Malaysia has a new central bank governor: a former investigator into 1MDB will assume the role as top monetary policy official.
Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus was confirmed as governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, the Asian nation's central bank, according to a «Bloomberg» report. She left the bank in November 2016 after her tenure had ended. Her departure coincided with a clampdown by the previous administration on individuals involved in probing the 1MDB fund.
Nor Shamsiah, a 30-year veteran of the central bank, worked on policies that helped strengthen the banking system during the Asian financial crisis. She was also involved in developing Malaysia's financial industry's 10-year master plan through 2010 as well as investigations into dealings of the 1MDB state fund.
1MDB Connections
The new governor replaces Muhammad Ibrahim, who resigned from the position earlier this month, less than halfway through his five-year term. Questions were raised about the central bank’s purchase of land from the government in a deal that has been linked to 1MDB during Ibrahim's tenure.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has wasted no time in clearing out members of the previous administration from top government positions.
The new government is losing no time to try and turn around the country's reputation, which was badly tarnished by the scandals. Mahathir wants to get back the estimated $4.5 billion that investigators say were essentially stolen from the fund. The perpetrators used concealed ways to channel the money out of the country and to wash the funds before redistributing into luxury real estate, fine art, diamonds, and bankrolling a Hollywood blockbuster.
Scandal-Ridden Malaysia
The scandal felled Banca della Svizzera Italiana's branch in Singapore was shut down by MAS, the monetary authority.
In a further, unrelated move, Malaysia's police will reopen the investigation into the 2006 murder of a Mongolian model by bodyguards of Najib Razak, the ousted and now disgraced prime minister, according to a report by the «Wall Street Journal». A witness claimed the model was having an affair with Razak.
