International

Pressure mounts on Malaysia PM to resign over $1bn scandal

Published

8 years ago

July 21, 2016

There is growing pressure in Malaysia following calls for the resignation of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over allegations of financial misappropriation.

Najib is being accused of dipping his hands into Malaysia’s state-owned 1MDB investment fund to purchase luxury properties, works of art and a business jet all worth about $1 billion.

Lawsuits were filed on Wednesday in California by the US Justice Department to seize assets “involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1MDB” over a four-year period.

Among the assets purchased were works of art valued at $137 million, including a $35 million painting by Claude Monet, US Attorney and California Chief Prosecutor Eileen Decker said.

“I suggest the people push for a referendum on the prime minister’s leadership,” Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday.

Malaysians should have a “peaceful rally” to demand Najib’s removal from office over the affair, he said.

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