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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysian police visited former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s house late Wednesday, reportedly searching for documents as part of a renewed probe into a massive corruption scandal involving a state investment fund that is being investigated abroad.
More than a dozen police vehicles arrived at Najib’s house shortly after he returned home from prayers at a nearby mosque, fueling speculation that he may be arrested after new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad warned that he could be charged soon over the 1MDB fund fiasco.
Commercial crime director Amar Singh Ishar Singh told local media that police were searching for evidence in an ongoing probe and that it was being carried out at five locations belonging to or linked to Najib. He declined to give details. Police officials couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
The national Bernama news agency cited sources as saying that the police were searching for documents related to 1MDB and that raids occurred simultaneously at the prime minister’s office, the prime minister’s official residence and an upscale condominium in the city.
Mahathir has not yet moved into the prime minister’s office or residence. He reopened a probe into the 1MDB scandal after his alliance won a stunning election victory last week, ousting Najib and ending the National Front’s 60-year grip on power. Najib started the fund in 2009 and US investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen and laundered by Najib’s associates, some of which landed in his bank account.
Earlier Wednesday, Mahathir said the government will make arrests as soon as there is clear evidence and reiterated that there will be “no deal” for Najib in the scandal.
Mahathir, 92, said an initial investigation showed the scale of wrongdoing by Najib’s administration was more serious than expected.
Mahathir said he has met with ousted Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail, who said he had been preparing to file criminal charges against Najib when he was abruptly removed in 2015. Gani led an investigation by multiple agencies into the scandal at the time, which was later closed after Najib was cleared of wrongdoing.
Mahathir said the government will seek to retrieve billions of dollars laundered from 1MDB to repay government debts that have piled up over the years.
“The focus on corruption is important because we need to get back money which is still in Switzerland, the US, Singapore and maybe Luxembourg. For this, we will contact the governments of the countries to recover the money there,” Mahathir said.
“The money belongs to Malaysia and it came from 1MDB. We will appeal for the money to be returned to Malaysia.”
He said the government is also committed to repaying any debts linked to the fund that it has guaranteed.
Najib and his wife have been barred from leaving Malaysia. The government has also told the current attorney general, who cleared Najib of wrongdoing in 2016, to go on leave, and has relieved the country’s treasury chief, who is also the 1MDB chairman, of his duties.
Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years until in 2003, emerged from retirement to join hands with former political foes to oust Najib amid anger over the 1MDB scandal. He said his new government is also seeking to cut wastage in the government, including possibly axing 17,000 political appointees.
The finance ministry said in a statement Wednesday that a 6 percent goods and services tax introduced by Najib in 2016 to boost government revenues will be abolished June 1. The tax has been blamed for raising the cost of living and has angered many Malaysians.
After being sworn in as Malaysia’s seventh prime minister last Thursday, Mahathir moved swiftly to name new finance, home affairs and defense ministers but has not appointed a full Cabinet amid horse trading among his four-party alliance for posts. He said he hoped this week to have a 10-member Cabinet before expanding it later but acknowledged it was a challenge navigating his alliance.
“It is difficult. It is time consuming and energy consuming and I don’t get much sleep but I have to do it because they appointed me as prime minister. I cannot complain very much,” he said.