Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been arrested in connection with multi-billion dollar scandal involving sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Sources say Najib was arrested at his home Tuesday by agents with the country’s anti-corruption commission. His arrest was in relation to a probe into SRC International, a former unit of the troubled 1MDB.
The ex-prime minister is set to be formally charged on Wednesday.
Najib is at the center of a probe into allegations of embezzlement from 1MDB, which he created while in office. The U.S. Justice Department says a total of $4.5 billion was looted from 1MDB, some of allegedly landed in Najib’s personal bank accounts.
The scandal led to a stunning electoral loss in May of Najib’s National Front coalition, which had ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since gaining independence in 1957.
Since his ouster, Najib has been barred from leaving Malaysia and questioned by the government’s anti-graft agency along with his wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Najib has denied the allegations.
Last week, Malaysian police announced they had seized nearly $275 million in cash, jewelry and luxury handbags in raids on properties linked to Najib. The inventory included 12,000 pieces of jewelry, 567 handbags, 423 watches and 234 pairs of sunglasses.The most expensive item was a necklace worth more than $1 million.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who led the coalition that defeated Najib, has reopened investigations into the 1MDB scandal which his predecessor shut down. Voice of America
