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1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is a state investment fund that came under investigation for alleged impropriety in July 2015, after reports emerged that investigators traced some US$700 million wired into Prime Minister Najib’s bank accounts. Both the fund and the premier denied wrongdoing, but the attorney general launched an investigation into alleged graft. 1MDB was 42 billion ringgit (HK$86 billion) in debt at the time of the scandal.
Hong Kong’s securities watchdog has bared its teeth in many cases of malpractice and should spare no effort to safeguard city’s reputation as a global financial hub.
Whatever the political fallout from the conviction and jailing of former prime minister Najib Razak, the country’s courts deserve a pat on the back.
- Critics have accused PM Anwar of abandoning his reform agenda as anger grows over the reduced sentence for ex-leader Najib for graft linked to the 1MDB scandal
- Election watchdog Bersih 2.0 warned it ‘won’t hesitate to mobilise the people to take to the streets’ over the leniency showed to corrupt politicians
The decision to halve Najib’s sentence and cut his fine for corruption linked to the plunder of the 1MDB state fund enraged the public and reopened wounds on all sides of Malaysia’s festering political divide.
Najib will be freed in August 2028 after his 12-year jail term was halved by Pardons Board led by King Sultan Abdullah, in one of his final acts in office.
Mahathir Mohamad and Daim Zainuddin are among the old adversaries to be swept up in a wide-ranging anti-graft probe. Anwar denies he’s had a hand in it. Still, at least one observer says it’s a ‘smart move’.
Najib was jailed in 2022 after being convicted of corruption linked to the plunder of state fund 1MDB. The decision means he could now be eligible for release as early as next year.
The probe against Mirzan Mahathir concerns the sale of stakes in some government-linked corporations.
Najib’s lawyers contended that the statements by several individuals in the documentary were in contempt of court as his corruption trial was still ongoing.
Under ex-PM Najib Razak’s tenure, Malaysia saw billions of dollars of Chinese investments mainly via the Belt and Road Initiative, some of which were later axed.
The Pardons Board is set to meet later this month and is likely to decide on Najib’s application for a royal pardon, local media said.
The ex-PM’s lawyers say the ‘Man on the Run’ documentary is prejudicial towards ongoing corruption trials linking Najib to billions of ringgit allegedly siphoned out of the state fund.
During a 2017 visit to the US, former Malaysian PM Najib Razak and his delegation stayed at the Trump International Hotel for 10 nights and spent a total of US$248,962.
As part of the 2020 settlement with Malaysia, Goldman made an initial US$2.5 billion payment, but lawyers involved in that deal are now under scrutiny.
Executives at the Wall Street firm took the unusual step after growing increasingly frustrated with the country’s demands to renegotiate an existing settlement.
It is unclear how long the former Goldman Sachs banker will be in the country of his birth. Ng has been sentenced to serve a 10-year term in the US for his role in the 1MDB scandal.
Ng was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the US for helping loot billions of dollars from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr calls for more direct investment into the Philippines in areas including infrastructure, power generation, agriculture and renewable energy.
The decision to drop corruption charges against Deputy PM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi sparked criticism that the move is a betrayal of PM Anwar’s reform agenda.
There are also signs of discontent in Anwar’s PH party as he tries to woo the Malay community – Najib’s allies – that mostly had gone for the opposition.
Rosmah Mansor, the wife of ex-Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, has applied to a court to drop her 12 money laundering charges and five tax evasion charges.
Under the prohibition, Ng is permanently banned from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA), according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the former Malaysian prime minister, who was jailed for corruption last year, must ‘get the justice he deserves’.
Malaysia’s prime minister said in an interview that he was ‘not discounting the possibility’ of a fresh lawsuit against the Wall Street firm for its role in the multibillion-dollar scandal.
Attorney general removes Deputy Public Prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran from the case based on her April application for early retirement.
Highly anticipated witness Zeti Akhtar Aziz appeared in court for the prosecution in ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak’s corruption trial.
Jasmine Loo, formerly a legal counsel to the 1MDB fund, was said to have fled Malaysia before the 2018 general election.
The Malaysian PM’s uneasy alliance with his long-time rivals faces its first real test as 6 statewide polls loom, with analysts warning his government ‘can’t survive’ without the pro-Malay platform Umno provides.
Readers discuss the hopes for better US-China relations, the allegations against a Malaysian judge who convicted former prime minister Najib Razak, a critical moment in the Ukraine war, and why criticism of refugees is plain wrong.
Political observers suggest the probe was part of a wider campaign by Najib’s allies to discredit the judiciary and make a case for his full exoneration.
The SFC’s fines on misconduct in the capital markets jumped five-fold to HK$369.75 million (US$47.1 million) last year, with the regulator completing nearly 50 per cent more investigations, a study showed.
