PetroSaudi duo’s fate on the noose

Two PetroSaudi executives who collaborated in embezzling USD1.8 billion from Malaysia’s 1MDB would know their fate later today as the Switzerland Federal Criminal Court would be delivering their verdict.

PetroSaudi chief executive Tarek Obaid, 48, and Patrick Mahony, 47, a director at the Saudi oil exploration and production company, are accused of involvement in a vast embezzlement orchestrated by Jho Low, an advisor to former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.

Noting the sums involved compared to Malaysia’s GDP, prosecutor Alice de Chambrier called it the “scam of the century” and branded the defendants as “calculative, manipulative and obscenely greedy”, the Keystone-ATS news agency reported during the trial.

She sought a 10-year sentence for Obaid and a nine-year term for his right-hand man.

The defence pleaded for acquittal, arguing that no fraud had taken place.

Obaid is a Swiss-Saudi dual national, while Mahony is Swiss-British.

The prosecution requested that the two men be held in custody at the end of their trial, citing the risk of flight before the verdict, but the court refused.

The verdict hearing is scheduled to start at 2:00pm (1200 GMT).

The original indictment states that the two accused aimed to enrich themselves and others, to have misappropriated at least $1.8 billion”, transferred by 1MDB in connection with a joint venture with PetroSaudi, “and then to have laundered the amounts involved”.

“The allegations cover a period at least from 2009 to 2015 and constitute the offences of fraud on a commercial basis, aggravated criminal mismanagement, and aggravated money laundering.

“The two accused used money misappropriated from 1MDB to acquire, among other assets, real estate in Switzerland and in London, jewellery, private equity, to develop PetroSaudi activities from which they received substantial income, and to maintain a lavish lifestyle,” the indictment said.