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The adviser would be appointed to "restart the 1MDB probe and
bring back the money", said one of the sources, who worked
closely with Mahathir's campaign team. The second source, a
lawmaker, said the announcement could come as soon as Saturday
when Mahathir is expected to name members of his new cabinet.
The sources declined to be identified as the talks are private.
At least six countries, including the United States, are
investigating the alleged misappropriation of over $4.5 billion
from 1MDB, founded by former premier Najib Razak. Najib's
coalition was defeated by Mahathir's opposition alliance in a
stunning election upset on Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal probe and
filed civil lawsuits seeking to recover about $1.7 billion in
assets said to have been bought with stolen 1MDB funds.
[nL4N1KX1CX]
Malaysia will reach out to U.S. authorities investigating the
case, the lawmaker said.
"You can be reassured that we will go after 1MDB," the lawmaker
said.
The scandal has dogged Najib since 2015 after reports that about
$700 million in misappropriated 1MDB funds flowed into his
personal account.
Najib has denied wrongdoing and Malaysia's attorney-general has
cleared him of any offence, saying the funds were a legitimate
donation from the Saudi royal family.
Mahathir had vowed to investigate the scandal if elected and
bring missing funds back to Malaysia. On Thursday, he said that
if Najib had done anything wrong he would "face the
consequences". [nL3N1SH1PQ]
Malaysian markets were closed on Thursday and Friday for public
holidays announced by Mahathir after the election, but overseas
investors were nervous about Najib's ouster after a decade in
office and the ringgit lost four percent in offshore trading
before stabilising on Friday.
The lawmaker said a key reason for declaring the public holidays
was so that Mahathir could announce key ministerial positions
and name the new adviser before trading started on Monday in an
effort to reassure global investors that his government was off
to a solid start.
Mahathir is expected to name cabinet members to head 10 key
ministries, including finance, foreign affairs, defence and home
affairs, on Saturday. [nL3N1SI26N]
"We need to show to the world that we are hitting the ground
running," the lawmaker said.
(Writing and additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by
Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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