Malaysia’s new government on Monday established a special task force to probe possible criminal offences relating to country’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund.

The task force — comprising members of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the country’s central bank and police — will co-operate with international law enforcement agencies in an attempt to recover the billions of dollars lost by the fund, according to the office of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Since winning a stunning election less than a fortnight ago, 92-year-old Mr Mahathir has wasted no time in turning the screw on predecessor Najib Razak, preventing his former protégé from leaving the country and launching probes into allegations of misconduct at 1MDB.