title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 3 August 2015, the MACC stated that the RM 2.6 billion that had been banked into Najib's personal account came from donors, not 1MDB, but did not elaborate on who the donors were or why the funds were transferred, nor why this explanation had taken so long to emerge since the allegations were first made on 2 July 2015. UMNO Kuantan division chief Wan Adnan Wan Mamat later claimed that the RM 2.6 billion was from Saudi Arabia as thanks for fighting ISIS. He further claimed that the Muslim community in the Philippines as well as southern Thailand had also received similar donations, and that since the donations were made to Najib personally as opposed to UMNO, the funds were deposited into Najib's personal accounts.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said he was aware of the donation, and said that it was a genuine donation with nothing expected in return. Attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali has said that the donation was from one of the sons of the late Saudi King Abdullah, namely Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud. In an interview with ABC News, WSJ finance editor Ken Brown stated that the money did not come from the Saudis and they had evidence that it came from companies related to 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Using the premise that 1MDB had used inaccurate or incomplete disclosure of information, Bank Negara, in early 2016, revoked permissions previously granted to 1MDB for investments abroad totalling $1.83 billion. Bank Negara then called for the Attorney General to begin criminal prosecution of 1MDB after completing its own investigations into 1MDB fund transfers. 1MDB responded that they were unable to repatriate the $1.83 billion demanded by Bank Negara because the funds had already been utilized.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The scandal took a dramatic twist on 28 August 2015 when a member of Najib Razak's own UMNO party filed a civil suit against him alleging a breach of duties as trustee and that he defrauded party members by failing to disclose receipt of the donated funds, and account for their use. This suit was filed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court and also named party executive secretary Abdul Rauf Yusof. Expressing fear that Najib Razak would wield influence to remove any member of UMNO "for the sole purpose of avoiding liability", the court was also being moved for an injunction to restrain UMNO, its Supreme Council, state liaison body, divisions and branches from removing the nominal plaintiff as a party member pending the determination of the suit. The plaintiff is also seeking a repayment amounting to $650 million, the amount allegedly deposited by Najib to a Singapore bank, an account of all monies that he had received in the form of donations, details of all monies in an AmPrivate Banking Account (No. 2112022009694), allegedly belonging to Najib, along with damages, costs, and other reliefs. One of the UMNO representatives, Anina Saadudin, who filed the lawsuit, was immediately expelled from the party.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Another police report was filed by a Johor UMNO member, Abdul Rashed Jamaludin, against Najib Razak, over the funds that went into his bank account and other wrongdoings at 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Another UMNO member, Khairuddin Abu Hassan, and his lawyer Matthias Chang, has submitted evidence on the 1MDB scandal to the Swiss attorney general for investigation into whether any Swiss banks had done business with 1MDB. Khairuddin also lodged a police report in Hong Kong against Najib Razak and Jho Low, pertaining to four companies: Alliance Assets International, Cityfield Enterprises, Bartingale International and Wonder Quest Investment, which had purported dealings with 1MDB. Khairuddin and Matthias were barred from leaving Malaysia. Khairuddin and Matthias were charged under the Security Offenses Act (SOSMA) under the pretext of sabotaging Malaysia's banking and financial sector.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The opposition People's Justice Party (PKR) filed a lawsuit against Najib Razak, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, 1MDB and the Election Commission accusing them of violating election laws on campaign expenses, using funds from 1MDB. However, the Malaysian High Court threw out the suit, stating PKR had no legal standing to bring the suit against Najib and 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Former Prime Minister Mahathir has filed a lawsuit against Najib Razak for alleged interference in government investigations on 1MDB and the RM 2.6 billion political donation.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Following criticisms of the 1MDB issue, deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was removed from office and his position was given to then Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Also removed from office was Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie Apdal who was also critical of the 1MDB issue. Both were eventually expelled from UMNO in June 2016.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The attorney general Abdul Gani Patail, who was heading a multi-agency task force investigating claims of misappropriations of funds allegedly involving Najib Razak and 1MDB, was dismissed and his position given to Mohamed Apandi Ali, a former Federal Court judge. Additionally, the Public Action Committee that was investigating the purported losses in 1MDB was indefinitely postponed due to four of its members being given positions in Najib Razak's cabinet, namely the PAC chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed, Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Wilfred Madius Tangau and Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The news publications The Edge Malaysia and The Edge Financial Daily were suspended, for three months in July 2015 for allegedly publishing false reports about 1MDB issues, by the Malaysian Home Ministry. Also in 2015, the website "Sarawak Report" was blocked by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, which regulates Internet services in Malaysia. The Malaysian police also issued an arrest warrant for Clare Rewcastle Brown, who was managing the Sarawak Report, alleging involvement in activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy and disseminating false reports about prime minister Najib.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The police also arrested UMNO member Khairuddin Abu Hassan after he lodged police reports in London, Singapore, France and Hong Kong regarding alleged financial improprieties by 1MDB. According to his lawyer, Khairuddin was going to the United States to meet with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to urge them to probe 1MDB over money laundering. However, the FBI's New York City office confirmed to the WSJ that no agent had arranged to meet Khairuddin or had any previous contact with him.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Former Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir resigned his office on 3 February 2016, saying he did so because he had been told by Najib Razak that he was in the wrong by criticising him and 1MDB publicly. Four months later, in June, Mukhriz was expelled from UMNO. His father, Mahathir Mohamad, who had been Malaysia's fourth prime minister and who had been a Najib supporter since Najib assumed office, withdrew his support and quit UMNO later that same month.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Opposition member of parliament Rafizi Ramli was arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act by the police and the government for leaking information about the Auditor General's report on 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The Home Ministry stated that they and Interpol had been unsuccessful in locating various individuals linked to 1MDB to help in facilitating their investigations, including business tycoon Jho Low, 1MDB's former senior executives Casey Tang Keng Chee and Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, SRC International managing director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, and Deutsche Bank country manager Yusof Annuar Yaacob.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Internet access was blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), to websites including Medium.com, a social journalism platform over just a single article posted by "Sarawak Report". Another website, Asia Sentinel, was blocked after carrying a Sarawak Report article related to MACC completing a probe that allegedly resulted in 37 charges being drawn up against Najib. The Malaysian Insider was also blocked and its journalists investigated for carrying a report alleging that the MACC had found enough evidence in its investigations into Najib to charge him for corruption. Blocks were removed shortly after the handover of power from Najib's government in the 2018 general election.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The Malaysian Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into 1MDB revealed that the management of the fund acted without the board's approval and misled auditors several times, calling for the police to investigate its former manager. The PAC also found that the board of directors in which Najib Razak was the chairman failed in giving proper oversight of the fund's finances. The 1MDB board of directors immediately submitted their resignations after the PAC findings were made public. The PAC report stated that US$3.5 billion was paid to a company, Aabar Investments PJS, but IPIC released a statement that neither it or its subsidiary Aabar Investments PJS have any links to a British Virgin Islands-incorporated firm Aabar BVI or received any money from that BVI firm.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: International Petroleum Investment Company made an announcement in a filing in the London Stock Exchange that 1MDB failed to make a US$1.1 billion payment as part of its debt restructuring agreement, and that the debt deal between the two companies has been terminated.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: After the 14th Malaysian general election on 9 May 2018 which marked a historic defeat for the Barisan Nasional coalition led by Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan formed a new government led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The government set up a special task force headed by former Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to renew investigations into the 1MDB scandal.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The government barred Najib Razak from leaving the country, and the police seized cash and valuable items amounting to between RM 900 million and RM 1.1 billion ($220 million and $269 million) from residential units linked to Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor. As claimed by the police, this was the biggest seizure in Malaysian history, with the seized items comprising more than 12,000 pieces of jewelry, 423 valuable watches and 567 handbags made up of 37 luxury brands. Najib was subsequently arrested by the MACC. In September 2018, he faced 25 charges relating to abuse of power and money laundering amounting to RM 2.3 billion ($556 million), on top of seven charges with criminal breach of trust and power abuse brought against him in the preceding two months. As of April 2019, he stands with 42 charges.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The government has also issued arrest warrants against Jho Low and former director of SRC International Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil in a graft probe related to the state fund 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 28 June 2018, two days before the end of his employment contract, 1MDB sacked its president and Chief Executive Officer Arul Kanda on grounds of dereliction of duties.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Media reports from June 2018 also indicate that the MACC froze bank accounts associated with UMNO, purportedly in relation to investigations into the 1MDB matter.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In August 2018, Malaysian police filed criminal charges against Jho Low and his father Larry Low over money laundering of US$457 million, which was allegedly stolen from 1MDB and most of the cash used for purchasing the superyacht "Equanimity". From 29 October through 28 November 2018, the "Equanimity" was up for auction by investigators (pending a US$1 million deposit). It was eventually sold to the Genting Group at $126 million.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In December 2018, the Attorney-General Chambers of Malaysia filed criminal charges against subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, their former employees Tim Leissner and Roger Ng Chong Hwa, former 1MDB employee Jasmine Loo, and Jho Low in connection with 1MDB bond offerings arranged and underwritten by Goldman Sachs in 2012 and 2013. The prosecutors were seeking criminal fines in excess of $2.7 billion misappropriated from the bonds proceeds, $600 million in fees received by Goldman Sachs, as well as custodial sentences against the individuals accused.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: During an investigation into the 1MDB scandal, the then UAE crown prince, Mohammed Bin Zayed, was allegedly asked by Najib Tun Razak to help fabricate a loan agreement showing his stepson had received financing from IPIC and not from 1MDB in an attempt to cover up the scandal, according to the audio clips revealed by Malaysian anti-corruption officials in January 2020.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 28 July 2020, Najib was found guilty in all seven charges related to SRC and was sentenced to 12 years' jail and a fine of RM 210 million ($49.5 million).


