[JURIST] Malaysian government minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan confirmed on Friday that Prime Minister Najib Razak [official website] is the unnamed official involved in the nation’s recent national wealth fund scandal. In 2009 Razak established the fund [BBC report] known as 1MDB to promote economic growth in Malaysia, but the fund has since been considered a failure due to the country’s extraordinary debt. Complaints recently arose accusing high level officials of conspiring to misappropriate USD $3.5 billion from 1MDB. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed a lawsuit [press release] in July to seize assets involved in the scandal and specifically named a “Malaysian Official 1” who allegedly received USD $681 million of the stolen money before returning most of it. While it was universally understood that Razak was “Malaysian Official 1,” Malaysian citizens subsequently rose in protest demanding that Razak identify himself officially. Dahlan stated that Razak has always clearly been the unnamed party. Furthermore, Dahlan stressed that Razak was unnamed in the lawsuit because he is not involved in the investigation. The Malaysian Attorney General’s Office had already cleared [JURIST report] Razak of corruption charges over the USD $681 million upon finding that the money was actually a personal donation from the Saudi royal family. Protests against Razak will likely take a toll on his international reputation and his upcoming run for reelection.

Razak’s corruption allegations have caused controversy over the past several months. In March former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] against Razak alleging corruption and abuse of power. In July two major opposition parties in Malaysia called for an emergency [JURIST report] sitting of parliament in order to discuss the future of the country’s prime minister. A police report has also been lodged against Razak by many opposition members, including representatives [Reuters report] of political parties. In 2006 Razak, who has served as the country’s prime minister since 2009, was accused [BBC report] of being connected to the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, after her remains were found in October of that year in Kuala Lumpur. Razak, who was deputy prime minister at the time, denied having any connections to the murder or even knowing the model.