Somewhere along the journey, a sense of elite impunity crept in and transformed these inherent advantages into rapacious tools for self-enrichment. The implications of this scandal for Malaysia are far-reaching and fundamental. A critical element of the economic strategy promoted by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in the early 1990s and successive leaders in Kuala Lumpur was the development of the export sector as an engine of growth. From a global perspective, the ongoing fallout of 1MDB yet again highlights lack of regulation of dark pools of finance held by the ultra-wealthy and uber-connected. Although Mr. Razak has not been officially named in the U.S. investigation, there are allegations that “Malaysian Official 1” mentioned in the lawsuits may indeed be him.

Source: The Hindu August 08, 2016 20:37 UTC