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Respectively on 8 December 2021 and 23 August 2022, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court upheld the conviction and sentence of Najib in all the SRC cases, in which Najib was found guilty of misappropriating RM42mil from the company's coffers. On 1 September 2022, Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor was also found guilty of three counts of corruption by the Malaysian High Court and sentenced to both a ten-year term of imprisonment and a RM970 million fine.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The Australian fund management company Avestra Asset Management, which managed up to RM 2.32 billion in 1MDB funds, is being liquidated, and is under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for reported breaches of the law and potential losses to its members. The Australian High Court has ordered five investment schemes run by Avestra to close down after discovering undisclosed related-party transactions, with 13 potential breaches of corporate law and failure to invest according to the fund's individual mandates.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Hong Kong police have begun investigations regarding $250 million in Credit Suisse branch deposits in Hong Kong linked to Najib Razak and 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Indonesia seized the superyacht "Equanimity" on 28 February 2018 on the island of Bali at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, as part of a corruption investigation linked to the 1MDB scandal. The Indonesian government returned the yacht to Malaysia in August 2018, following the activation of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties between Indonesia, the United States and Malaysia.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: State prosecutors in Luxembourg have also started money laundering investigations concerning 1MDB as it involved transfers of several hundred million dollars to an offshore company involving a bank account from Luxembourg. The bank in question is a private bank of the Edmond de Rothschild Group that manages money on behalf of wealthy clients.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The Seychelles's Financial Intelligence Unit is helping an international investigation into the troubled state fund 1MDB, by providing detailed information relating to offshore entities registered in Seychelles that are related to the international investigation.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: 1MDB has not contested, and appears unlikely to contest, any lawsuit which has arisen from the investigations of foreign investigating authorities.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department have seized a number of bank accounts in Singapore for possible money-laundering offences related to investigations into alleged financial mismanagement at 1MDB. One of the bank accounts frozen belonged to Yak Yew Chee, who was the relationship manager for 1MDB Global Investments Ltd, Aabar Investment PJS Limited and SRC International and Low Taek Jho. Singaporean Yeo Jiawei, an ex-BSI banker, has been charged with money laundering and cheating offences as part of the Singapore probe into 1MDB, and Yeo's dealings with firms linked to 1MDB, Brazen Sky Ltd. and Bridge Partners Investment Management. A second individual, Kelvin Ang Wee Keng, was charged with corruption in connection with the Singaporean investigation into 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: According to a joint statement from the Attorney General's Chambers and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, assets totalling S$240 million have been seized during their investigations into 1MDB. Of the bank accounts and properties seized were S$120 million belonging to Jho Low and his family.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In March 2017, MAS issued a 10-year prohibition order against former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner for making false statements on behalf of his bank without its knowledge. The prohibition order, which prevents him from performing any regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Act and from managing any capital market services firm in Singapore, was extended in December 2018 from 10 years to lifetime after he admitted to charges related to an investigation into the 1MDB scandal.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In September 2018, the Singapore State Courts granted the return of 1MDB monies with a total value of S$15.3 million to Malaysia while solicitors for the Malaysian government stated that efforts to recover other unlawfully misappropriated assets were ongoing.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Swiss authorities under the direction of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland began to freeze bank accounts amounting to several million US dollars linked to 1MDB. The Swiss attorney general's office said its investigation revealed indications that funds estimated to be US$4 billion may have been misappropriated and said it was looking into four cases of potential criminal conduct. The Swiss prosecutor has said that money had been deposited into Swiss bank accounts of former Malaysian public officials and current and former officials of United Arab Emirates. Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) has begun investigations into several Swiss banks as part of the money laundering probe involving 1MDB.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 15 March 2018, the Swiss parliament rejected a motion to return seized monies from their investigations into 1MDB to the Malaysian people, as had been lobbied for by Swiss politicians and non-governmental bodies. However, on 10 July 2018, Swiss Attorney General indicated that Switzerland would not enrich itself by keeping illicit or stolen assets and be able to have the monies returned by legal obligations.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The United Arab Emirates has issued travel bans and frozen bank accounts of former Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Company's employees Khadem al-Qubaisi and Mohammed Badawy Al Husseiny who had close connections to 1MDB, and may have used the British Virgin Islands-based Aabar Investments PJS to funnel money from 1MDB into various accounts and companies around the world.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In September 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated civil forfeiture proceedings against funds held by law firm Clyde & Co in London, United Kingdom. The US$330 million were misappropriated 1MDB money, apparently intended for an oil project in Venezuela that later failed.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: "The Wall Street Journal" reported in 2015 that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had begun investigations into money laundering involving 1MDB. The international corruption unit of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) began a probe into property purchases in the United States involving Najib Razak's stepson Riza Aziz and the transfer of millions of dollars into Najib Razak's personal account. The probe was looking at properties purchased by shell companies belonging to Riza Aziz and close family friend Jho Low. Investment banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Deutsche Bank AG and Wells Fargo were asked by the DOJ to retain and turn over records that might be related to improper transfers from 1MDB. The FBI issued subpoenas to several past and present employees of film production company Red Granite Pictures, co-founded by Riza Aziz, also its chairman, in regards to allegations that US$155 million was diverted from 1MDB to help finance the 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street".


