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Malaysia 1MDB: Ex-Prime Minister Najib arrested by anti-corruption officials | Malaysia 1MDB: Ex-Prime Minister Najib arrested by anti-corruption officials |
(35 minutes later) | |
Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been arrested by anti-corruption authorities and is due to be charged on Wednesday. | Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been arrested by anti-corruption authorities and is due to be charged on Wednesday. |
Mr Najib, who has long been plagued by allegations of corruption, has been accused of pocketing $700m (£517m) from state development fund 1MDB. | Mr Najib, who has long been plagued by allegations of corruption, has been accused of pocketing $700m (£517m) from state development fund 1MDB. |
Billions of dollars are unaccounted for from the fund, set up by Mr Najib. | Billions of dollars are unaccounted for from the fund, set up by Mr Najib. |
He has been under investigation since his shock election loss in May. Mr Najib denies wrongdoing. | He has been under investigation since his shock election loss in May. Mr Najib denies wrongdoing. |
According to a statement by the 1MDB special task force, Mr Najib was arrested at 14:35 local time (06:35 GMT) at his house in relation to matters dealing with SRC, a subsidiary of 1MDB. | |
He will be charged at 08:30 on Wednesday at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. | |
Raids in recent weeks have been carried out across properties linked to Mr Najib. | |
Police say they recovered $273m in luxury goods and cash from a raid in June, calling the seizure of valuables the biggest in Malaysian history. | |
Jewellery accounted for the biggest portion of the seizure, with the most expensive item being a $1.6m diamond and gold necklace. | |
A corruption scandal | |
Mr Najib has always denied the corruption charges and had been cleared by Malaysian authorities while in power, but he is being investigated by several other countries. | Mr Najib has always denied the corruption charges and had been cleared by Malaysian authorities while in power, but he is being investigated by several other countries. |
He has been banned from leaving Malaysia. | He has been banned from leaving Malaysia. |
1MDB, set up by Mr Najib in 2009, was meant to turn Kuala Lumpur into a financial hub and boost the economy through strategic investments. | |
But it started to attract negative attention in early 2015 after it missed payments for some of the $11bn it owed to banks and bondholders. | |
Then the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported it had seen a paper trail that allegedly traced close to $700m from the fund to Mr Najib's personal bank accounts. | |
Mr Najib has consistently denied taking money from 1MDB or any public funds. |