May 14, 2016
Malaysian Leader Najib’s Stepson Allegedly Funded U.S. Property Deals With 1MDB Money – WSJ
by Bradley Hope and Tom Wright
Updated May 12, 2016 10:26 a.m.

Mr Riza Aziz’s Greed and Lavish Lifestyle are inherited from his mother, Rosmah Mansor, who is married to Mr. Najib Razak. He is also influenced by the company he keeps. –Din Merican
At least $50 million allegedly diverted from a state investment fund in Malaysia was spent on luxury properties in New York and Los Angeles by the stepson of the Malaysian Prime Minister ( Mr. Najib Razak), according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the matter.
Riza Aziz, a film producer and stepson of Malaysian leader Najib Razak, used money that originated from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. fund to acquire a 7,700-square-foot, $33.5 million duplex in the Park Laurel condominium tower overlooking New York’s Central Park, the documents and people said.
Mr. Aziz also used money originating from 1MDB to buy an 11,000-square-foot walled mansion in Beverly Hills with a 120-foot-long pool for more than $17.5 million, the documents and people said.
The financing of those acquisitions is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting a wide-ranging inquiry into alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars from 1MDB, according to people familiar with the probe. 1MDB was set up in 2009 to benefit the Malaysian people.
Investigators believe that money used to buy the two properties was part of at least $238 million—more than the Journal previously reported—that was transferred to an offshore company wholly owned by Mr. Aziz, Red Granite Capital, by a firm which investigators believe played a central role in the allegedmultibillion-dollar fraud. The Journal previously reported that Mr. Aziz’s film company received $155 million in loans originating with 1MDB, much of which went to finance the 2013 movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Mr. Aziz, who according to people who know him lives in a rented apartment in Los Angeles while the Beverly Hills mansion is being renovated, has denied wrongdoing, as has Mr. Najib.
The 1MDB fund denies wrongdoing and says it is ready to cooperate with any investigation. It says it hasn’t been contacted by an investigative agency so far.
Mr. Aziz’s real-estate purchases are among a series of personal and political expenditures which investigators say were funded with 1MDB money. The fund is struggling to pay off billions of dollars of debt it accumulated, ostensibly to fuel economic development in Malaysia, though few of its official business plans came to fruition.
The focus by investigators on U.S. properties comes after disclosures that more than $1 billion originating from 1MDB landed in Mr. Najib’s private bank accounts. Some was used to pay for political spending in Malaysia as well as clothing and jewels, the Journal has reported, citing people familiar with probes in two countries, bank-transfer information and other documents.
Mr. Najib has said the money he received was a legitimate donation from Saudi Arabia and that most of it was returned. Malaysia’s attorney general agreed the money came from Saudi Arabia legally and cleared Mr. Najib of wrongdoing.
The FBI also is investigating tens of millions of dollars of real-estate purchases by an associate of Mr. Aziz, a Malaysian businessman named Jho Low, according to people familiar with the FBI’s probes.
The Journal reported in April that Mr. Low, who was instrumental in setting up 1MDB in 2009, received hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a set of transactions involving a deal between 1MDB and a Saudi Arabia company.
Mr. Low bought the Park Laurel condominium and Beverly Hills mansion, which he later sold to Mr. Aziz, according to people familiar with the matter. The two became friends when they lived in London early last decade, according to people who know them.
Mr. Low also purchased a penthouse at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan, for $31 million, in 2011. And he bought a glassy, modern house in the Bird Streets area of Los Angeles for nearly $39 million in 2012. He still owns both, the people said.
A lawyer for Mr. Low didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The money Mr. Aziz used to buy the two properties from Mr. Low came to him through a company called Aabar Investments PJS Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter and bank documents.
The Journal reported earlier that Aabar Investments PJS Ltd.’s name is similar to that of a company whose parent, an Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund called International Petroleum Investment Co., was a key business partner of 1MDB.
IPIC said in April that more than $3.5 billion 1MDB said it sent to the IPIC subsidiary as part of its business arrangements with IPIC was never received. Instead, it went to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. in the British Virgin Islands, according to Malaysian investigators. IPIC said that company isn’t part of its corporate structure.
Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. then transferred money to Red Granite Capital, a British Virgin Islands company owned by Mr. Aziz. Aabar Investments PJS Ltd., which was set up by two executives of the IPIC subsidiary, was later closed. The executives were removed from their positions and declined to comment.
The Journal further reported that investigators believe Red Granite Pictures, a film company partly owned by Mr. Aziz, funded “The Wolf of Wall Street” with money received from 1MDB through Aabar Investments PJS Ltd., including $105 million sent to Red Granite Capital and another $50 million through other intermediaries in 2012.
Additional new documents reviewed by the Journal show an additional payment of $133 million went to Red Granite Capital from Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. in June 2012, bringing the total sent from Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. to $238 million.
The new documents also show that $60 million of the total received by Red Granite Capital was sent on the same day that 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd., a 1MDB unit, sent roughly $790 million to Aabar in the British Virgin Islands.
Loan documents for some of the money given to Red Granite Capital to help fund “The Wolf of Wall Street” show that Red Granite Capital used a relationship manager at the Singapore branch of the Swiss private bank BSI who was also the relationship manager for Mr. Low, Aabar Investments PJS Ltd. and 1MDB, according to documents reviewed by the Journal and court filings in Singapore.
Mr. Aziz, who studied in London, has been spending more time in the U.S. since about 2010. He has hobnobbed with celebrities including “The Wolf of Wall Street” star Leonardo DiCaprio and became a collector of movie memorabilia. Representatives for Mr. DiCaprio didn’t respond to requests for comment.