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Also under scrutiny by the FBI and DOJ was the role of global investment bank Goldman Sachs in alleged money laundering and corruption. The FBI probed the connection between Najib and a regional top executive of Goldman Sachs, and the nature of the latter's involvement in multibillion-dollar deals with 1MDB. Tim Leissner, the former chairman of Goldman Sachs' Southeast Asia branch and husband of Kimora Lee Leissner, was issued a subpoena by the DOJ as part of their investigations. In the July 2016 DOJ civil lawsuit, a high-ranking government official having control over 1MDB, who was referred to more than 30 times as "Malaysian Official 1" ("MO1"), was alleged to have received around US$681 million (RM 2.8 billion) of stolen 1MDB money via Falcon Bank in Singapore on 21 and 25 March 2013, of which US$650 million (RM 2.0 billion) was sent back to Falcon Bank on 30 August 2013. In September 2016, Najib Razak was identified as "MO1" by Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, then Minister in the Prime Minister's Department. The wife of "MO1", Rosmah Mansor, was also alleged to have received US$30 million worth of jewels financed from pilfered 1MDB funds.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In June 2017, the DOJ began actions to recover more than US$1 billion from people close to Najib and 1MDB, seizing assets including high-end properties in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Manhattan, New York City and London, as well as fine artwork, a private jet, a luxury yacht and royalties from the film "The Wolf of Wall Street" and its production company Red Granite Pictures. On 7 March 2018, in California courts, the producers of the film agreed to pay US$60 million to settle DOJ's claims that they financed the movie with money siphoned from 1MDB. The claims were settled in August 2018, with the settlement stipulating that the payment should not be construed as "an admission of wrongdoing or liability on the part of Red Granite".


