Billion Dollar Whale, which highlighted the misappropriation of 1MDB funds to the world as well as former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and local business Jho Low’s parts in it, is considered a ground breaking piece of work.
The book which was written by Wall Street journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope detailed their investigations into the issue.
Recently, Wright took to Twitter to share one of the instances when they started investigating Najib’s role in it.
He wrote, “In all the years covering Najib, his 2014 trip to a Chanel store in the Ala Moana Center best captures his nature. He was visiting Obama in Hawaii, but had to go home to Malaysia because of floods. His wife was angry for cutting her holiday short.”
“So Najib took Rosmah to the Chanel store to buy her a US$130,000 (RM581,640) watch, a birthday gift. To pay he used a credit card that was taken care of by Jho Low (and paid for out of Malaysian state funds).”
“The US$130,000 watch was just one item among many, paid for with stolen money, that got Najib sent to jail tonight,” he added.
Wright then said that they had reported this story in the Billion Dollar Whale book.
“Someone leaked us Najib’s credit card statements, and we saw the charge from Chanel in Hawaii. There are 2 Chanel stores in Honolulu. I got thrown out of the first for asking questions,” he explained.
“I sat 6 hours in a nearby Starbucks. She told me how Najib had come in with Rosmah to buy the US$130,000 watch. ‘I’m from China and I hate corruption,’ she said, when I explained our work.”
“After the Chanel purchase, just a normal gift for Rosmah, Najib flew home to survey the flooding in Malaysia, which had left 200,000 people homeless. Rosmah, whose trial is up next, continued on a shopping spree,” he added.
Speaking about Najib’s conviction, Wright said, “I don’t believe in karma, and today I was looking at photos from Najib’s daughter on Insta, and you can see her anguish.”
“And I’m not Malaysian. But the behavior of this couple in the Chanel store, abetted by Goldman bankers, captures a lot of what’s wrong today.”
What do you think of Wright’s recollection of their investigation into the matter?
Also read: No Handcuffs & Prison Uniform? Lawyer Explains Why Najib Still Appears In Court In A Suit
