Ex-Malaysia PM Arrested as Part of Corruption Probe

By Staff, Agencies

Former Malaysia prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been arrested, the country’s anti-corruption agency said.

Muhyiddin, who served as prime minister from March 2020 to August 2021, will be the country's second leader to be indicted after leaving office.

He faces several charges of alleged abuse of power and money laundering, the national corruption agency said, and will be formally charged on Friday.

Muhyiddin has faced corruption allegations since losing November's election to Anwar Ibrahim, who has denied claims the investigation into government-funded projects is politically motivated.

The former prime minister was arrested on Thursday after arriving at the agency for the latest of several rounds of questioning.

He was interviewed by authorities in early March during an investigation into an economic stimulus package he approved for ethnic Malay contractors during the COVID-19 pandemic.