Swiss court convicts 2 top PetroSaudi executives in fallout from 1MDB Malaysian fund scandal

Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — A Swiss criminal court has convicted two top managers of a Saudi oil company facing charges including fraud and money laundering in a scam that swiped at least $1.8 billion from a Malaysian state-owned investment fund. PetroSaudi executive Tarek Obaid, a Saudi-Swiss dual national, received a seven-year sentence and British-Swiss associate Patrick Mahony was handed a six-year sentence from the Federal Criminal Court in southern Bellinzona. Starting in 2009, they helped hatch a plot to set up a joint venture with the 1MDB fund based on false claims of access to vast oil fields, prosecutors said.