Malaysia’s attorney general says will cooperate with Swiss counterparts on 1MDB probe

The office of Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber said he has sought Malaysia’s help with his investigation into possible violations of Swiss law by the state-owned fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) set up in 2009.

Najib chairs the advisory board of 1MDB, which has been dogged by controversy over its $11 billion in debt and alleged financial mismanagement.

The Swiss office opened criminal proceedings last August against two former 1MDB officials and “persons unknown”.

Some of the funds had been transferred to Swiss accounts held by former Malaysian public officials and current and former public officials from the United Arab Emirates, according to the prosecutor’s office.

This week, Ali cleared Najib of corruption saying the $681 million transfer was a personal donation by the Saudi royal family to the prime minister’s private bank account.

A criminal investigation conducted by the Swiss attorney general’s office has revealed “serious indications that funds have been misappropriated”, the Swiss prosecutor said in a statement.

When presenting his findings last week, Malaysia’s top lawyer had asked the country’s anti-graft agency to close all probes into SRC and the money deposited in Najib’s account.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been under heavy political pressure over allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars were missing from deals involving 1MDB. Petrosaudi and ADMIC could not immediately be reached. Tan Sri Apandi Ali today said his office will decide how to respond once it receives documents from his Swiss counterpart who is investigating 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

“1MDB remains committed to fully cooperating with any lawful authority and investigation, subject to advice from the relevant domestic lawful authorities, and in accordance to worldwide protocols governing such matters”, it said in a statement.

“The object of the request for mutual assistance is therefore to advise the companies and the Malaysian government of the results of the Swiss criminal proceedings, with the aim of finding out whether losses on this scale have been sustained”.

In his statement today, he said the 1MDB investigation was separate from that carried out into the RM2.6 billion deposit.