Najib charged with money laundering
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak was hit with new charges on Wednesday linked to a multibillion-dollar financial scandal that contributed to his shock election defeat in May.
Appearing at a court in Kuala Lumpur, Najib, 65, was charged with three counts of money-laundering over claims he pocketed 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million), and pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 15 years in jail for each charge and a fine of not less than five times the sum laundered.
These are in addition to the charges he faced last month after he was first arrested — three for criminal breach of trust and a separate count that he abused his position to take the money. He faces up to 20 years in jail for each of those charges, which he has also denied.
Malaysia’s new government is probing allegations that billions of dollars were looted from state fund 1MDB, which was set up and overseen by Najib, in an audacious fraud that spanned the globe.
Allegations of massive corruption were a major factor behind the electoral earthquake in May that toppled Najib’s long-ruling coalition and ushered in an alliance headed by 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad.
The new charges allege 42 million ringgit stemming from illegal activities was transferred to a bank account between December 2014 and February 2015.
All the charges relate to SRC International, an energy company that was originally a subsidiary of 1MDB. According to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, about $10 million originating from SRC was transferred to Najib’s personal bank accounts.
Real estate, artworks
This is just a fraction of the $681 million that was transferred to Najib’s personal bank accounts several years ago, sparking uproar in Malaysia. The then attorney general cleared Najib of wrongdoing, and said that the money had been a donation from the Saudi royal family.
Najib, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and his allies are accused of plundering billions of dollars from 1MDB to buy everything from US real estate to artworks.
The US Department of Justice, which is seeking to recover items allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB cash in the United States, estimates that $4.5 billion in total was looted from the fund.
Following Najib’s election loss, police seized a vast trove of items — including expensive handbags and jewelry — from properties linked to him with an estimated value of up to $273 million.
Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor led a life of luxury, allegedly funded by stolen public money.