A journalist’s account of how former Malaysian PM Najib Razak embezzled billions from a wealth fund

Around 2010 and 2011, the Malaysian government’s five-year electoral mandate was to conclude in barely two years and PM Najib was weighing his options. Najib could either call for snap polls, or sit out the full term and dissolve parliament after the first quarter of 2013. Whatever the timing, his party and coalition government would need large amounts of funding for the political campaign.

Within the Najib camp, all eyes turned to Jho Low. He was barely 29 and already impressing Najib by displaying the traits of a seasoned scheme artist. Apart from his unique ability to compartmentalise and juggle various financial manoeuvres, Low was soft-spoken, never mercurial even in the most tense of moments, and always understated in private encounters. His other side was his extravagant tastes, and a proclivity to throw lavish parties that drew the attention of the tabloids in New York.

Amid all of this, Low was locking the Najib government and the Malaysian people into the largest-ever debt commitment entered into by any administration since independence in 1957. He held no position in any government agency. He had no official advisory role at 1MDB. While those outside Najib's circle, particularly Mahathir Mohamed's clique of cronies, began to view Low...

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