CIMB chairperson Nazir Razak has noted how The Edge was once suspended for printing details of the alleged 1MDB fund flows, which is now being repeated yesterday in the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) civil forfeiture filing against properties and assets of figures linked to the sovereign fund scandal.

"Exactly 12 months ago, this headline got them suspended.

"Today, the US attorney-general is saying pretty much the same thing," wrote the younger brother to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in an Instagram posting last night.

This comment was posted along with the picture of the front page article that got the business paper into soup with authorities.

Nazir pointed out the article 'How Jho Low and PetroSaudi cheated Malaysia out of RM1.83b cash (and RM400m million paper profit) with help from 1MDB executives' detailed the same alleged circuitous use of a network of banks and accounts to obfuscate the transfer of public monies out of 1MDB into private hands.

While he did not mention his brother in the post, Nazir alluded to what critics have been claiming to be the failings of the Najib administration.

"Democracy is not just about elections, it's also about integrity of institutions, the rule of law and freedom of the media," concluded Nazir in the post.

Subtle criticisms

Najib has maintained that all the actions against 1MDB are the work of those who seek to overthrow him from his democratically elected post, though his administration sees Malaysia at its lowest in terms of the integrity of government institutions and media freedom

Indeed, this is not the first time Nazir has criticised his own brother's administration on the social media.

Previously he had posted other cryptic messages on Instagram, gaining him praise from some but frustrating those who want him to directly say what he really means, to help correct matters.

However nothing came out of his guarded words and symbolic postings thus far.

Furthermore, Nazir had to admit he had personally helped Najib move millions in cash via his bank, an action he said he has since regretted.

The CIMB board and independent auditors eventually cleared Nazir of any wrongdoing in May this year after a probe, which started with him voluntarily going on leave in April.

Yesterday the DOJ filed a civil assets forfeiture suit against assets and properties, including the rights and profits from the award-winning movie The Wolf of Wall Street, which they alleged were obtained by Najib's step-son Riza Aziz and the financier Jho Low using monies stolen from 1MDB.

Swiss authorities yesterday seized artworks in relation to the DOJ filing while Singapore authorities have seized assets linked to Jho Low and his family there, though it is not clear if the action linked to the DOJ suit.

Najib himself was not named in the filings.