Malaysian police raid Deloitte office in 1MDB probe

Malaysian police on Thursday raided the Kuala Lumpur offices of auditor Deloitte as they ramp up investigations into a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal, an official said.

Huge sums were stolen from Malaysian state fund 1MDB, allegedly by former leader Najib Razak and his cronies who spent it on everything from yachts to rare artwork.

Deloitte has come under scrutiny after it audited 1MDB's 2013 and 2014 financial statements.

Mazlan Mansor, the police's head of commercial crimes, confirmed to AFP that a raid had taken place on Deloitte's office "in the course of 1MDB investigations".

Police seized documents and files during the operation, The Star newspaper reported.

Malaysia's securities regulator had already fined the firm 2.2 million ringgit ($525,000) in January for breaches related to a 1MDB bond issuance.

Deloitte was the third major accounting company to audit 1MDB's books, after KPMG and Ernst & Young.

Deloitte quit as 1MDB's auditor in 2016.

The same year, the firm said its audits of 1MDB's financial statements could no longer be relied upon after the US filed lawsuits linked to the scandal.

US authorities are seeking to claw back assets allegedly bought in America with funds stolen from 1MDB and believe $4.5 billion was looted from the fund.

The allegations played a large part in persuading voters to eject Najib's coalition at historic elections last year after more than six decades in power.

He has since been hit with dozens of charges linked to the scandal, and last month went on trial. He denies wrongdoing.