Oil Executives Convicted of Embezzling $1.8 Billion From Malaysia’s 1MDB Wealth Fund

Switzerland’s federal criminal court convicted two oil executives on Aug. 28 for embezzling more than $1.8 billion from Malaysia’s state investment fund 1MDB. The court in southern Bellinzona found that Swiss British national Patrick Mahony and Swiss Saudi national Tarek Obaid helped set up a joint venture with 1MDB by creating the false impression that their company, PetroSaudi, was backed by the Saudi government. The pair persuaded 1MDB’s board to sign on to the scheme in 2009 before defrauding the fund, allowing them to collect $1 billion through the false joint venture. They took a further $830 million from the fund between 2010 and 2011, according to prosecutors....