2015 Journal and Sarawak Report stories
report
Document-based articles that mapped flows to accounts and to Jho Low. They are the first public evidence file most English readers saw.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Notoriety78
Mystery30
Scale90
Evidence75
Legal impact70
Culture65
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Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
What was 1MDB?
1Malaysia Development Berhad was a Malaysian state-owned development fund established in 2009. U.S. and Malaysian proceedings later described large diversions from the fund and related units, including SRC International.
When did the scandal become public?
Sarawak Report and the Wall Street Journal published major document-based stories in 2015. The U.S. DOJ filed civil forfeiture complaints in 2016. Those years are the public break, not the start of the underlying transfers.
What was Najib Razak convicted of?
On 28 July 2020 the High Court in Kuala Lumpur convicted him on seven SRC International counts, including abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering. The sentence was twelve years and a fine of RM210 million. The Federal Court affirmed on 23 August 2022.
Did the United States convict Najib?
No. The U.S. case most often cited is civil forfeiture of alleged proceeds, plus criminal cases against bankers (Leissner plea; Ng conviction). Najib's recorded criminal conviction in this atlas is the Malaysian SRC judgment.
What did Goldman Sachs pay?
In 2020 Goldman announced resolutions with the United States and other governments totaling about $2.9 billion, plus arrangements to return value related to 1MDB. Tim Leissner had pleaded guilty in 2018.
Who is Jho Low?
Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian financier, is described in DOJ complaints as a central intermediary. He was not in custody in the mid-2020s public record and is treated as a fugitive in those papers.
No single jury tried the entire $4.5 billion theory. The public record is a stack of complaints, pleas, and one fully tried SRC case against Najib.
The items below are the pillars. They describe what courts and journalists published after the fact, not how to move money through shells.
Exhibits
DOJ civil forfeiture complaints (2016- )
filing
Pleadings alleging diversion of more than $3.5 billion (later ~$4.5 billion in department statements) and listing specific assets as proceeds.
Leissner plea (2018)
testimony
A Goldman partner's guilty plea describing bribery and laundering around the bond work -- the Wall Street admission of record.
SRC trial record (2020)
judgment
The High Court judgment convicting Najib on seven counts, with a twelve-year term and RM210 million fine, later affirmed.
Goldman 2020 resolutions
filing
Deferred-prosecution and related papers totaling about $2.9 billion with the U.S. and other authorities, plus value-return terms for Malaysia.
Ng verdict (2022)
judgment
A Brooklyn jury's FCPA and money-laundering convictions of another former Goldman banker on the 1MDB bond facts.
How strong is the record?
SRC criminal judgment90
Tried, convicted, affirmed -- the political principal's core Malaysian case.
Banker criminal record85
Leissner plea and Ng conviction are complete trial-court facts (Ng subject to appeal).
DOJ asset trail75
Complaints and settlements are detailed; they are civil allegations resolved in part by consent, not one mega-verdict.
Jho Low file50
Central in pleadings; no completed personal criminal trial in custody as of the mid-2020s public record.
The evidence problem is stacking dockets without pretending they are one trial -- and without treating a fugitive as an unsolved theft.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.