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 1 November 2018, the DOJ announced that two former Goldman Sachs bankers, Tim Leissner and Roger Ng, as well as Malaysian fugitive financier Jho Low, were charged over funds misappropriated from 1MDB and paying bribes to various Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials. Tim Leissner admitted in a plea that more than US$200 million in proceeds from 1MDB bonds flowed into accounts controlled by him and a relative. He agreed to forfeit US$43.7 million (RM 185 million) and pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, while Roger Ng was arrested in Malaysia at the request of DOJ and extradited to the US for prosecution before returning and facing charges in Malaysia. According to Roger Ng's lawyers, he was infected with Dengue fever and leptospirosis while in Malaysian jail and lost a significant amount of weight.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 30 November 2018, the DOJ announced that George Higginbotham, a former DOJ employee, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deceive US banks about the source and purpose of foreign funds for a lobbying campaign against the US investigations into the 1MDB scandal. The DOJ filed a lawsuit to recover more than US$73 million (RM 305 million) in American bank accounts that Higginbotham helped open on behalf of Jho Low to finance the lobbying campaign. Further in May 2019, the DOJ announced that it had charged Jho Low and former Fugees rapper Pras for conspiring to funnel US$21.6 million from overseas accounts into the 2012 presidential election.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 1 November 2019, "Barron's" reported that Jho Low had forfeited over $100 million in luxury homes as part of a settlement with prosecutors in the United States. Overall, he agreed to give up some $700 million in assets to the U.S. Department of Justice to have charges dropped, without admitting guilt.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Elliott Broidy was charged by the Federal authorities in the violation of Foreign Agents Registration Act as per public court filing published on 8 October 2020. Broidy reportedly took $6 million from agents of Malaysia and China to lobby officials from the administration to end the investigation 1MDB scandal. Broidy was also charged for lobbying White House officials in alignment to UAE’s interest.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 23 February 2022, the star witness in the bribery trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng being held in New York, testified that ex-Goldman chief Lloyd Blankfein met in 2009 with then Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak just ahead of big bond deals for the country’s 1MDB fund — and that the meeting came with an agenda. In return for the lucrative business, Goldman was to get Najib’s three children jobs at the bank. On 24 February, Najib's daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib has confirmed that she did try to apply for a job at Goldman Sachs. She said she once met two former Goldman Sachs employees, Roger Ng and Tim Leissner as part of her networking efforts to land a "competitive job". Ultimately, an officer within Goldman rejected progressing with any job offer within the group.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 24 February 2022, it was announced that the trial of Roger Ng had been paused because the prosecutors did not share more than 15,000 documents with the defense lawyers representing Robert Ng. Ng was convicted of conspiring to launder money and bribe officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates as well as violating the internal accounting controls of his employer under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. $4.5 billion of the stolen money was laundered through U.S. financial institutions.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: As of May 2019, Malaysia had recovered US$322 million (RM1.3 billion) worth of 1MDB assets since its renewed investigations into the 1MDB scandal after the 14th General Election in May 2018.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Steps have been taken to preserve the value of the assets caught up in the case, including the sale of the Park Lane Hotel in New York in November 2018, a step endorsed by the U.S. DOJ, in accordance with the rule of law and on the basis of no admission of wrongdoing or liability. In August 2018, Malaysian authorities seized a yacht allegedly purchased by Low, selling it some eight months later to minimize the costs associated with maintaining it. A spokesperson for Low described the seizure as "illegal". Leonardo DiCaprio returned gifts received from Low to US authorities in 2017, including an Oscar received by Marlon Brando and paintings by Picasso and Jean-Michel Basquiat.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The recovered funds include the sum of US$126 million from the "Equanimity" judicially sold to the Genting Group, US$139 million to be returned by the United States after sale of Jho Low's interest in Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan, and US$57 million from a forfeiture settlement of Red Granite Pictures, which has been repatriated to Malaysia after deducting the costs incurred for investigations, seizures and litigation.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Apart from the above, another sum of S$50 million (RM152 million) related to 1MDB has been ordered by the Singapore Courts to be repatriated.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Malaysia has been working with at least six countries to recover about US$4.5 billion worth of assets allegedly stolen from 1MDB, in which US$1.7 billion (RM7 billion) worth of assets have been sought by the DOJ to forfeit.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 15 April 2020, it was reported that the DOJ had returned US$300 million in funds stolen during the 1MDB scandal to Malaysia.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: On 24 July 2020, it was announced that the Malaysian government would receive US$2.5 billion in cash from Goldman Sachs, and a guarantee from the bank they would also return US$1.4 billion in assets linked to 1MDB bonds. Put together this was substantially less than the US$7.5 billion that had been previously demanded by the Malaysian finance minister. At the same time, the Malaysian government agreed to drop all criminal charges against the bank and that it would cease legal proceedings against 17 current and former Goldman directors. Some commentators argued that Goldman had got away with a very good deal.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In January 2022, the Malaysian government received RM 333 million ($111 million) as a fine from the local affiliate of KPMG in settlement of the lawsuit filed against it.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Reports by Offshore Alert indicate that actions to recover further misappropriated assets are ongoing in various jurisdictions.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: In January 2015, around 227,000 leaked documents related to the fraud were provided to the "Wall Street Journal" and activist blogger Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who writes "Sarawak Report". The documents were leaked by Swiss national Xavier Justo, a former PetroSaudi International employee. In February 2015, "The Sunday Times" newspaper and the "Sarawak Report" blog"," referencing leaked email correspondences, that Penang-based Low Taek Jho, who has ties Najib Razak, siphoned out US$700 million from a joint venture deal between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International through an entity named Good Star Ltd. Although Low never received an official position in 1MDB, he is described as someone who was regularly consulted about 1MDB without having any decision-making authority. An email revealed that Low had the loan approval from Najib for $1 billion without getting any approval from Bank Negara.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Within Malaysia, "The Edge" was one of the few media outlets which published investigations on the scandal. Its license was suspended by the Malaysian government, in a move that its publisher suggested was censorship.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: It was claimed through a report by "The Wall Street Journal" that 1MDB made overpriced purchases of power assets in Malaysia through Genting Group in 2012. Genting then allegedly donated this money to a foundation controlled by Najib, who used these funds for election campaign purposes during the 2013 general elections. According to a news report quoting 1MDB, the company denied that it overpaid for its energy assets. 1MDB was quoted as saying that their energy acquisitions were made only when the company was convinced of its long-term value.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Further allegations were made by "The Wall Street Journal" that $700 million was transferred from 1MDB and deposited in AmBank and Affin Bank accounts under Najib's name. A task force to investigate these claims had frozen six bank accounts linked to Najib and 1MDB. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) subsequently, in August 2015, cleared 1MDB of this allegation. MACC issued a statement saying, among other things, "Results of the investigation have found that the RM2.6bil which was allegedly transferred into the account belonging to Najib Razak came from the contribution of donors, and not from 1MDB".


