Singapore: Corrupt politician Najib Razak, already in jail for ripping off the Malaysian people, will need to defend himself against more charges of abusing a sovereign wealth fund when he was prime minister. A judge in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday ruled the prosecution had presented enough evidence for another case against Najib to proceed through the courts, dashing the hopes of supporters that an apology made earlier in the week may have helped his cause. Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak in 2022 after losing his final appeal in a corruption case.
Credit: AP Najib was convicted in 2020 for his role in the looting of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a fund set up in 2009 to promote economic development. Instead of building things, senior officials and Najib’s right-hand man, Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, stole close to $US4.5 billion ($6.
9 billion) and spent it on famous artwork, luxury properties and the production company behind The Wolf of Wall Street movie. Jho Low has forfeited some of his gains but remains a fugitive. Najib’s 12-year sentence in 2022 was controversially halved earlier this year by a pardons board chaired by Malaysia’s outgoing king.
Najib may soon be eligible for parole. The current case centres on allegations from 2018 that Najib, now 71, illegally obtained $US524 million of 1MDB funds. Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah found there was a case and that all prosecution witnesses – including former Malaysian central bank governor Zet.
