BY UNA GALANI

Najib Razak is a marked man. With a shock election defeat as prime minister, his top defence against the multi-billion-dollar scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad has gone. Old inquiries into allegations of misappropriated money at the sovereign fund may now reopen at home, and overseas investigators have less reason to go easy on him.

There will be domestic pressure to go after the key architect of the fund. The country’s leader-in-waiting, 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, said on Thursday that if Najib has done something wrong he would face the consequences. Indeed, the scandal was core to the campaign waged by Mahathir’s alliance and the opposition benefited from public animosity toward Chinese investments, which flooded into the country as a result of the financial fallout from 1MDB.

Reopening inquiries probably requires a new attorney general. At the height of the scandal in 2015, Najib effectively replaced the chief prosecutor who was investigating the fund. His successor then exonerated the premier, declaring some $700 million that appeared in his bank account was a “gift” from the royal family in Saudi Arabia. Najib has always denied any wrongdoing.

Overseas agencies also have leverage. 1MDB has been probed in six countries, including Switzerland and Singapore. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the scandal “kleptocracy at its worst” after his department alleged $4.5 billion went astray. The complaints didn’t name the prime minister but did reference a Malaysian official with responsibilities that matched the premier’s – and his stepson, Riza Aziz, is cited as having benefited from the stolen money.

By not naming him, the United States effectively went easy on Najib, rather than risk pushing him entirely into China’s embrace or destabilising the majority Muslim country. Now they may take their cue from the new government. The Americans could try to nail him as a gift to the new regime, in exchange for a promise to ally with the United States over China.

Yet if chased, Najib could be tempted into the dangerous politics of mutual destruction. Both he and Mahathir have been dogged by scandal. A Najib-led attack on the credibility of the new government could make an unpredictable situation much worse.

First published May 10, 2018

(Image: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha)