South China Morning Post :
Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in relation to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, the country’s anti-graft agency has said.
The arrest of Rosmah – long compared with Imelda Marcos, the spouse of the corruption-tainted late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, because of their extravagant spending habits – signalled prosecutors were intensifying their months-long probe into the scandal.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said in a press statement that Rosmah was arrested at 3.20pm at its offices in the administrative capital Putrajaya.
She had reported to the anti-graft agency earlier this morning for her second round of questioning in two weeks.
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The agency said Rosmah would be charged under the country’s Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act tomorrow morning.
Investigations have centred on her role in the 1MDB scandal, for which her deposed husband Najib is also facing criminal charges that could see him spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.
Bags of jewellery, cash and luxury purses seized from Najib’s properties in June – soon after his shock election defeat to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad – were valued at some US$273 million. Among the items were Hermes Birkin bags worth upwards of US$100,000 each.
Najib said soon after the seizure that the items were mostly “gifts” given to Rosmah and his daughter.
Observers say a key reason for Najib’s defeat was widespread public opinion that he and Rosmah did in fact plunder 1MDB, as alleged by The Wall Street Journal and the investigative news blog Sarawak Report.
The US Department of Justice believes some US$4.5 billion was stolen from the state fund, set up by Najib in 2009. Wednesday’s arrest comes amid a public groundswell for attorney general Tommy Thomas to move quicker in investigating the scandal.
