1MDB: The case that's riveting Malaysia

Malaysians are no strangers to money politics but the high-profile players and the amount of funds allegedly involved in the so-called "1MDB scandal" have gripped the nation.


It stems from Prime Minister Najib Razak's strategic state fund called 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) set up in 2009 when he came into office. The fund is meant to turn Kuala Lumpur into a financial hub.

It started to attract national attention when it missed payments for the $11bn (£7.1bn; €9.9bn) it owes to banks and bondholders.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said the fund has taken on too much debt and lacks transparency. He has also criticised Mr Najib's family's "lavish" lifestyle, which has been regularly discussed in the local press.

Then the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported it had seen a paper trail that allegedly traces close to $700m from the troubled fund to Mr Najib's personal bank accounts.
Mr Najib is now facing calls to prove his assets are legal.

Read more on BBC.Com

Top Malaysian Graft Buster Says the Government Is ‘Meddling’ in Massive Corruption Probe

The ongoing scandal has galvanized popular hostility toward the government

For weeks, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has sat at the center of the largest corruption scandal in the country’s history, besieged by allegations that he personally pocketed around $700 million from a state development fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Now, Najib’s government is being accused of obstructing an independent investigation into the scandal.

“There is — apparently — some meddling going on,” Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim, who chairs the advisory board to the anticorruption commission investigating the 1MDB case, said in an interview with the BBC. “I think that … there has been interference, and I think it is unfortunate. It was ill-advised on the part of the government to have made all these changes while the investigation was ongoing.”

Read more on Time.Com