Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
LessMore
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.
The public story has two capitals: Kuala Lumpur, where a prime minister was convicted, and New York, where a bank paid and a partner pleaded.
The beats below follow Sarawak Report, the Journal, the DOJ complaints, and the SRC judgment.
Beats
- A development fund raises dollars
1MDB's 2009 creation and the 2012-2013 Goldman bond sales built a balance sheet that later complaints said was drained through a chain of companies.
- 2015 document journalism
Sarawak Report and the Wall Street Journal published trails that tied the fund to Jho Low, to Najib's accounts, and to luxury spending abroad.
- DOJ kleptocracy complaints
From 2016 the United States sought to forfeit specific assets as 1MDB proceeds, making Hollywood and real estate part of a civil docket.
- Bankers plead and a bank pays
Leissner's 2018 plea and Goldman's 2020 ~$2.9 billion resolutions are the Wall Street legal ending. Ng's 2022 Brooklyn conviction followed.
- SRC conviction in Kuala Lumpur
Najib's 28 July 2020 guilty verdict, affirmed in 2022, is the political principal's recorded conviction. Jho Low remained outside custody.
The story on the public record is a completed Malaysian conviction plus a set of U.S. civil and banker criminal cases -- not a single courtroom that tried every dollar.
Public-record encyclopedia. Not legal advice. Not a how-to. Graphic detail is withheld. Wars belong in a separate atlas.