NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
Malaysia scandal: A producer of “The Wolf of Wall Street” and stepson of Malaysia’s former prime minister pleaded not guilty on Friday to laundering $248 million from a state investment fund, becoming the third person in his family charged in the 1MDB scandal that helped end Najib Razak’s government last year. Riza Aziz was charged with receiving the illicit funds from 2011 to 2012 in the U.S. and Singapore. The charge said the money was misappropriated from 1MDB and channeled into bank accounts of Riza’s company Red Granite Pictures Inc., which produced movies including the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Riza, 42, who was released on bail, was charged with five counts of money laundering and could face up to five years in prison, a fine or both, on each count if convicted. Najib is currently on trial for alleged criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering linked to 1MDB. U.S. investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates.
Taliban attack: An Afghan official says mortars fired by Taliban insurgents slammed into a busy market in Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province killing at least 14 people and injuring 30 others, including several children. Abdul Karim Yuresh, Faryab provincial police chief spokesman, said the likely target of Friday’s attack in Khwaja Sabz Posh District was a nearby security post. Meanwhile, 18 Afghan security personnel were killed in separate Taliban attacks on Friday, one each in western Farah and Herat provinces. The insurgents have been staging neardaily attacks against security personnel, inflicting staggering casualties even as they talk peace with the United States.
Compensation rejected: Fifteen Kenyan families of people killed in a plane crash in Ethiopia in March rejected a proposal Friday by Boeing to compensate them, saying they will pursue their claims in court. Boeing faces dozens of lawsuits over two crashes of their 737 Max jets. Relatives of passengers on a Lion Air 737 Max that crashed off the coast of Indonesia agreed to try to settle through mediation, but families of passengers killed in an Ethiopian Airlines crash are waiting until more is known about the accidents. Boeing said Wednesday it will provide $100 million over several years to help families and communities affected by two crashes of its 737 Max planes that together killed 346 people. Boeing said the offer is separate from any compensation that may result from the lawsuits against the company.
“Car wash” probe: Mexico’s attorney general’s office said Friday that new arrest warrants have been issued for the former head of the state oil company Pemex and several of his relatives. Prosecutors said that the warrants for Emilio Lozoya and others are related to their investigation into wrongdoing by the Brazilian construction behemoth Odebrecht. Brazil’s “Car Wash” investigation into illicit payments by Odebrecht to government officials has led to multiple arrests and prosecutions in Latin American countries over the past five years, but none in Mexico.
Endangered clams: A South Korean actress has been charged in Thailand with catching endangered giant clams while participating in a reality TV show and could face up to four years in prison if found guilty, an official said Friday. Actress Lee Yeoleum caught the three giant shellfish in a Thai national marine park in March on the survival TV show “The Law of the Jungle.”
Chronicle News Services