He bought through a broker a vintage “King Kong” movie poster for several hundred thousand dollars from Kirk Hammett, lead guitarist for the band Metallica, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesman for Mr. Hammett didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Aziz’s New York duplex is by far the most expensive property in the Park Laurel building, a prominent luxury address near Lincoln Center. It has seven bedrooms and five full bathrooms. Mr. Aziz stays in the apartment when he visits New York, according to a doorman there.
Monthly real-estate tax and maintenance fees are likely more than $20,000, according to brokers.
Mr. Aziz’s property on Hillcrest Road in Beverly Hills was described in an advertisement as a four-bedroom home that is a “stunning architectural statement,” with 14-foot high ceilings, a screening room and a large golden pyramid over an indoor water area.
A visit by a Journal reporter found the property is undergoing renovations while Mr. Aziz lives in his rented Los Angeles apartment.
—John R. Emshwiller contributed to this article.
Write to Bradley Hope at bradley.hope@wsj.com and Tom Wright at tom.wright@wsj.com
This matter won’t just go away. Justice must be done soon, if Malaysia’ s reputation is to be restored. Kleptocrats, their cronies and proxies must not be allowed to act with impunity. –Din Merican.
WSJ’s Christian crusade in disguise, instigated and probably funded by amongst others the DAP, Dr. Mahathir, enemies of Islam, etc, to topple the democratically elected PM of Malaysia seems relentless, especially in hitting someone who is only a stepson, not even his flesh and blood. How ungentlemanly.
We should in the next few days hear counter arguments from some Cabinet ministers / UMNO Division chiefs / maybe even Bank Negara refuting all these unsubstantiated accusations.
The scoundrel is skipping August House sitting this Monday . He escapes the placid Malaysians and the sleepy Agong. But the International Media in London is waiting for Mr.Najib the Guardian of the Bangsa and Ugama to grill him. May be the backdoor of the hotel where he intends to stay is kept ajar for him to slip in and out. Such is the life of a fugitive Emperor without Clothes.
We all know Najib is guilty like hell. The sad fact is he has been able to retain the support of senior officials throughout the scandals thus far. The key is how rank-and-file voters view him. The recent state election in Sarawak is not a good assessment of his popularity, for the Sarawakians voted for the interests of their own state. I believe the litmus test for under-siege Najib comes next month, when the by-elections will be held on June 18 for the two lawmakers killed in a helicopter crash last week in Sarawak. If UMNO won back these two seats, that’s it, folks, Malaysia is FUBAR(fcuked up beyond all recognition)!
In most ‘autocratic’ countries whether ruled by leaders who may be ‘elected’ or become leaders by other means in many countries normally treat the country’s wealth as their personal wealth to be used/abused/misused at their whim and fancy to satisfy their insatiable greed and financing their luxurious/wasteful lifestyles even when they know that the methods used are against their own religious values not to mention neither honest-fraudulent-corruption ridden and in some cases even they say that they are very religious and visit their respective holy places regularly to report to their Makers and may be to ‘bribe’ their respective Almighty. Consequently their examples may also be followed by their spouses-children-relatives-partners and creditors who financed their positions to leadership.
Election in Peninsular as in Sarawak is not indicative of the popularity of the Master Crook . The Ballot boxes are infected with pre loaded crosses. The election in Malaysia is not a reliable measurement to indicate the popularity of the master crook and the gang of UMNO thieves. Every convention and procedure for a fair election gets violated by these UMNO gang of Mafia like thugs. So my friends dont wait for the outcome of bye election as the ballot boxes will be stuffed.
Correction: Earlier comment should read
‘not to mention dishonest-fraudulent-corruption ridden’
apologoes
Wayne,
WSJ has pretty good record in its journalistic professionalism. When WSJ pointed out money get deposited into Najib personal account, it stuck to its investigated conclusion. When WSJ pointed out Najib’s stepson used money from 1MDB, it likely will stick with that position too. WSJ, a conservative news business, however does not go overboard to act like a congress to impeach Najib or a judge to cast guilty verdict to Najib. Most political conservatives know that impeachment is the duty of parliament and indictment is the duty of capable law enforcement.
Najib is more likely to prevail politically due to Malaysia voters than to prevail over fact-based accusations thrown by WSJ.
My prediction is that there is no honour amongst 1MDB thieves:
The smart ones will do a plea bargain with the US Dept of Justice and
spill the beans/sing like a canary etc. Soon, there will be seizures of
ill-gotten gains in the USA etc and some “prominent” 1Malaysians will be
persona non grata in some powerful countries soon.
They have already entered the annals of Third World misgovernance,
kleptocracy and infamy.
Mr/Ms Shiou : ever heard of irony and sarcasm?
In defending their Leader , the PM , tooth and nail , they are in fact DEFENDING their own self – They are all ‘Defenders ‘ , nay ……they are great Pretenders ! !
Problem is as to why they are not Credible, because they keep ‘ shifting the goal-post ‘ each time they are in a spot ! The Great Pretenders……
Razak’s business model is undone by its own greed and arrogance unlike its two predecessors Mahmud and Mohammed which are conservative in the same art of siphoning off public funds with impunity. I am afraid in the short term nothing much will change, the chairs will rotate but the political and economic system is business as usual. Just look at the capital market, the bond market in particular which is a good barometer of long-term investors confidence, its hardly stirred or shaken.
So what now? Even if the Deklarasi Rakyat garnered 10 million signatures, no worthy changes will happen unless it is leveraged on electoral and political reform. And that will at least takes 2 generations to put the country back on an even keel.
Wayne
U just got back from Mars?
Heard the usd681m actually came from Venus, no?
Wayne, your spoof/lampoon/sarcasm/irony/satire/…. goes whooooooooooosh over so many heads. Naughty, naughty……