Malaysia’s disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak had no knowledge of multi-million-dollar transfers into his accounts linked to the 1MDB scandal, his lawyers insisted Monday, as his first trial nears an end. Billions of dollars were looted from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and spent on items ranging from high-end real estate to artwork, in a globe-spanning […]

An Indonesian badminton legend has claimed the Southeast Asian nation’s sports ministry is full of corrupt “rats”, after admitting his own role in a bribery case. “No matter who the minister is, it’ll be the same,” retired Olympic gold medallist Taufik Hidayat said in a YouTube interview this week. “Half the building should be destroyed […]

Malaysian prosecutors on Thursday dropped money laundering charges linked to the 1MDB scandal against one of the producers of Hollywood hit “The Wolf of Wall Street” after he agreed a settlement with the government.  Riza Aziz, who is also the stepson of the country’s disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak, was arrested in July for allegedly receiving […]

US authorities have reached a deal to recover another $49 million in assets bought with money looted from Malaysia’s 1MDB state investment fund and laundered through the global financial system. Billions of dollars were plundered from the sovereign wealth fund and spent on everything from a luxury yacht to artwork in a fraud allegedly involving […]

The US Justice Department announced Tuesday it had sent $300 million in funds stolen in the 1MDB corruption scandal to the Malaysia government that had been laundered through the global financial system. Combined with other funds handed over nearly one year ago, the Justice Department said it has now returned or helped Malaysia recover more […]

by Nina Larson China last year became the world leader in international patent filings, unseating the United States which had held the top spot for more than four decades, the UN said Tuesday. A record 265,800 international patent applications were filed last year, a hike of 5.2-percent from 2018, the World Intellectual Property Organisation said […]

Malaysia’s anti-corruption chief, who had been investigating scandal-hit state fund 1MDB, said Friday she had resigned after a reformist government collapsed and a graft-tainted party took power. The “Pact of Hope” alliance, which stormed to a historic victory in 2018 and ousted a long-ruling coalition, fell apart amid infighting last week and prime minister Mahathir Mohamad […]

by Haeril Halim No one was more surprised to learn that Dimas Prayitno owned a Rolls-Royce than the 21-year-old Indonesian himself, who was baffled when told he owed $15,000 in taxes on the luxury vehicle. But a look at the construction worker’s home in a rundown neighbourhood quickly convinced officials that Prayitno was the latest […]

Three units of Goldman Sachs pleaded not guilty Monday in Malaysia over the investment bank’s alleged role in the multi-billion-dollar scandal at the country’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, official media reported. Huge sums were allegedly looted from the Malaysian fund in a globe-spanning fraud, which reportedly involved ex-leader Najib Razak and his inner circle. Goldman’s […]

by Rob Lever Chinese tech giant Huawei was hit Thursday with fresh US criminal charges alleging a “decades-long” effort to steal trade secrets from American companies. A US indictment unsealed in New York alleges Huawei and its proxies conspired “to misappropriate intellectual property” from six US firms as part of a strategy to grow and […]

Receiving money to “offset” buying planes and equipment did not necessarily constitute bribery, Malaysia’s prime minister said Thursday, days after AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes stepped aside temporarily in the wake of a $4 billion Airbus graft scandal. AirAsia founder and CEO Fernandes and company executive chairman Kamarudin Meranun deny allegations of misconduct, but have stepped […]

The former chief of Sri Lanka’s national carrier was arrested Thursday over allegations he received bribes for a multi-billion-dollar Airbus aircraft deal, as the fallout from corruption probes into the aviation giant grew. The country’s president ordered an investigation into the purchase after court documents mentioned SriLankan Airlines in corruption probes into Airbus. A French court […]

Malaysia’s former first lady, who allegedly bankrolled a luxurious lifestyle with kickbacks and stolen public money, went on trial Wednesday for corruption for the first time since her husband lost power. Rosmah Mansor, notorious for making overseas shopping trips and owning vast collections of handbags and jewellery, became a lightning rod for public anger as […]

A Malaysian journalist was charged Wednesday with causing public alarm with Facebook posts about the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China, as authorities warned against online “rumour-mongering”. The virus has so far killed almost 500 people and infected 24,000 others in China, and spread to more than 20 countries including Malaysia, which has 12 cases. It […]

The Federal Reserve permanently barred a senior Goldman Sachs executive from the banking industry over the 1MDB scandal, the US central bank announced Tuesday. The Fed action affects Andrea Vella, who had been placed on leave amid a crackdown over 1MDB, the scandal-plagued Malaysian investment fund for which Goldman Sachs helped raise $6.5 billion.  The […]

by M Jegathesan AirAsia’s colourful chief executive Tony Fernandes has stepped aside from the company while authorities probe unusual payments at the Malaysian carrier, as the fallout from a $4 billion bribery fine at Airbus reverberates across the industry. The shock decision came after Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) released details of a probe that […]

After European aerospace giant Airbus agreed to pay 3.6 billion euros ($4 billion) to Britain, France and the United States to settle a corruption probe, here are examples of other mega companies that have done the same. Odebrecht In 2016 the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and its petrochemicals subsidiary Braskem, mired in Latin America’s sprawling […]

Singapore on Wednesday denied claims by a Malaysian rights group that it used a brutal “coup de grace” to finish off botched executions and ordered Yahoo and other sites to correct reports of the matter. The Malaysia-based Lawyers for Liberty alleged last week that Singapore prison officers had been instructed to manually break the necks […]

An award-winning investigative team published a trove of files Sunday allegedly showing how the daughter of Angola’s former president — dubbed Africa’s richest woman — syphoned hundreds of millions of dollars of public money into offshore accounts. The New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) worked with newspapers such as Munich’s Suddeutsche Zeitung to […]

by John Biers Goldman Sachs reported a drop in fourth-quarter profits on Wednesday following a mixed performance in its operating businesses as it set aside $1.1 billion in anticipation of settlements in the 1MDB scandal. Chief Executive David Solomon said the “preponderance” of the $1.1 billion was related to 1MDB, a scandal-plagued Malaysian investment fund […]

Malaysian authorities played a series of phone recordings 45-minute audio recordings implicating former Premier, Najib Razak in covering up the 1MDB scandal. Authorities from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) revealed that Najib reaching out to UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed to secure a meeting on how to ‘resolve the “impasse” relating to the 1MDB […]

The fugitive Malaysian financier at the centre of a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal insisted he had not led the plundering of the 1MDB fund, a report said Monday. Low Taek Jho — commonly known as Jho Low — has been charged in Malaysia and the US for allegedly playing a major role in the theft of […]

Malaysia’s extraordinary 1MDB corruption scandal allegedly saw top officials loot billions from a state fund and go on a worldwide spending spree — buying up super-yachts, paintings by Van Gogh and Monet, and financing a Hollywood blockbuster. The controversy has had a huge impact in Malaysia, contributing to the downfall of a coalition that had […]

Goldman Sachs is in talks with American authorities to admit guilt and pay a massive fine in the 1MDB bribery scandal to end a US criminal probe, according to a report on Thursday. The global finance giant is near an agreement with the Justice Department on a fine of close to $2 billion in the […]