The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal is an ongoing political scandal in Malaysia, in which then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of channeling over RM 2.67 billion (approximately US$700 million) into his personal bank accounts from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a government-run strategic development company. 1MDB was overseen by Najib as head of its advisory board. Following repeated calls for resignation by the public, Najib lost power in the 2018 Malaysian general election, and is currently on trial along with several key figures involved.
Najib has been convicted at the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court over the RM42 million criminal breach of trust and money laundering in the SRC International case, and after numerous failed appeals, in 2022, Najib began serving his jail sentence with other cases continue to be on trial. His wife, Rosmah Mansor, also faces money-laundering and tax evasion charges that were acquitted in
2009
April 3: Najib is sworn in as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.People.com.cn , 3 April 2009. July: The Ministry Of Finance, under leadership of Najib, takes control of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), proposes a change in name to 1Malaysia Development Berhad and expands the new entities remit from (Terengganu) state to national level development. September: The Companies Commission of Malaysia approves the transformation of Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) on 25 September. 1MDB enters into a US$2.5 billion joint venture with private Saudi oil company PetroSaudi International. October 11: 1MDB's chairman, Bakke Salleh resigns his position for the second time in 6 months, due to management repeatedly not adhering to his directives.
2010
May: 1MDB signs deals with sovereign wealth funds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, UAE. It also jointly undertakes the development of the old airport in Sungai Besi and the project is named Bandar Malaysia.
2012
March 8: 1MDB buys Tanjong Energy Holdings for RM8.5 billion from tycoon Ananda Krishnan. July: Najib launches the Tun Razak Exchange project.
2013
March: Tim Leissner, lead banker for bond sales at Goldman Sachs helps 1MDB raise a further $3bn in an additional bond sale, this time to cover "new strategic economic initiatives" between Malaysia and Abu Dhabi. May 5: Malaysia's 2013 General Elections is held. Najib's Barisan Nasional coalition wins the simple majority but the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat, led by Anwar Ibrahim wins the popular vote. December 25: The movie The Wolf of Wall Street, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio is released. The movie credits Jho Low, one of Najib's close aides.
2014
March: Malaysian newspaper The Edge reports that 1MDB is reportedly over $10 billion in debt.
2015
January: Around 227,000 leaked documents related to the fraud are handed to the Wall Street Journal and activist blogger Clare Rewcastle-Brown. The documents were reportedly leaked by Swiss national Xavier Justo, a former PetroSaudi International employee. May 29: 1MDB gets a US$1 billion payment from Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company, which will be used to repay a US$975 million loan to a syndicate of international bank lenders. June 3: Malaysia's central bank launches an inquiry into 1MDB's workings. July 2: The Wall Street Journal releases a report alleging US$700 million (RM 2.6 billion) of deposits suspected to have originated with 1MDB have flowed into Najib Razak's personal bank accounts. July 4: Najib denies allegations that stolen money was found in his bank accounts, saying "If I wanted to steal, surely I won’t steal the money and bring it into an account in Malaysia." July 7: A special task force is formed to probe allegations that millions of dollars had been channeled into Najib Razak's bank accounts announces a freeze order for six accounts linked to the case. July 8: Police raid the 1MDB office, seizing documents. July 9: The Attorney-General's Chambers says that the six accounts which were ordered to be frozen were not linked to Najib, as his accounts with AmBank Islamic had already been closed by then. July 20: Sarawak Report is blocked by the Malaysian government. July 28: Following criticism, Najib performs a cabinet reshuffle. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie Apdal were dropped from their positions and were replaced by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Ismail Sabri Yaakob respectively, while Attorney General Abdul Ghani Patail was also sacked and replaced by Mohamed Apandi Ali. August 3: The MACC announces the task force has completed its investigation. It reveals the $700 million that allegedly went into Najib's accounts were from donations and had nothing to do with 1MDB. August 4: An arrest warrant is issued for Rewcastle-Brown. August 17: Thai authorities sentence Xavier Justo to a three-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to stealing information from PetroSaudi International (PSI). August 29–30: The Bersih 4 rally was held, with thousands joining, including former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and his wife Siti Hasmah. Mahathir, with other participants, urge Najib to resign. September onwards: Several countries, including Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Switzerland, begin investigating financial firms and banks Najib allegedly used to siphon funds. October 20: Thai police give Malaysian counterparts approval to question Xavier Justo. October 27: Najib has filed a defamation suit against former MCA president Ling Liong Sik over remarks on the prime minister's handling of the 1MDB scandal. November 25: 1MDB CEO Shahrol Halmi is questioned by Malaysia's Public Accounts Committee (PAC). He is later called back in on November 30 for further questioning. December 1: PAC questions 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy. December 5: Najib gives a statement to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) on the issue of the almost US$700 million found in his personal bank accounts and on SRC international. December 31: MACC submits 1MDB investigation papers to the Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali.
