KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A Malaysian court ruled that jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak will have to defend himself against four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering in a case over the scandal at state fund 1MDB, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Najib had been accused of illegally receiving 2.3 billion ringgit ($526 million) from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has pleaded not guilty.
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.
On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that all 25 charges filed against Najib were valid and correct in law, state news agency Bernama reported.
A prosecutor involved in the case confirmed the report to Reuters, adding that Najib will take the stand in his defence.
Najib’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Najib, who was voted out in 2018 after nine years in power, issued a rare apology last week for his role in mishandling the scandal, which occurred during his tenure as prime minister and finance minister.
He maintained however he had no knowledge of any illegal transfers from the state fund he helped found, saying he was misled by others and believed that monies transferred into his personal bank accounts were political donations from the Saudi royal family.
Najib’s apology came just days after Malaysia said it would introduce a law allowing house arrest for some offences. The government later denied the law was targeted towards Najib or to help other politicians accused of corruption to escape jail.
Najib has been pushing to serve the remainder of his jail sentence at home, and is seeking a court ruling to compel the government to confirm the existence of a royal order that he said accompanied the pardons board’s decision and recommended house arrest for him.
Investigators in Malaysia and the United States say at least $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2014, in a globe-spanning scheme that former U.S. attorney-general Jeff Sessions has described as ‘kleptocracy at its worst’.
Prosecutors say more than $1 billion of 1MDB funds made its way into Najib’s personal accounts. He faces several other trials over the scandal.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by John Mair)