A former director of Falcon Private Bank who has languished in prison since 2016 over 1MDB allegations has spoken out about the $4.5 billion Malaysian graft scandal.

Khadem Al-Qubaisi, a former director of Swiss-based Falcon Private Bank, was imprisoned in 2016 and charged last year with taking nearly $500 million of pilfered money and spending it on U.S. luxury real estate.

He is being pressured to take the fall for the Emirates and is being squeezed for his assets, al-Qubaisi told «The Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall) on Wednesday. He didn't address specifics of U.S. and Emirati allegations against him, but said his plan «die here in this place or to get out.»
 

Responsible for Billions

As the head of Abu Dhabi's biggest sovereign wealth funds until 2016, al-Qubaisi was responsible for billions in investments for the ruling family of Abu Dhabi – including stakes in Barclays, Daimler and Glencore. 

He was also a board member of Falcon until four years ago, during a period which Switzerland's regulator sanctioned Falcon heavily for waving through allegedly crooked 1MDB deals. 

Arrest Nearly Three Years Ago

The remarks by al-Qubaisi represent his first since his arrest nearly three years ago. The emirate isn't part of a six-country probe into 1MDB led by the U.S. and including Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Singapore, and he has not been made available for questioning.

In 2016, Swiss regulator Finma blamed two unnamed representatives of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund for initiating Falcon's business with 1MDB and its associates. The two are almost certainly al-Qubaisi and Mohamed Badawy al-Husseiny, a one-time associate.

Stumbled Over Greed

Al-Qubaisi appeared to have stumbled over personal greed, enriching himself with million-dollar kickbacks on deals done for the emirate in an ostentatious fashion grossly at odds with the emirate’s Islamic traditions. For example, Al-Qubaisi was snapped at a St.-Tropez nightclub frolicking with a topless woman, in unattributed pictures published by blog «Sarawak Report».

«The Wall Street Journal» cited documents pinning al-Qubaisi and 1MDB funds to a $450 million luxury yacht used by the deputy leader of the UAE as recently as 2015. The yacht, the Topaz, was leased by alleged 1MDB mastermind Jho Low several times, the newspaper reported.

Pleaded Guilty

Low is also being sought by U.S. officials in a probe which has heated up since ex-Goldman Sachs southeast Asia head Tim Leissner  pleaded guilty last year. Falcon's 1MDB troubles are largely over, in regulatory terms. Switzerland’s attorney general is still investigating Falcon, which is still owned by the UAE and seeking a reinvention as a crypto wealth manager following the scandal, as well as six undisclosed people over 1MDB.