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Najib Razak had originally denied allegations that stolen money was found in his bank accounts, saying "If I wanted to steal, surely I won’t steal the money and bring it into an account in Malaysia. The WSJ responded by revealing the bank account details online to rebut the denials by Najib and his supporters. Singapore police had frozen two Singapore bank accounts in connection with their own investigation into the alleged financial mismanagement at 1MDB, after reports stated that $700 million worth of deposits was moved through Falcon Bank in Singapore into Najib's personal accounts in Malaysia. However, 1MDB denied having any knowledge of their accounts being frozen, and said they have not been contacted by any of the foreign investigating authorities.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The WSJ also reported that 1MDB transferred around $850 million via three transactions in 2014 to a British Virgin Islands-registered company with a name disguising that it was controlled by International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), a United Arab Emirates state investment vehicle, according to wire transfer documents.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: The WSJ released a report stating that 1MDB failed to pay $1.4 billion to IPIC. The money was owed to IPIC after it had guaranteed a US$3.5 billion bond issued by 1MDB to fund its purchase of power plant assets in 2012. The WSJ released another report saying that a further $993 million was missing that 1MDB was supposed to pay IPIC. 1MDB responded to the WSJ report, saying that the company continues to enjoy a strong business relationship with IPIC, as proven by the execution of a binding term sheet that saw IPIC assume obligation for a $3.5 billion bond, currently held by 1MDB, and followed a $1 billion cash payment made by IPIC to 1MDB in June. Earlier in October 2015, IPIC reaffirmed their commitment to working with 1MDB and the Malaysian Ministry of Finance.


title: 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal

text: Another report by the WSJ pointed out that 1MDB, in connection with a United States political fundraiser DuSable Capital Management LLC, signed a joint venture agreement creating a fund, Yurus PE Fund, to develop solar power plants in Malaysia. Six months after the joint venture agreement was signed, 1MDB bought out DuSable's stake of 49% of Yurus for $69 million before any construction took place. Based on bank transfer information, the WSJ reported that Najib spent close to $15 million on clothes, jewellery, and a car in places such as the United States, Singapore, and Italy using a credit card that was paid from one of several private bank accounts owned by Najib, to which 1MDB funds had been diverted.


title: Roger Clemens

text: William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win–loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements, and contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.


title: Roger Clemens

text: He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.


title: Roger Clemens

text: At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.


title: Roger Clemens

text: The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.


title: Roger Clemens

text: In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.


title: Roger Clemens

text: On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of "Sports Illustrated", which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.


title: Roger Clemens

text: The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of Sammy Sosa's 609 home runs.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens had a second 20-strikeout game on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).


title: Roger Clemens

text: The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.


title: Roger Clemens

text: The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Before the 1999 season, the Blue Jays traded Clemens to the New York Yankees for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.


title: Roger Clemens

text: During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens won the Yankees' Game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves, giving up only one run in innings. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. Though Clemens lost two games in the ALDS against Oakland, the Yankees won the other three and thus advanced. In Game 4 of the ALCS against Seattle, Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.


title: Roger Clemens

text: In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3), and won his sixth Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.


title: Roger Clemens

text: The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.


title: Roger Clemens

text: On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".


title: Roger Clemens

text: By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in Ks five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens has the reputation of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."


title: Roger Clemens

text: In José Canseco's book, "", Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less [sic] about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."


title: Roger Clemens

text: Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.


title: Roger Clemens

text: However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.


title: Roger Clemens

text: On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on "60 Minutes" to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.


title: Roger Clemens

text: On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."


title: Roger Clemens

text: The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".


title: Roger Clemens

text: As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.


title: Roger Clemens

text: After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.


title: Roger Clemens

text: His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.


title: Roger Clemens

text: In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.


title: Roger Clemens

text: In April 2008, the "New York Daily News" reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the "Daily News", McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."


title: Roger Clemens

text: On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the "Daily News" broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.


title: Roger Clemens

text: There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the "New York Post" reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the "Daily News" reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of "The Simpsons" ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows "Hope & Faith", "Spin City", "Arli$$", and "Saturday Night Live" as well as the movie "Anger Management", and makes a brief appearance in the movie "Kingpin" as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film "Boyhood".


title: Roger Clemens

text: He appeared in the 1994 movie "Cobb" as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of "MythBusters" ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.


