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

The attorney general of Switzerland said the case is ‘an important result in a highly complex criminal procedure with international ramifications.’

Construction workers chat in front of a billboard for state investment fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) at the fund's flagship Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 14, 2015. Joshua Paul/AP Photo

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.