The former Malaysian prime minister has been ordered to defend himself in a money laundering case

Kuala Lumpur, October 30 (IANS): Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was ordered on Wednesday to defend himself against 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The Supreme Court has called on Najib to defend himself on four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving 2.28 billion ringgit ($520 million), after Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said it had a maximum review carried out and found that the prosecution was prima facie proven in the case against the former Prime Minister.

The 1MDB trial now has 97 hearing dates scheduled from December 2 this year to November 2025, with trial dates for every month during this period except July next year.

Najib, 71, has been serving a sentence since August 23, 2022, after being convicted in a separate criminal trial of embezzling 42 million ringgit from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former unit of 1MDB.

After his conviction, he successfully applied for a royal pardon, which resulted in his 12-year prison sentence being reduced to six years and a fine reduced from 210 million ringgit to 50 million ringgit in February.