Story highlights
The money was intended for "the economic and social development of Malaysia," Swiss prosecutors say
Some of the money was transferred to the accounts of Malaysian officials, authorities said
Nearly $4 billion has been “misappropriated” from the Malaysian government, according to the office of the Swiss Attorney General.
The findings follow an investigation into the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state-owned fund formed in 2009 to invest in property, infrastructure and energy projects.
Swiss prosecutors said the misappropriated money was intended for the “economic and social development of Malaysia.” Authorities discovered a “small portion” of the funds has been transferred to Swiss bank accounts of Malaysian and United Arab Emirates officials.
The affected Malaysian corporations have not yet commented on the suspected losses.
The Swiss government is requesting legal compliance from Malaysia in order to confirm that the money is missing.
CNN has reached out to 1MDB for comment on the accusations.
Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak, who founded and is the chair of 1MDB, was accused of siphoning money from the investment fund recently after RM2.6 billion ($681 million) was transferred into his accounts.
He was cleared of wrongdoing by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission last week, according to a news release from the country’s attorney general. It found that a payment of RM2.03 billion ($620 million) was a “personal donation” from the Saudi royal family, which he returned because it wasn’t used.
In July 2015, the Wall Street Journal, citing investigative documents from a government probe into the fund, found transfers totaling $681 million from a company in the British Virgin Islands, to accounts investigators believed belong to the Prime Minster, claims which Najib denied.
1MDB insisted in a statement that “the company has never provided any funds to the Prime Minister.”
CNN’s Euan McKirdy reported and wrote from Hong Kong, while Ben Brumfield translated and Joshua Berlinger wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Tina Burnside contributed to this report.