1MDB: Malaysia's stunning financial scandal

Malaysia has been gripped for more than a year by allegations that billions of dollars were looted from state investment fund 1MDB in an audacious campaign of fraud and money laundering.

The US Justice Department has now filed suit to recover more than $1 billion in assets it says were illegally purchased using 1MDB funds.

On Thursday Singapore said it had seized nearly $180 million linked to the scandal-tainted fund.

Here are some answers to key questions in the saga.

What is 1MDB?

1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, is a state investment fund Najib launched in 2009 shortly after assuming office.

Its portfolio has included power plants and other energy assets in Malaysia and the Middle East and real estate in Kuala Lumpur.

The Ministry of Finance-owned fund has been closely overseen by Najib, who serves concurrently as finance minister.

Whistle-blowers say Low Taek Jho, or "Jho Low", a jet-setting Malaysian financier who is close to Najib but has no official positions, helped set up 1MDB and played a key role in its financial decisions.

What went wrong?

The US Justice Department's filing emphatically endorses longstanding claims that 1MDB was used by corrupt Malaysian figures as a "personal bank account," in the words of US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

These figures include Najib's stepson Riza Aziz, Jho Low, other officials, and an individual the US filing calls "Malaysian Official 1" -- a thinly-veiled apparent reference to Najib himself.

The Justice Department says billions of dollars raised in 1MDB bond offerings were stolen and diverted across the globe for a range of corrupt purposes.

How did the scandal emerge?

Concerns grew in 2014 as 1MDB slid into an $11 billion debt hole, and the intensifying public scrutiny led to a string of revelations concerning missing funds.

The issue exploded in July 2015 when the Wall Street Journal published documents showing Najib himself received at least $681 million in payments to his personal bank accounts.

What are key allegations by US investigators?

-- In 2009, $700 million was secretly diverted from a 1MDB joint venture with a small Saudi energy company to bank accounts controlled by Low. Another $330 million was re-routed to his accounts in 2011.

-- $1.37 billion was diverted from a pair of 2012 bond offerings to accounts in the British Virgin Islands and Singapore believed controlled by Low, as was $1.26 billion raised in a 2013 bond sale.

-- Tens of millions of the diverted dollars were used in 2012 by Najib's stepson Riza, an aspiring film producer, to fund "The Wolf of Wall Street" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

-- Hundreds of millions were used, mainly by Riza and Low, to purchase a Beverly Hills Mansion, penthouse flats in New York, and a high-end London townhouse.

-- Also acquired were a Monet painting for $35 million, a Van Gogh for $5.5 million, a $35-million Bombardier jet and a $100 million stake in EMI Music Publishing, according to the US filing.

How is Najib implicated?

The Justice Department says "Malaysian Official 1" repeatedly conspired with Low to receive millions in illicit payments, and its description of the official strongly suggests that it refers Najib.

For example, US investigators said $681 million of 1MDB money was illicitly transferred to an account controlled by "Malaysian Official 1".

Najib already has admitted receiving $681 million in past deposits to his personal accounts after they were exposed last year by the Wall Street Journal.

He denies they came from 1MDB, saying they were a "gift" from the Saudi royal family.

What impact has 1MDB had on Malaysia?

As the scandal escalated, Najib purged 1MDB critics from his cabinet, curbed domestic investigations, and enacted a tough new security law, sparking accusations that he was imperilling Malaysia's already fragile democracy to save his skin.

Political analysts say only a revolt within the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) appears able to dislodge Najib. But they add that appears unlikely for now as Najib's crackdown has dramatically strengthened his hold on the party.