Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – A Malaysia court on November 11 ordered the country’s former PrimeMinister Najib Razak to present his defence against seven charges in a caselinked to a scandal surrounding the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund.
Delivering his decision the same day, High Court Judge MohamadNazlan Mohamad Ghazali said the SRC International – a former 1MDB unit, sufferedlosses worth 42 million MYR (10 million USD).
The judge said the prosecution had successfully adducedcredible evidence proving each and every essential ingredient of the offences.
During the trial, the prosecution tendered more than 750exhibits, including bank documents relating to Najib’s bank accounts, cashtransactions, minutes of meetings and messenger chats over Najib’stransactions.
The 66-year-old will be taking the stand on December 3 whenthe trial resumes.
He faces seven charges of abusing his position forgratification, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42million of SRC International’s funds.
If found guilty, Najib would face an imprisonment of up to 20years and a fine not less than five times the sum or value of the gratificationwhich is the subject matter of the offence.
The 1MDB was founded by Nazib in 2009 with an aim forsocio-economic development. Malaysian and US investigators believe that thefund has looted about 4.5 billion USD, about 1 billion USD of which was sent tothe former Malaysian PM’s personal bank account./.