Malaysia: scrutiny of ‘insolvent’ 1MDB wealth fund intensifies as ex-PM Najib Razak is questioned again in corruption scandal
Former PM quizzed for six hours by anti-graft investigators looking into alleged theft and money laundering at state investment fund he founded
Scrutiny of Malaysia’s 1MDB has intensified after the new government said the state investment fund was “insolvent” and unable to repay debts, which the company previously said totalled more than US$7 billion.
The government will honour 1MDB’s obligations as it had done in recent years, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said on Thursday.
Separately, a Malaysian task force investigating the fund met with officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice to discuss the focus and direction of probes.
Malaysia, under newly-elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is trying to uncover the extent of alleged embezzlement or money laundering at 1MDB, set up by former premier Najib Razak in 2009 to attract foreign investment.
There are global criminal and regulatory probes as investigators try to decipher how money may have flowed out through a complex web of opaque transactions and fraudulent shell companies – to finance what the US said were spending sprees by corrupt officials and their associates.
“We will continue to search for assets but whether or not they can be recovered, that is another matter,” Lim said.
