Winter 2018

Malaysian Corruption Case Settlement In a postscript to our story Rights: Investigating and Prosecuting Kleptocracy in Malaysia, Red Granite, the film production company founded by Riza Aziz, the stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, will pay the U.S. Government a settlement fee of $60 million. This payment will put to rest allegations that it used funds money diverted from Malaysia’s state owned fund, 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB. (KM)

Police Recover 2,200-Year-Old Crown and Other Artifacts from Smugglers in Istanbul Police in Istanbul have successfully carried out an anti-smuggling operation against a group that was attempted to sell a 2,200-year-old gold crown and other Hellenistic gold artifacts. Police members posed as potential buyers and arranged to meet the smugglers at a hotel, where they then carried out the operation. It is suspected that the artifacts were illegally excavated from the tomb of a “prominent military officer, king or a queen” in Turkey’s Thrace region.