Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was arrested by anti-corruption investigators on Tuesday afternoon.
Fairfax Media published the big news today, saying it is a development likely to lead to the former leader’s charging in the 1MDB scandal.
“A source with knowledge of the inquiry into Najib said that investigators had arranged for the former PM to hand himself into the anti-corruption agency on Tuesday,” said the Australian news site.
The Wall Street Journal today said Mr. Najib was arrested at his Kuala Lumpur mansion, according to the special anticorruption task force.
The task force was set up to investigate the 1MDB affair.
In a statement, the agency said the former leader would be charged in court Wednesday morning.
The investigators didn’t specify what charges he would face.
The arrest of Najib is just the starting point of an investigation that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says will take months to complete.
The new government has barred a number of former government officials from leaving the country.
Yesterday, Utusan published a story saying Najib has again denied that he stole 1MDB money.
Utusan cited Malaysia Kini’s interview with Najib in which he said the money was a donation.
But the anti-graft agency said it had enough evidence to prove that Najib had misused 1MDB funds.
Sarawak Report and The Wall Street Journal had in the past given sufficient evidence of an elaborated plan to syphon 1MDB money.
The money was stolen via a complex network of companies, fake entities and other organisations in a bid to divert investigators in their trace for the biggest cash haul in the history of mankind.