Bruno Manser Fond (BMF) are adept at publishing press releases and related publications and generating hype around their campaign. Government institutions however have not been swayed, likely due to the lack of substance in the complaints. Despite multiple attempts, none of the government entities that BMF tried to engage with has ever taken action against Sakto Corporation.
BMF routinely attempt to create the appearance of legitimate entities and law enforcement investigating Sakto:
BMF routinely attempt to create the appearance of legitimate entities and law enforcement investigating Sakto:
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1. BMF will submit allegations to a government entity. They have done so repeatedly, based on the same allegations. The complaints demand some form of action by the government entity. |
2. BMF self-publish the submission on their website and social media accounts, as if each was breaking news of independent suspicion of illegal conduct. They cite courtesy acknowledgments from government bodies and generate elaborate stories based on speculation and conjecture to bolster their allegations. |
3. BMF re-file the same allegations with variations, creating new waves of self-reported stories to embellish their unsubstantiated allegations. Repeating their demand for a government probe makes this a circular process. |
And yet, despite the impression that BMF have created, in sworn testimony BMF Executive Director Lukas Straumann has stated that in spite of his litany of complaints against Sakto: “I am not aware of any criminal investigation taking place in any country...”
The numerous BMF complaints are listed below, all with the same outcome: no action has been taken.
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17 JUNE 2010 - COMPLAINT TO FINTRAC (CANADA)Complaint:
Lukas Straumann writes to the Director of FINTRAC in Canada Jeanne M. Flemming with allegations of money laundering and corruption involving Sakto. Result: No response is received. |
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17 MARCH 2011 - COMPLAINT TO SWISS PRESIDENTComplaint: Lukas Straumann writes to the Swiss President, Micheline Calmy-Rey with allegations about overseas assets of the head of government of Sarawak, and persons from his entourage. It is not clear that any allegations were made about Sakto in the complaint. This letter has not been produced by BMF, however it is referenced in the response by Calmy-Rey on April 8, 2011. Result: Calmy-Rey replies to the Straumann letter in German on April 8, 2011, (which was translated by the BMF) in which she indicates that she has read the letter, and she has forwarded it to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory authority, FINMA. There is no reference to any investigation being undertaken. Note that Straumann has repeatedly asserted that this letter is evidence of an "investigation." During his cross-examination he admits that he may have misunderstood the letter, and that it was really just a routine response. No further response was received to this complaint. |
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20 JUNE 2011 - GERMAN CHANCELLORComplaint:
BMF wrote to German Chancellor Angela Merkel making allegations about corruption and money laundering. This letter has not been produced by the BMF, however the response by the Ministry of Finance (translated from German by the BMF) confirms the reciept of the complaint. Result: The Ministry of Finance wrote back, thanking the BMF for their commitment to fighting corruption, and confirming that their complaint has been forwarded to the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to clarify and verify the situation. Note that the BMF reported that this response was confirmation that "Germany has launched investigations" into their allegations. No further responce was received to this complaint. |
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1 JULY 2011 - PRIME MINISTER OF CANADAComplaint:
Lukas Straumann writes to the Prime Minster of Canada, Stephen Harper, with copies to Jeanne Flemming, Director of FINTRAC, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Greenpeace Canada. The letter complains that FINTRAC did not reply to their first letter, and again raises the allegations of money laundering and corruption. Of significance is the fact that the letter alleges that the the Swiss money laundering agency, FINMA had informed the BMF of an ongoing investigation as a result of the BMF complaint. This did not occur. Result: RCMP C/Superintendent Serge Therriault wrote back to Lukas Straumann on July 26, 2011, acknowledging the receipt of his letter by the RCMP. FINTRAC Deputy Director Denis Meunier wrote back to Lukas Straumann on August 8, 2011 acknowledging his letter to the Prime Minister. No further action was taken. |
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1 SEPTEMBER 2011 - AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER
Complaint:
Lukas Straumann, Clare Rewastle Brown and TB Bau Bian wrote to the Australian Prime Minister with allegations about corruption and money laundering from Malaysia into Australia. Result: The BMF have not produced a copy of the response, but Lukas Straumann states in his book that they replied confirming that "There was insufficient evidence...for them to act." |
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13 DECEMBER 2011 - MALAYSIAN ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSIONComplaint:
Lukas Straumann, with a number of other NGOs as co-signatories, wrote to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) the Attorney General of Malaysia and the Inspector General of Police seeking the immediate arrest of the Chief Minister of Sarawak and thirteen of his family members for money laundering and corruption which included allegations about Sakto. The complaint is detailed and lengthy. Result: There is no known response to the complaint. Notes: This complaint is easily conflated with the separate and then ongoing MACC investigation into the Chief Minister. That investigation began as early as 2009, That complex and wide-ranging investigation determined on February 23, 2014, that the Chief Minister had not abused his power in granting logging concessions. Lukas Straumann has acknowledged the investigation is over. The Attorney General's office has also confirmed in writing that the matter is now closed. |
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19 SEPTEMBER 2013 - ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICEComplaint:
Lukas Straumann wrote to RCMP Officer Martin Bedard, to follow-up on earlier communications on his allegations of suspected money-laundering and corruption involving Sakto. Many supporting documents are referenced as attached. Result: There is no evidence of any response to this complaint. |
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23 JUNE 2014 - LONDON ENGLAND POLICEComplaint:
Lukas Straumann wrote to the London Police through a law firm, with a formal criminal complaint. The complaint attached voluminous exhibits and witness statements and sought criminal or civil action against a number of parties, including Sakto, on the grounds of corruption and money laundering. Result: There are no documents that evidence the results of this complaint since it was filed. |
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2 JANUARY 2016 - OECD CANADAComplaint:
The BMF filed a formal Request for Review (RfR) with Canada's National Contact Point for the implementation of the OECD Guidelines on Multi-National Enterprises. The complaint contained voluminous exhibits, and sought financial disclosure from Sakto, based on allegations of money laundering and corruption. Result: Canada's NCP conducts all RfRs under express conditions of confidentiality. All draft NCP documents are protected by that confidentiality. During the contested process, the BMF deliberately breached that confidentiality, and published draft documents on their website and provided them to the media. The NCP noted the breach of confidence as one of the reasons the process was dismissed, and the specific instance closed, on May 11, 2018. |
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9 FEBRUARY 2017 - ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE (AGAIN)Complaint:
Bruce Bailey, the BMF representative in Ontario continued to press the RCMP into prosecuting Sakto and those associated with the business for money laundering and corruption. Result: After his discussion with Officer Sheldon Landry, and considering the facts provided by the BMF and Bailey, the RCMP conclusion was "there was no proof of violation of the law which would allow the RCMP to prosecute a case." Bailey confirmed that the BMF "appreciate that problem." |
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11 JULY 2017 - ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT APPLICATIONComplaint:
The BMF launched an unusual process seeking to compel four financial institutions to provide them with private financial records of Sakto. The purpose of these records was to gather information to pursue a private criminal prosecution of people involved with Sakto. Thousands of pages of evidence were filed, and Lukas Straumann was cross-examined on the full history of the BMF campaign against Sakto. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees were incurred by the parties to the litigation. Result: On February 5, 2018, having reviewed over 2500 pages of evidence, and reading the transcript of the cross examination of Lukas Straumann, the court case was dismissed by the Judge just two hours into a two day hearing. BMF had previously been ordered to post $100,000 in security for costs. On March 23, 2018, the Court ordered the BMF to pay the respondents $176,272.04 in costs. No appeal was filed. |
Click the infographic below to explore the chronology of failed complaints.
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