Malaysia's central bank said today it had formally recommended that criminal proceedings be launched against a state-owned company linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak and which is at the centre of a massive corruption scandal.
The recommendation, which has since been dismissed by a Najib-appointed attorney general, was first made by the central Bank Negara in August but only disclosed for the first time today.
Najib and the company that he launched -- 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) -- have been under intense pressure to explain more than a billion dollars of money allegedly missing from overseas investments.
Najib also has been rocked by the sensational revelation in July that nearly USD 700 million in mysterious transfers had been made to his personal bank accounts, and which remain unexplained.
Najib, 62, and 1MDB have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and have insisted that no 1MDB money made it into his accounts.
Bank Negara said it had recommended in August that the attorney-general "initiate criminal prosecution against 1MDB for breaches" of laws on overseas money transfers.
Bank Negara also directed 1MDB, an investment vehicle launched in 2009 by Najib, to repatriate USD 1.83 billion that the bank said was invested abroad based on inaccurate or incomplete disclosures.
It gave no further details. It was not immediately clear what has become of the USD 1.83 billion.
The central bank is perhaps the most respected government institution in Malaysia, and even if no charges result, the revelation casts a further cloud over Najib's handling of the affair.
