM and his family are the owners of properties worth at least C$100 million (RM320 million) in Canada alone.

NONE These include the posh Preston Square ( right ), with its prestigious twin glass office towers and a stylish shopping complex smack in the high-value commercial district of downtown Ottawa.

Home to the offices and retail outlets of multinationals such as Xerox, Adobe and Sun Life, the project is set add more money in rental income to the Taib family’s coffers.

This flagship development project is the crown jewel of property developer Sakto Development Corporation, which is owned by Taib’s family.

Sakto has a portfolio listing of dozens more office buildings and high-value residential developments in Canada.

NONE Formed in the early 1980s by Taib’s son Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, daughter Jamilah Taib and younger brother Onn Mahmud, the family business is managed by Taib’s son-in-law, Sean Murray, a Canadian married to Jamilah ( left ).

The college sweethearts, who tied the knot after they met while in university, are currently the toast of Ottawa society, offering generous donations to political parties as well as local cultural and educational establishments.

NONE Murray and Jamilah own Ottawa's second most expensive house, worth RM28 million , which is located in the Canadian capital’s exclusive Rockcliffe Park ( right ).

The report hinted that the couple’s ‘political donations’ may explain the company’s close connections with local authorities.

Eleven Ontario state ministries now call Preston Square home in an event officiated by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, whose party received one such ‘donation’ from the high-flying couple.

Questionable deals

The Sarawak Report also said that this could explain how Sakto continued to engage in a number of ‘questionable’ businesses and financial transactions.

Most glaringly, despite massive cash infusions and investments, as well as a portfolio of high value properties, the company ‘experienced’ losses.

According to Sarawak Report , Sakto has been investing heavily since its inception in 1983, “acquiring over 400 residential units”.

NONE The report quoted the developer’s financial records, which allegedly showed the company investing C$7 million (RM22.3 million) in its first year, with C$4.5 (RM14.3 million) reportedly raised from anonymous shareholders. Under Canadian law, shareholders are allowed to withhold their identity.

A decade later in 1993, Sarawak Report said, Sakto’s annual financial report showed the company’s assets to be just under C$40 million (RM127.4 million), with the acquisitions backed by over C$25 million (RM80 million) in interest-free shareholder loans, for which “repayment terms had not been established”.  

Additionally, Sakto had received a further C$3 million (RM9.6 million) in non-interest bearing loans, C$1.5 million (RM4.8 million) of which was “payable to a company related to a shareholder”.   

Despite the cash and properties, the company has been consistently declaring losses in all but one year of its operation, and not paying taxes.

Alleged kickbacks

The website also claimed that Taib’s brother Onn, who is one of Sakto’s directors, was the person behind Richfold Investment Ltd and Regent Star Company Ltd, incorporated in Hong Kong, with both sharing a mutual director, Kin Kwok Shea, and the same office address.  

sarawak logging kickbacks timber wood 100407 It was the Regent Star Company that in 2007 was identified by Japanese tax authorities as having received RM32 million in kickbacks from Japanese timber exporters over a seven year-period.

The Sarawak chief minister in 2007 sued Malaysiakini over our reports on the scandal . The case is still pending in the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The Taib family’s massive business empire has long been the subject of criticism and speculation - from his family’s involvement in numerous local Sarawakian companies to his far-flung business interests.

The Sarawak Report’s expose joins a long list of other reports , which call into question how a chief minister with a salary of roughly RM20,000 a month could amass a multi-billion ringgit business empire.