TEHRAN, December 12 -Prosecutors in Malaysia have filed a new corruption charge against former prime minister Najib Razak, adding to an already long list of corruption allegations against him since he lost power in elections earlier this year.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC)-Prosecutors in Malaysia have filed a new corruption charge against former prime minister Najib Razak, adding to an already long list of corruption allegations against him since he lost power in elections earlier this year.
Najib and the former chief executive of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Arul Kanda Kandasamy, were questioned and charged at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday.
The prosecutors’ charge-sheet, which was read to Najib in court, said he had “secured protection from disciplinary, civil or criminal action related to 1MDB” by directing for an audit report of the fund to be amended before it was finalized.
The former PM, who is free on bail, pleaded not guilty to the charge. His trial is due to begin next year.
His lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said Najib could not have tampered with the audit, as he was only accused of having directed changes to a draft of the report, rather than the final version.
“In this charge, it’s quite clear that it is no longer the allegation... that he had in fact tampered with the audit report,” Muhammad Shafee said.
The fund’s former chief executive also pleaded not guilty to the charge of having abetted Najib.
1MDB, which was founded by Najib in 2009, is the subject of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries, including the United States, Switzerland, and Singapore.
The former prime minister and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, have come under intense scrutiny since May, when he was ousted from office in elections and when his 93-year-old former mentor, Mahathir Mohamad, was elected prime minister.
Mahathir barred Najib and his wife from leaving the country and reopened an investigation into the 1MDB as soon as he took office. He pledged to bring to justice all of those involved in the alleged multi-billion-dollar fraud.
Civil lawsuits have been filed by the US saying billions of dollars were diverted from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, and that about one billion dollars made its way into Najib’s personal bank accounts.
A total of 38 charges relating to the global corruption scandal had formerly been brought against him. Each of the charges carries up to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of 2,402 dollars or both, according to state news agency Bernama.
Source: presstv
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