title: Roger Clemens

text: He released an early autobiography, "Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story" written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled "The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality", that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York "Daily News", called "". Clemens went on ESPN's "Mike and Mike" show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of "The New York Times" called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.


title: Roger Clemens

text: In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on "The Sporting News" list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated "Sporting News" list moved Clemens up to #15.


title: Roger Clemens

text: By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.


title: Roger Clemens

text: On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.


title: Roger Clemens

text: In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame's Today's Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members” (hence the nickname of "veterans committee") who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K"s). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who currently plays for the Cleburne Railroaders of the American Association of Professional Baseball. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. Kody made his major league debut with the Tigers on May 31. 2022.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, "Curse of the Bambino". Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).


title: Roger Clemens

text: Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.


title: Roger Clemens

text: Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a "Sports Illustrated" pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition" for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.


title: Roger Clemens

text: On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.


title: Dream SMP

text: The Dream SMP (sometimes abbreviated as the DSMP) is an invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) "Minecraft" server. Created by YouTubers Dream and GeorgeNotFound, they roleplay alongside many fellow "Minecraft" content creators as fictionalized versions of themselves within a loose overarching storyline. Livestreamed by participants on Twitch and YouTube, it is the subject of one of the most popular "Minecraft" web series.


title: Dream SMP

text: The Dream SMP was created by Dream and GeorgeNotFound in April or May 2020 as a small server for a few friends. It quickly gained popularity, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic and collaborations across various YouTube channels. It stars fellow "Minecraft" YouTubers such as Sapnap and TommyInnit, who roleplay as characters loosely based on themselves. They engage in lengthy conflicts over political power and rare artifacts.


title: Dream SMP

text: Most content is improvised, apart from major plot points which are loosely scripted in advance. Wilbur Soot, who planned many of the early story arcs, said in an interview for "Insider," "I write up a series of plot hooks and points that should tie together, however we improv dialogue and comedy throughout to take us from point to point." The server has over 20 "eras" in its plotline and over 30 characters as of August 2021. The server's early storyline was inspired by "Hamilton", and the musical has been referenced many times by the server members.


title: Dream SMP

text: Within the plot, characters can die up to three times before being permanently dead. Some members play multiple characters, including ghost versions of themselves.


title: Dream SMP

text: The Disc Saga, the server's longest-running story arc, was a series of events centered around two rare music discs belonging to TommyInnit. Throughout the saga, Dream and other characters fought over ownership of the discs, and use them as leverage against each other. The Disc Saga concluded in January 2021, with Dream being imprisoned. TommyInnit's Twitch broadcast of the events peaked at over 650,000 viewers, making it the third-highest all-time concurrent viewer livestream on the platform.


title: Dream SMP

text: Another conflict broke out when Wilbur Soot founded L'Manberg, an in-game breakaway state for non-American players. It seceded from the Greater Dream SMP nation and won a war for independence. L'Manberg would later hold a presidential election, which involved heated roleplay debates between the fictional political parties SWAG2020 and POG2020. When SWAG2020 running mate GeorgeNotFound failed to show up, Quackity, the presidential candidate for the party, formed an impromptu coalition party with Jschlatt, SchWAG2020. This coalition party went on to win the election with 46 percent of the vote. In January 2021, L'Manberg would go on to be invaded, destroyed, and permanently disbanded.


title: Dream SMP

text: The heavy emphasis on the roleplaying aspect of the server and their overarching plots has attracted a lot of attention. According to Rich Stanton of "PC Gamer", "L'Manburg was taken very seriously by its players, to the extent the nation has not only a flag but a national anthem." The plot was likened to live theater by Cecilia D'Anastasio of "Wired", describing it as a "Machiavellian political drama". Ryan Broderick of "Polygon" describes the server's plot as being played out like "a silly "Game of Thrones" with anime pacing", and describes the story's characters as being "not unlike how the wrestler John Cena plays the wrestler John Cena inside the narrative of WWE". The Disc Saga was described by Julia Alexander of "The Verge" as a "dramatic tale of good versus evil" as Dream and TommyInnit fought over dominance in the server.


title: Dream SMP

text: In a 2022 interview with Variety Dream remarked that the Dream SMP was just Minecraft being used as a storytelling medium as opposed to being an actual game, with GeorgeNotFound adding they don't actually "really" play Minecraft when doing Dream SMP streams.


title: Dream SMP

text: In November 2022 TommyInnit and Tubbo did four consecutive live streams on twitch, starting on the 10th and ending on the 13th, describing them as the Dream SMP season 1 finale. These four streams concluded with the server being blown up by Tubbo and Jack Manifold. The last part of the stream featured Dream, Tommyinnit and Tubbo appearing on a new world with no memories of what had happened earlier in the stream. Tubbo later announced that all subsequent finale streams will end in the server blowing up, calling it "The Event." In the same stream he hinted to Dream SMP season 2 having hints to season 1.


title: Dream SMP

text: The Dream SMP has garnered a large following and a popular fandom, with hundreds of thousands of viewers turning up for live events. Its storylines are analyzed in documentary-style videos, such as those of MatPat, who describes the series as "narrative storytelling through the lens of gaming". Broderick also attributes the Dream SMP's unprecedented success to how its story is showcased, describing it as being "a profound idea [that] essentially turns viewers into their own directors, hopping through streams to see which version of the story they want to focus on". In September 2021, Benjamin Herold of "The Hechinger Report" said that the Dream SMP "helped millions of kids stay connected to the social world" during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Dream SMP

text: The server's storylines have inspired fan art, fan fiction, and online musicals. Although unusual for an online creator, Dream has encouraged fan fiction to be written about him, stating that it ultimately helps his career. One notable fan creator is SAD-ist, an animator from the Philippines who illustrates events from the server's story set to music and dialogue clips.


