Najib is the chairman of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state-owned investment firm that was established on Najib's initiative in 2009 as part of the government's Economic Transformation Programme. However, 1MDB has reportedly incurred debts of MYR 42 billion (about USD 11.1 billion) after only six years of operations, prompting a negative outlook on the country's economic growth.[87]
On July 2, 2015, The Wall Street Journal ran an exposé alleging that MYR 2.672 billion (USD 700 million) had been channelled from 1MDB into Najib's personal bank accounts, triggering widespread calls for his resignation.[88][89][90] Najib has denied any wrongdoing and has announced plans to sue the newspaper for libel.[91] On July 6, 2015, amid the 1MDB scandal, the ringgit fell to 3.8050 against the US dollar, the first time it slid beyond the 3.80 currency peg, which was lifted in 2005.[92] To back up the allegations, on July 7, 2015, The Wall Street Journal released a batch of partially redacted documents that purportedly show how nearly US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was moved from 1MDB into Najib's personal bank accounts. These documents relate to transactions in March 2013, December 2014 and February 2015.[93]
The multi-agency task force investigating these allegations reported on July 10, 2015 that Najib's bank accounts at AmBank Islamic were closed before The Wall Street Journal reported the transfers of billions of ringgit to those accounts thereby confirming that Najib had two accounts at that bank. The task force also confirmed that the six accounts it had just frozen did not belong to Najib but did not name the holders of those accounts [94] Najib's handling of the corruption scandal was criticized by, among others, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and then Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. During Najib's mid-term Cabinet reshuffle on 28 July 2015, Najib dropped Muhyiddin from his position as Deputy Prime Minister, as well as other Ministers...