Compliance
Malaysia Punishes Ex-Premier's Brother, Others As 1MDB Saga Rumbles On

The net widens in the punishments meted out to those allegedly implicated in one of the largest dirty money scandals Asia has seen.
Malaysia has fined the brother of former Prime Minister Najib
Razak and other people and companies for allegedly receiving
money from state fund 1MDB, Reuters and other media
quoted the country’s anti-corruption chief as saying
yesterday.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Latheefa
Koya spelled out the action taken against individuals including
Najib’s brother Nazir Razak, the former chairman of Malaysia’s
second-largest bank, CIMB group Holdings, and Shahrir Abdul
Samad, former chairman of state palm oil agency Felda and also a
minister in Najib’s cabinet.
A number of individuals are accused of siphoning off billions of
dollars from the Malaysian fund. The scandal has spread wide,
with banks in jurisdictions such as neighbouring Singapore
punished for failings in anti-money laundering controls.
Authorities in the US, Singapore, Switzerland and other places
have been probing financial flows linked to 1MDB. In a bizarre
twist that blends fact and fiction, money from the fund was even
used to finance the Hollywood film about a fraudster, The
Wolf of Wall Street.
Malaysian and US investigators say about $4.5 billion was taken
from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, to give its full name, which
was set up in 2009 by Najib.
Last year, Najib lost power in a shock result, raising the
prospect of bribery and money laundering charges alleging that he
received about $1.0 billion in 1MDB money. He denies the charges.
The election resulted in veteran Malaysian politician Mahathir
Mohamad regaining power.
Reuters reported Latheefa Koya saying that MYR420
million ($100 million) was received by a total of 80 individuals
and entities from 1MDB. She did not specify how much the fine
amount was.
“We have issued compound notices against all of these people and
entities for the purpose of them to pay up the fine,” she told
reporters, adding that they could be fined up to 2.5 times the
amount received.
As
previously reported, Malaysia has sued US investment firm
Goldman Sachs over its role as underwriter and arranger of three
bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB.
Here is a recent update on a list of miscreant firms in the financial services sector.