Disgraced former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was today arrested at his residence in Laggak Duta at 3pm.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commision sources have confirmed the arrest and are asking for the public to await their full statement.
According to the MACC, Najib will be taken to the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex to face charges at 8.30am.
However, they did not specify the charges he will face.
And so it begins.
Najib, whose Barisan Nasional coalition was ousted in elections last month, has been linked to the 1MDB scandal while his wife, Rosmah Mansor, has been widely criticized for her extravagant shopping sprees.
Accusations of billions of dollars being siphoned off from 1MDB, a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, for personal use by Najib, his wife and their cronies have long plagued the tenure of the former PM.
Police had spent the last two months conducting searches on several properties linked to Najib.
Last week, they announced that they had netted 12,000 pieces of jewelry, bags containing almost $30 million in cash across 26 different currencies, more than 400 watches worth $19.3 million, and other high-end designer goods.
Allegations of corruption in connection with 1MDB were a major factor behind the shock election loss of Najib’s long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance headed by former leader Mahathir Mohamad, 92.
MACC investigators have since questioned Rosmah Mansor, and today hauled in her son Riza Aziz for further questioning.
Riza is one of the proprietors of Red Granite Prods., the film company behind the making of Oscar-nominated flick The Wolf of Wall Street. Investigators will be looking into the funds that Riza used to finance the costly film, and other instant-classics like Friends with Kids (side note: Great to see our money being put to good use. EYE ROLL).
Elusive financier Jho Low, currently in Dubai, is also wanted for further questioning for his role in the movement of 1MDB funds. While offering to answer questions from the comfort of the Middle East, Mahathir’s government has categorically denied him the luxury of “us coming to him” so to speak, and are looking to bring Low to justice in Malaysia.
