Two managers of a Saudi oil exploration company have been indicted by the Swiss bank as part of a yearslong international investigation of a scandal linked to a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund that the FBI once described as the “biggest kleptocracy case” ever.
According to the office of Switzerland’s attorney general, the two PetroSaudi managers were accused of trying to enrich themselves and others by misappropriating at least $1.8 billion transferred to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund. Citing privacy reasons, Swiss officials did not name the pair.
The indictments are the first of their kind in Switzerland, where some financial institutions were ensnared in the far-reaching scandal involving the state-owned investment fund known as 1MDB.
Malaysian investigators allege that more than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund established in 2009 and laundered by associates of former Prime Minister Najib Razak through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries.
Some of the looted money allegedly paid for jewelry, hotels, art and a luxury yacht, and helped finance Hollywood films such as “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts. He was sent to prison in Maylasia in August to serve a 12-year sentence for graft.
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