For the first time since he began a 20-year livelihood of theft of vast amounts of Malaysian government funds that began at least in 1999 when he was named defense minister, Prime Minister Najib Razak’s kleptocratic career may finally be in danger. Some of the allegations against this official are the same as those in a Malaysian investigation over a $681 million transfer to his personal bank account.
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Representatives of 1MDB said in a statement that the fund would cooperate.
In Malaysia, the hashtag #MalaysianOfficial1 was trending on Thursday.
1MDB said in a statement a year ago that it had never given money to the prime minister and called the claims “unsubstantiated”.
A spokesperson for Najib said the government would “fully co-operate with any lawful investigation in accordance with worldwide protocols”.
Najib is not named in the papers and has consistently denied wrongdoing, reports BBC. The previous largest case in February sought to seize $850 million.
MAS said preliminary findings from its inspections had uncovered “instances of control failings” in UBS’s Singapore branch, Standard Chartered Plc’s local unit and at DBS, as well as “substantial breaches” of anti-money laundering regulations at Falcon Private Bank Ltd. The regulator vowed to take action against the four banks for the lapses, though the statement didn’t specify what they might be. “There was also undue delay in detecting and reporting suspicious transactions”, said Singapore’s banking regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
“Furthermore, 1MDB has not been contacted by the U.S. DOJ or any other foreign agency in relation to their investigations”. “The question is how far Malaysia will bend (towards Beijing)”, said a Western diplomat in Kuala Lumpur.
“The Malaysian people were defrauded on an enormous scale…”
Singapore has said it will not allow its respected financial system to be abused by the corrupt, and in May it kicked out Switzerland’s BSI Bank over “gross misconduct” linked to 1MDB.
“I think we should have a peaceful rally to demand for the removal of the prime minister”, Mahathir told reporters on Thursday. He has dismissed the intense worldwide media coverage on financial mismanagement and alleged money laundering of 1MDB’s finances as false and aimed at undermining his administration.
Washington views the moderate Muslim nation as a partner in its fight against radical Islamists, as a member of a U.S.-led Pacific trade group and as part of the US strategic “pivot” to Asia to counter China’s rising ambitions.
Here are some of the ways the USA says the money was spent.
Oscar-Claude Monet’s Nymphéas Avec Reflets de Hautes Herbes, an oil painting was worth $57.5m at purchase. Instead, prosecutors want to seize assets as soon as possible.
Goldman Sachs has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
The fund was set up by Najib in 2009 with the stated aim of boosting the Malaysian economy. Mr Najib has said he never received any money from the fund. The production company was co-founded by Riza Aziz, stepson of the Mr Najib.
He’s close friends with Riza Aziz, a Hollywood film producer whose company, Red Granite Pictures, made the “Wolf of Wall Street”. Efforts to reach him for comment on Thursday via his Hong Kong-based company Jynwel Capital were unsuccessful, and the firm didn’t immediately reply to an e-mailed query on the asset seizure.
What is Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal?
“It’s definitely a step forward in the investigations, given the complex circumstances involved in asset tracing”.
Then there’s Khadem Abdullah al-Qubaisi of the United Arab Emirates. The statement said Sg$120 million of that belonged to Low or his immediate family.
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When asked whether this civil suit would affect Malaysia’s ties with the United States, he said it was a separate issue altogether, as this was relating to an individual and not the overall position of the two countries’ policies.
