Malaysian ex-PM Najib ordered to enter defence in latest 1MDB trial

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court ruled Wednesday that jailed former prime minister Najib Razak will have to defend himself against charges of power abuse and money laundering linked to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

Presiding judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said the prosecution successfully established that Najib had a case to answer for on four counts of abuse of power linked to alleged bribes worth 2.27 billion ringgit ($517 million) as well as 21 counts of money laundering.

“After a maximum evaluation of the evidence, I find that the prosecution has proven the ingredients of the charges,” Sequerah told the court.

Six years after first being charged, Najib was in court decked out in a navy-blue suit on Wednesday and appeared calm after hearing the decision.

The 71-year-old told the court he would take the stand in his defence at the trial, which is slated to get under way on December 2.

Najib’s lead lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client was “extremely disappointed” by the court’s decision, as the defence had presented arguments they thought would warrant serious consideration.

“If you were to ask me what do we feel? Extremely disappointed,” he told reporters outside the court complex on Wednesday.

“But we are not giving up, we are going to fight this case, and we are more determined because of the decision today.”

Each count of abuse of power is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to five times the amount of the bribe.

Each money laundering count can incur a maximum fine of 5 million ringgit and imprisonment of up to five years, or both.

The hearing came just days after Najib issued an apology that the 1MDB scandal happened during his tenure, but maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.

“It pains me every day to know that the 1MDB debacle happened under my watch as minister of finance and prime minister,” Najib wrote in a statement read by his son Mohamad Nizar last Thursday.

“For that, I would like to apologise unreservedly to the Malaysian people.”

Allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from investment vehicle 1MDB and used to buy everything from a super-yacht to artwork played a major role in prompting voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation party in 2018 elections.

The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, whose financial systems were believed to have been used to launder the money.

The current case is one of five brought against Najib in 2018 and involves Tanore Finance Corp, which US authorities have said was used to siphon money from 1MDB.

Najib began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offences linked to the misuse of public money from former 1MDB unit SRC International. The sentence was later halved by Malaysia’s pardons board.

His 1MDB audit tampering trial ended with an acquittal at the High Court in 2023.

Najib, the UK-educated son of one of Malaysia’s founding fathers, still has a pending case of criminal breach of trust involving 6.6 billion ringgit, as well as a money laundering trial involving 27 million ringgit.

The US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates.