Najib Razak Hit With Travel Ban, Quits UMNO
Malaysian ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak has been hit with a travel ban days after his Barisan Nasional coalition, which ruled Malaysia for 60 years, lost a general election. Malaysia’s Immigration Department announced the travel ban on Saturday, moments after the scandal-plagued Najib said in a Facebook post that he and his family were taking a post-election holiday overseas starting from Saturday and would return next week. Malaysia’s new leader Mahathir Mohamad confirmed he prevented Najib from leaving.
The 92-year-old said there was sufficient evidence for an investigation into Najib regarding the massive corruption scandal involving the 1MDB state fund that Najib set up.
US investigators say Najib’s associates stole and laundered $4.5bn from the fund, with some $700m landing in Najib’s bank account and around $30m used to buy jewelry for his wife.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing. “There are a lot of complaints against him, all of which have to be investigated,” Mahathir told a news conference. “We have to act quickly because we don’t want to be saddled with extradition from other countries.”
Najib on his Twitter account said he would respect the travel ban. “I have been informed that the Immigration Department does not allow me and my family to go abroad. I respect the direction and will remain with the family in the country,” Najib wrote.
He also resigned as president of his UMNO party, and as chairman of the Barisan Nasional coalition, with immediate effect.