title: Dream SMP

text: An offhand joke post on Tumblr made at the expense of the Dream SMP fandom led to the creation of a fan-made server with its own plot and lore, known as "Penis SMP".


title: Dream SMP

text: On July 24, 2021, the flag of L'Manberg was spotted at an anti-vaccine protest in London, next to a Donald Trump flag.


title: Dream SMP

text: "The Verge" has described the Dream SMP as a "worldwide phenomenon", with Dream SMP fans creating mass amounts of fan fiction, fan art and fan songs. A notable fan work, "Heat Waves", which is a Dream SMP-related fan fiction series hosted on Archive of Our Own, reached the top three in kudos on the website. It is named after the song "Heat Waves" by Glass Animals, and is suggested to be one of the reasons the song topped the 2020 Triple J Hottest 100 countdown in Australia.


title: Dream SMP

text: "Dream SMP" was listed as a genre in Spotify Wrapped in late 2021. The genre encompasses fan-created music about the events of the server, music made by Dream SMP members, and music used in Dream SMP streams. The artists that are part of the genre include Glass Animals, Wilbur Soot, Toby Fox, and Alec Benjamin. This was met with anger by some however, due to fear that being falsely labelled under this genre was affecting their chances of entering editorial playlists.


title: Dream SMP

text: The server has been visited by several notable guest stars, including KSI, Vikkstar123, LazarBeam, Ninja, Lil Nas X, Pokimane, Corpse Husband, and MrBeast. MrBeast staged a game on the server by hiding gift cards worth for Dream SMP members to find.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the 11th largest globally, and the second largest cricket ground by capacity. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is served by Richmond and Jolimont railway stations, as well as the route 70, route 75, and route 48 trams. It is adjacent to Melbourne Park and is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has undergone numerous renovations. It served as the centerpiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and two Cricket World Cups: 1992 and 2015. It will also serve as the host for the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Noted for its role in the development of international cricket, the MCG hosted both the first Test match and the first One Day International, played between Australia and England in 1877 and 1971 respectively. It has also maintained strong ties with Australian rules football since its codification in 1859, and has become the principal venue for Australian Football League (AFL) matches, including the AFL Grand Final, the world's highest attended league championship event. It hosted the Grand Final for the 2022 T20 World Cup.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: Home to the Australian Sports Museum, the MCG has hosted other major sporting events, including international rules football matches between Australia and Ireland, international rugby union matches, State of Origin (rugby league) games, and FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Concerts and other cultural events are also held at the venue with the record attendance standing at 143,750 for a Billy Graham evangelistic crusade in 1959. Grandstand redevelopments and occupational health and safety legislation have limited the maximum seating capacity to approximately 95,000 with an additional 5,000 standing room capacity, bringing the total capacity to 100,024.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and was included on the Australian National Heritage List in 2005. In 2003, journalist Greg Baum called it "a shrine, a citadel, a landmark, a totem" that "symbolises Melbourne to the world".


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The MCG is built atop a Wurundjeri camping ground and site of numerous corroborees. Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) selected the current MCG site in 1853 after previously playing at several grounds around Melbourne. The club's first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and La Trobe Streets. Burial Hill (now Flagstaff Gardens) became its home ground in January 1839, but the area was already set aside for Botanical Gardens and the club was moved on in October 1846, to an area on the south bank of the Yarra about where the Herald & Weekly Times building is today. The area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again, this time to a ground in South Melbourne.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: It was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway. The South Melbourne ground was in the path of Victoria's first steam railway line from Melbourne to Sandridge (now Port Melbourne). Governor La Trobe offered the MCC a choice of three sites; an area adjacent to the existing ground, a site at the junction of Flinders and Spring Streets or a ten-acre (about 4 hectares) section of the Government Paddock at Richmond next to Richmond Park.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: Between European settlement in 1835 and the early 1860s, this last option, which is now Yarra Park, was known as the Government or Police Paddock and served as a large agistment area for the horses of the Mounted Police, Border Police and Native Police. The north-eastern section also housed the main barracks for the Mounted Police in the Port Phillip district. In 1850 it was part of a stretch set aside for public recreation extending from Governor La Trobe's Jolimont Estate to the Yarra River. By 1853 it had become a busy promenade for Melbourne residents.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: An MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation. That ground was located where the Richmond, or outer, end of the current MCG is now.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: At the same time the Richmond Cricket Club was given occupancy rights to six acres (2.4 hectares) for another cricket ground on the eastern side of the Government Paddock.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: In 1861, a board of trustees was appointed to be responsible for the ground. Over the first forty years, most of the trustees were appointed by the MCC, giving the cricket club relative autonomy over the use of the ground. In 1906, the state governments' Lands ministry appointed five new trustees, putting the government-appointed trustees in the majority; and the government has appointed and overseen the trust since. This gives the state government, via the trust, a level of control over the ground's use.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: At the time of the land grant, the Government stipulated that the ground was to be used for cricket and cricket only. This condition technically remained until 1933 when the Melbourne Cricket Ground Act 1933 widened its allowable uses. The 1933 act has been replaced by separate acts in 1989 and 2009.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: In 1863, a corridor of land running diagonally across Yarra Park was granted to the Melbourne & Hobson's Bay Railway Company and divided Yarra Park from the river. The Mounted Police barracks were operational until the 1880s when it was subdivided into the current residential precinct bordered by Vale Street. The area closest to the river was also developed for sporting purposes in later years including Olympic venues in 1956.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden members' stand built in 1854, while the first public grandstand was a 200-metre long 6000-seat temporary structure built in 1861. Another grandstand seating 2000, facing one way to the cricket ground and the other way to the park where football was played, was built in 1876 for the 1877 visit of James Lillywhite's English cricket team. It was during this tour that the MCG hosted the world's first Test match.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: In 1881, the original members' stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world's finest cricket facility, was built in its place. The foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on 4 July and the stand opened in December that year. It was also in 1881 that a telephone was installed at the ground, and the wickets and goal posts were changed from an east–west orientation to north–south. In 1882 a scoreboard was built which showed details of the batsman's name and how he was dismissed.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: When the Lillywhite tour stand burned down in 1884 it was replaced by a new stand which seated 450 members and 4500 public. In 1897, second-storey wings were added to 'The Grandstand', as it was known, increasing capacity to 9,000. In 1900 it was lit with electric light.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: More stands were built in the early 20th century. An open wooden stand was on the south side of the ground in 1904 and the 2084-seat Grey Smith Stand (known as the New Stand until 1912) was erected for members in 1906. The 4000-seat Harrison Stand on the ground's southern side was built in 1908 followed by the 8000-seat Wardill Stand in 1912. In the 15 years after 1897 the grandstand capacity at the ground increased to nearly 20,000, while the full ground capacity was almost 60,000.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: In 1927, the second brick members' stand was replaced at a cost of £60,000. The Harrison and Wardill Stands were demolished in 1936 to make way for the Southern Stand which was completed in 1937. The Southern Stand seated 18,200 under cover and 13,000 in the open and was the main public area of the MCG. The maximum capacity of the ground under this configuration, as advised by the Health Department, was 84,000 seated and 94,000 standing.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The Northern Stand, also known as the Olympic Stand, was built to replace the old Grandstand for the 1956 Olympic Games. By Health Department regulations, this was to increase the stadium's capacity to 120,000; although this was revised down after the 1956 VFL Grand Final, which could not comfortably accommodate its crowd of 115,802. Ten years later, the Grey Smith Stand and the open concrete stand next to it were replaced by the Western Stand; the Duke of Edinburgh laid a foundation stone for the Western Stand on 3 March 1967, and it was completed in 1968; in 1986, it was renamed the W.H. Ponsford Stand in honour of Victorian batsman Bill Ponsford. This was the stadium's highest capacity configuration, and the all-time record crowd for a sporting event at the venue of 121,696 was set under this configuration in the 1970 VFL Grand Final.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The MCG was the home of Australia's first full colour video scoreboard, which replaced the old scoreboard in 1982, located on Level 4 of the Western Stand, which notably caught fire in 1999 and was replaced in 2000. A second video screen added in 1994 almost directly opposite, on Level 4 of the Olympic stand. In 1985, light towers were installed at the ground, allowing for night football and day-night cricket games.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: In 1988, inspections of the old Southern Stand found concrete cancer and provided the opportunity to replace the increasingly run-down 50-year-old facility. The projected cost of $100 million was outside what the Melbourne Cricket Club could afford so the Victorian Football League took the opportunity to part fund the project in return for a 30-year deal to share the ground. The new Great Southern Stand was completed in 1992, in time for the 1992 Cricket World Cup, at a final cost of $150 million. It was renamed the Shane Warne Stand after Victorian bowler Shane Warne in 2022 shortly after his death.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The 1928 Members' stand, the 1956 Olympic stand and the 1968 W.H Ponsford stand were demolished one by one between late 2003 to 2005 and replaced with a new structure in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Despite now standing as a single unbroken stand, the individual sections retain the names of W.H. Ponsford, Olympic and Members Stands. The redevelopment cost exceeded 400 million and pushed the ground's capacity to just above 100,000. Since redevelopment, the highest attendance has been 100,024 at the 2022 AFL Grand Final.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: From 2011 until 2013, the Victoria State Government and the Melbourne Cricket Club funded a $55 million refurbishment of the facilities in the Great Southern Stand, including renovations to entrance gates and ticket outlets, food and beverage outlets, etc., without significantly modifying the stand. New scoreboards, more than twice the size of the original ones, were installed in the same positions in late 2013.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: From November 2019 until February 2020 all the playing field lights, including those in the light towers, were replaced with LED sports lighting with the lighting under the roof and in two of the light towers completed in time for the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The first cricket match at the venue was played on 30 September 1854, while the first inter-colonial cricket match to be played at the MCG was between Victoria and New South Wales in March 1856. Victoria had played Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) as early as 1851 but the Victorians had included two professionals in the 1853 team upsetting the Tasmanians and causing a cooling of relations between the two colonies. To replace the disgruntled Tasmanians the Melbourne Cricket Club issued a challenge to play any team in the colonies for £1000. Sydney publican William Tunks accepted the challenge on behalf of New South Wales although the Victorians were criticised for playing for money. Ethics aside, New South Wales could not afford the £1000 and only managed to travel to Melbourne after half the team's travel cost of £181 was put up by Sydney barrister Richard Driver.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: The game eventually got under way on 26 March 1856. The Victorians, stung by criticism over the £1000 stake, argued over just about everything; the toss, who should bat first, whether different pitches should be used for the different innings and even what the umpires should wear.


title: Melbourne Cricket Ground

text: Victoria won the toss but New South Wales captain George Gilbert successfully argued that the visiting team should decide who bats first. The MCG was a grassless desert and Gilbert, considering players fielded without boots, promptly sent Victoria into bat. Needing only 16 to win in the final innings, New South Wales collapsed to be 5 for 5 before Gilbert's batting saved the game and the visitors won by three wickets.