--- description: Police in Hong Kong have commenced an investigation into local bank accounts allegedly tied to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak title: Hong Kong Police Probe Bank Links to Malaysia's Najib image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5d309a94e6f98ab/6988632d3c16394e04459adc/rtx1qdbo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Malaysia](/tag/malaysia/) ## Malaysia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hong Kong Police Investigate Bank Accounts Allegedly Linked to Malaysian Leader Najib by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2015 9:26 AM CUT  Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak addresses the nation in a National Day message in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 30, 2015 Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak addresses the nation in a National Day message in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 30, 2015Edgar Su—Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2015 9:26 AM CUT Police in Hong Kong have [commenced](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0702b1de-5787-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html#axzz3lQ2SWiAH "undefined") an investigation into local bank accounts holding more than $250 million [allegedly tied](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0702b1de-5787-11e5-a28b-50226830d644.html#axzz3lOarU5Hh "undefined") to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. The probe came at the behest of Khairuddin Abu Hassan, a former senior member of Najib’s ruling party United Malays United Organisation (UMNO) who was fired earlier this year. Khairuddin said that four “highly questionable” companies linked to the Prime Minister made the deposits at a Hong Kong office of the bank Credit Suisse. Since his dismissal earlier this year, Khairuddin has been an outspoken critic of Najib, who a _Wall Street Journal_ article [alleges](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10130211234592774869404581083700187014570 "undefined") received around $700 million from a state development fund called 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The fund is currently some $11 billion in debt. The Prime Minister has repeatedly denied the _J_ _ournal_’s allegations, insisting the funds in his personal accounts were a gift from a Middle Eastern benefactor. The government has dismissed Khairuddin’s police case in Hong Kong as “false and politically motivated.” “The prime minister does not control any Credit Suisse bank accounts in Hong Kong, whether in his name or the name of the companies mentioned,” a spokesman for Najib’s office said in a statement. Hong Kong police have confirmed an investigation is under way, according to the _Financial Times._ In an email to TIME on Friday afternoon, a Credit Suisse representative in Hong Kong said that “as a general policy” the bank would not say whether it had ties to the companies listed by Khairuddin, or if it was involved in an investigation, though it would cooperate with any probe that was launched. The allegations are the latest blow to the Najib administration. Two weeks ago, tens of thousands of Malaysians [took to](http://time.com/4015830/malaysia-bersih-protests-kuala-lumpur-umno-najib-corruption/ "undefined") [the streets](http://time.com/4016193/malaysia-protests-bersih-najib-razak/ "undefined") of Kuala Lumpur to call for his resignation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4030815/1mdb-credit-suisse-hong-kong-malaysia-najib-razak/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4030815/1mdb-credit-suisse-hong-kong-malaysia-najib-razak/"},"headline":"Hong Kong Police Investigate Bank Accounts Allegedly Linked to Malaysian Leader Najib","datePublished":"2015-09-11T09:26:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:51:48.867Z","description":"Najib denies any wrongdoing and insists the allegations are politically motivated","url":"https://time.com/4030815/1mdb-credit-suisse-hong-kong-malaysia-najib-razak/","keywords":["Malaysia","Hong Kong topic","Najib Razak"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5d309a94e6f98ab/6988632d3c16394e04459adc/rtx1qdbo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5d309a94e6f98ab/6988632d3c16394e04459adc/rtx1qdbo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib addresses the nation in a National Day message in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur","caption":"Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib addresses the nation in a National Day message in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur","creditText":"Edgar Su—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/malaysia/","name":"Malaysia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4030815/1mdb-credit-suisse-hong-kong-malaysia-najib-razak/","name":"Hong Kong Police Investigate Bank Accounts Allegedly Linked to Malaysian Leader Najib"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Mass Protests in Malaysia Call for PM's Resignation","description":"Tens of thousands of people took the streets of Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur over the weekend to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xo9b0vBz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-31T07:02:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xo9b0vBz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4030815/1mdb-credit-suisse-hong-kong-malaysia-najib-razak/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4030815/1mdb-credit-suisse-hong-kong-malaysia-najib-razak/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```