This book is a gripping account of the biggest, most audacious kleptocracy the world has ever known – over RM40 billion lost or stolen by a corrupt Malaysian government through 1Malaysia Development Berhad or 1MDB.
It has all the elements of a Hollywood thriller with a cast featuring a sultan, a prime minister, his high-flying and even more high-spending wife, and a baby-faced whizz kid as the mastermind who was in his late twenties when it all started and who cavorted with actors and socialites such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Paris Hilton on yachts and other expensive places.
Despite the Barisan Nasional government going to great lengths to cover up the scandal, it exploded and spread. The people tired of the blatant theft threw BN out in the general elections of 9 May, ending 61 years of uninterrupted BN rule. The book shows how the scandal developed, the way the various embezzlements were executed, traces the money flows and tracks the beneficiaries of a crime which could not go undetected because it was so big. Now, those who are responsible are finally being brought to account through a process which will take years.
‘Stupendous! A gripping account of the most appalling financial scandal the world has seen. Be prepared to be stunned by the extent of greed of one Prime Minister, his family and his cronies, aided and abetted by renowned investment consultancies and banks. This tale of the extremely complex 1MDB scandal, so lucidly explained here, exposes the repercussions of unholy alliances involving people in a deeply corrupt political system and multinational financial consultancies and banks. A shameful episode that cogently reveals why Malaysian institutions are in urgent need of reform and global financial corporations require judicious regulation.’
Edmund Terence Gomez
Professor of Political Economy, University of Malaya
‘Issues surrounding 1MDB are complex, convoluted, even contrived. Guna’s deep understanding and easy-style narrative navigates us through without heartburn. A good read.’
Tan Sri Dr Lin See Yan
former Deputy Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia, consultant and columnist
About the author
P. Gunasegaram and his team at online news portal KINIBIZ were the first anywhere to write a detailed investigative piece on 1MDB - in March 2013. He was trained as a physics and maths teacher but has been a business journalist for most of his life. He spent some time in the corporate sector as head of equity analysis at several brokerages in Kuala Lumpur and has done consulting on subjects such as image and value management in addition to writing assignments.
