World
Swiss court convicts two executives of embezzling $1.8bn from 1MDB
Court sentences PetroSaudi executives to six and seven years in Malaysia investment fund fraud case.
The Swiss Federal Criminal Court has convicted two executives from an oil exploration company for embezzling more than $1.8bn from Malaysia’s state investment fund 1MDB.
The verdict on Wednesday was the latest episode in the 1MDB scandal, a complex tale of international corruption that has buffeted a slew of financial institutions and individuals across the globe since allegations of wrongdoing first surfaced in 2015.
Prosecutors alleged that Swiss-British national Patrick Mahony and Swiss-Saudi Tarek Obaid had helped set up a joint venture with 1MDB by creating the impression that their company, PetroSaudi, was backed by Saudi Arabia’s government.
This was not the case, but the accused managed to persuade 1MDB’s board into signing up to the scheme in 2009 before going on to defraud the fund, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, the two executives defrauded the wealth fund of $1.8bn to enrich themselves with Obaid getting at least $805m and Mahony at least $37m.
Obaid was sentenced to seven years in prison while Mahony received a sentence of six years.
Lawyers for the two men, who had denied wrongdoing, could not immediately be reached for comment by the Reuters news agency.
Prosecutors said the two men created the fraudulent scheme with fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, an adviser to former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is in prison over his role in the multibillion-dollar scandal.
Initially extracting $1bn from 1MDB so it could buy a stake in their venture, the accused took a further $830m from the fund from 2010 to 2011 as part of an Islamic loan that followed on from their tie-up, prosecutors said.
From September 2009 to at least July 2015, the accused arranged for bank accounts to be opened in Switzerland to help launder the money, prosecutors said.
They used it to buy real estate in Switzerland and London, jewellery and private equity as well as to develop the PetroSaudi business, from which they received a sizeable income, and to maintain “a lavish lifestyle”, prosecutors said.
This year, 1MDB filed a lawsuit against Mahony seeking the return of the $1.83bn.
The 1MDB board lauded the convictions. “We welcome today’s verdict in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court, which means that Patrick Mahony and Tarek Obaid will face justice for their role in embezzling and defrauding the people of Malaysia,” a 1MDB spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Malaysian and US investigators estimated a total of $4.5bn was syphoned away from 1MDB after its inception in 2009, implicating figures ranging from Razak, Goldman Sachs staff and high-level officials elsewhere.
Last year, a US court sentenced Ng Chong Hwa – known as “Roger Ng” – a Malaysian citizen and former manager at Goldman Sachs to 10 years in jail “for conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled” from 1MDB.
In June, the US Department of Justice said it helped recover an additional $156m in 1MDB funds for Malaysia, bringing the total money returned to Kuala Lumpur to about $1.4bn.
US prosecutors say 1MDB officials and their associates embezzled the money and spent it on a “variety of extravagant items, including luxury homes” and fine art.
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By James McManagan, Paul Sonne, Malachy Browne and Jackeline Luna
June 19, 2026
World
Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo
Man FORCES child into crocodile enclosure
A British man has been arrested after allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo. The child suffered critical injuries, and authorities say the suspect did not know the boy as the investigation continues.
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A man was released from custody on Friday after he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo.
Cambridgeshire police said that the man, who remains unidentified, wasn’t fit to be interviewed.
The boy suffered critical injuries in the incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Huntingdon, England, north of London.
The 30-year-old man will remain on bail until Sept. 30, pending further inquiries.
GEORGIA MOM’S WALMART TRIP DEVOLVES INTO ‘TUG-OF-WARRING’ IN DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER SON
A crocodile rests inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“The man, who is not known to the victim, was assessed as not being fit for interview,” police said in a statement.
The boy is in stable condition, after reportedly suffering a broken arm and pelvis.
He was saved from the crocodile by Tracey Johnson, the wife of the zoo’s owner.
MOTHER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO FELL BETWEEN CRUISE SHIP AND DOCK
“I know Tracey very well and she’s a lovely lady and it’s nothing more than I’d expect from her,” a local told BBC News. “She’d always put her own life at risk to save someone else. She’s an extraordinary lady and very brave.
The villager added that Johnson put herself in “immense danger” during the rescue.
The owners said their tropical house would remain closed until further notice.
Crocodiles rest inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family following the incident that occurred today,” the owners wrote on social media.
Johnsons of Old Hurst is a farm and zoo north of London in Huntingdon, England. (Google Maps)
Huntingdonshire district councillor Charlotte Lowe said she couldn’t “fathom how it’s happened because they’ve got all the right protection and safety equipment, for want of a better word, in there,” The Guardian reported.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.
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US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his comments on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, saying she asked him “over and over” for a photo when the pair met at the G7 summit in France earlier this week.
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Following the summit, Trump told an Italian journalist that he “felt sorry for Meloni” after she “begged me to take a picture with her”.
Meloni hit back in a video posted to social media, branding Trump’s claims as “completely made up” and insisting that neither she nor Italy begs anyone for anything.
The once close pair’s relationship has grown increasingly fractious in recent months, particularly since Rome refused to provide the US support for its operations in Iran and after Meloni defended Pope Leo XIV, who was criticised by the Trump administration over his remarks on the war and the US’s immigration policies.
“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account on Saturday. “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon”.
“Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her “numbers up.” No thanks!!!” Trump added.
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