2016 January 11: Prime Minister Najib Razak and former MCA president Ling Liong Sik attempted mediation to resolve a defamation suit linked to the RM2.6 billion donation issue. January 26: Attorney General Apandi clears Najib of any wrongdoing, saying in a statement that US$681 million transferred into Najib's account was a "personal donation from the Saudi royal family". "A sum of US$620 million was returned by the Prime Minister to Saudi royal family because it was not utilised," the statement adds. However, at the press conference, Apandi contradicted himself by presenting two flow-charts ostensibly showing the Saudi donations but that actually showed that the funds originated from Malaysian sources. January 29: Swiss prosecutors request assistance from Malaysian authorities as they believe around US$4 billion was stolen from Malaysian state-owned companies. "A small portion" of the cash was transferred into Swiss accounts held by former Malaysian officials as well as current and former officials from the United Arab Emirates, the Swiss attorney general's office says in a statement. February 1: Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issue a joint statement, saying a "large number" of bank accounts in relation to a probe into 1MDB have been seized. February 3: Menteri Besar of Kedah Mukhriz Mahathir resigns after losing majority support. February 7: Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir says he believes the funds that went into Najib's personal account were not a political donation from the Saudi government, but that they had been part of a business deal. February 19: 1MDB says in a statement that a Wall Street Journal report stating that it paid funds into the personal accounts of Najib is an "outright lie". February 29: Mahathir announces his departure from UMNO and also his withdrawal of support from Najib. March 4: The public and political protests had culminated in the Malaysian Citizens' Declaration by Mahathir, oppositions and NGO's to oust Najib. March 19: Prime Minister Najib Razak tells a political rally in Kuantan that people shouldn't "think I am a crook". March 23: Malaysia central bank governor Zeti Aktar Aziz says Bank Negara has initiated administrative punitive action against 1MDB after it failed to provide documents on its finances abroad. March 31: The Wall Street Journal publishes a report claiming that Najib spent lavishly on luxury goods overseas, using funds diverted from 1MDB. April 2: 1MDB denies reports that it provided funds to finance the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. April 5: Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli is arrested under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for leaking the Auditor General's 1MDB report. April 7: 1MDB's board of directors offer to resign after a report released by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee said it found the state investment fund's financing and performance "unsatisfactory". April 12: Swiss authorities expand its investigation into 1MDB to two former officials in charge of Abu Dhabi sovereign funds. Singapore's Attorney-General's Chambers receives a request for legal assistance from Switzerland with regard to 1MDB. April 13: 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy says the state investment fund could be a victim of fraud – after the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund, the International Petroleum Investment Company, denied receiving payment from 1MDB. April 19: Mahathir applies for a court order to freeze Najib's assets. 1MDB also says it is working to resolve the dispute with International Petroleum Investment Company. April 28: Malaysia's central bank fines 1MDB for "failure to fully comply with directions under the Financial Services Act". May 24: The Monetary Authority of Singapore announces it has ordered the closure of Switzerland's BSI Bank in Singapore over "serious breaches of anti-money laundering requirements, poor management oversight of the bank’s operations, and gross misconduct by some of the bank’s staff". May 31: Malaysia's Ministry of Finance announces the appointment of a new board of directors for 1MDB, succeeding the previous board. July 11: 1MDB agrees to resolve its dispute with International Petroleum Investment Company via the London Court of International Arbitration. July 21: United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch announces the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of more than US$1 billion in assets associated with an alleged international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from 1MDB. The suit says $681m found its way into the personal account of ‘Malaysian Official 1’, later identified as Najib by both the US and a Malaysian minister. August 9: Xavier Justo receives a royal pardon and has his three-year sentence commuted by one-third. October 11: The Monetary Authority of Singapore orders the Singapore branch of Falcon Bank to cease operations for serious failures in anti-money laundering controls and improper conduct by senior management. MAS also imposes fines on DBS and UBS banks for breaches of its anti-money laundering requirements. This comes after "supervisory examinations by MAS into 1MDB-related fund flows" that took place through the three banks from March 2013 to May 2015, MAS said. December 2: MAS fines Standard Chartered Singapore and Coutts & Co for breaches of anti-money laundering requirements that occurred in the context of 1MDB-related fund flows.
2017
March 22: US authorities plan to file criminal charges against Jho Low, who is suspected to be at the center of the 1MDB scandal, the Wall Street Journal reports. April 24: 1MDB reaches a settlement deal with Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company.