Ex-premier prays
Former Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak is surrounded by supporters as he prays after a court appearance in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Razak was hit with 25 new charges of money laundering and abuse of power linked to the 1MDB mega-scandal
A lawyer representing former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was charged with money laundering on Thursday, as anti-corruption agents try to retrieve billions of dollars siphoned off from a scandalplagued state fund.
The charges against Muhammad Shafee Abdullah come as a blow for Najib who is fighting charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power at a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s government, which came to power after a surprise win in elections in May, also acknowledged that the 1MDB fraud investigation was going much more slowly than had been expected, and that “realistically” it was looking at getting back 30 percent of the misappropriated funds.
Shafee pleaded not guilty to two counts of money laundering at a court in Kuala Lumpur after allegedly receiving 9.5 million ringgit ($2.29 million) from Najib. He faces two charges of false income tax declaration. Prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said the case was part of the 1MDB investigation but didn’t say if the money allegedly received by Shafee was from the fund. The charge sheet claims Shafee received the money through cheques from Najib in 2013 and 2014.
Shafee’s opponents say the money was paid in return for leading the prosecution against Anwar Ibrahim, the president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) party, who was imprisoned in 2015 on sodomy charges. Shafee denies the claim.
Released in May, Anwar is now prime minister in-waiting.
Shafee’s bail was set at 1 million ringgit. He faces a maximum jail term of five years, a fine of five times the alleged amount or 5 million ringgit whichever is higher, or both, if found guilty of laundering.
1MDB is at the center of money-laundering probes in at least six countries, including the US, Switzerland and Singapore. A total $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by officials of the fund and their associates, according to the US Department of Justice.