A Malaysian court ruled on Wednesday that jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak will have to defend himself against more abuse of power and money laundering charges in another trial over the multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.
Najib faces four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering for allegedly receiving $526 million from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, Najib faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to five times the amount of funds involved in the offense.
Najib, 71, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2022 after being found guilty of graft in a separate 1MDB-linked case. The sentence was later halved by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia’s king, with Najib set to be released in August 2028.
Malaysian and U.S. investigators say at least $4.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB, a state fund founded by Najib in 2009 while he was premier.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled on Wednesday that prosecutors had established a case against Najib on 25 charges.
Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said the charges filed against Najib were valid and correct in law and found all prosecution witnesses to be credible.
Prosecutors had called on 50 witnesses to give evidence, including former central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, media reported.
The defense plans to call on 11 witnesses, he said, adding that the trial will resume on Dec. 2.
Najib, who was voted out in 2018 after nine years in power, issued a rare apology last week for his role in mishandling the 1MDB scandal.
