Swiss authorities open criminal proceedings linked to Malaysia's 1MDB

ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has opened criminal proceedings relating to Malaysia's troubled state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a spokesman said on Friday.

"The Office of the Attorney General confirms that, on Aug. 14 2015, it opened a criminal procedure against two entities of 1MDB as well as against an unknown person," the OAG spokesman said in an email.

The case involved "suspected corruption of public foreign officials, dishonest management of public interests and money laundering", he said.

News of the investigation was first reported by Swiss newspaper Le Temps.

Swiss financial regulator FINMA said on Wednesday it was checking with some of the country's banks whether they carried out business with 1MDB.