Former Malaysia premier arrested in graft probe
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was arrested by anti-corruption investigators on Tuesday, officials said, the latest dramatic development in a graft probe that has engulfed the ex-leader.
Najib, 64, will be charged Wednesday, a task force set up to probe wrongdoing at state fund 1MDB said in a statement, adding he was apprehended “at his home”.
The arrest is the latest in a series of stunning moves by investigators that suggest the legal noose is tightening around Najib, his family and many of his close political and business allies.
Allegations of corruption were a major factor behind the shock election loss in May of Najib’s long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance headed by his former mentor Mahathir Mohamad.
Najib and his cronies were accused of plundering billions of dollars from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund to buy everything from US real estate to artworks.
Najib and the fund deny any wrongdoing.
Since the election loss Najib has been banned from leaving the country and has found himself at the centre of a widening graft probe.
Shortly after his ouster, a vast trove of valuables was seized in raids on properties linked Najib and his family, including cash, jewellery and luxury handbags, worth up to $273 million.
He and his luxury-loving wife Rosmah Mansor were questioned by investigators, as were his stepson Riza Aziz, whose firm produced the 2013 Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street, and his former deputy Zahid Hamidi.
A special government task force investigating the 1MDB corruption scandal said it froze 408 bank accounts containing a total 1.1 billion ringgit ($272 million) last week. Media reports said some of the accounts belonged to Najib’s political party, the United Malays National Organisation.
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