Money laundering charges dropped against former Malaysia PM Najib in US$6.34 million case linked to 1MDB
The three charges were brought in 2019 and the High Court said there was nothing to show the prosecution could proceed with the case in the near future.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Ex-Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak was on Friday (Jun 20) granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal in a money laundering trial linked to a former subsidiary of the scandal-hit state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The High Court ruled that there was nothing to show the prosecution was able to proceed with the case for the time being.
Najib, 71, faced three money laundering charges filed in February 2019. He was accused of receiving RM27 million (US$6.34 million) in illegal proceeds from SRC International through his three AmPrivate Banking accounts in July 2014.
Judge K Muniandy said there had been a plethora of postponements in the case, indicating the prosecution was not ready to proceed.
“The circumstances of the case lean in favour of the accused whereby the prosecution, as of today, is not ready to proceed with the trial of the preferred charges against the accused,” the judge was quoted as saying by news portal Free Malaysia Today.
A discharge not amounting to acquittal means the accused is released from current charges, but the prosecution retains the right to reinstate those same charges in future.
The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) said in a statement later on Friday that it had no other option but to agree to a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for Najib in the case.
Rejecting claims of a flawed prosecution, the AGC said the case had been scheduled for trial five times over the past five years, but each was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic or at the request of either the defence or the prosecution.
The AGC said the prosecution’s applications were necessary as the first SRC trial was already underway until it concluded in March 2023. At the same time, the 1MDB trial had commenced.
“Both cases involved overlapping material documents required for the second SRC trial,” the AGC said as reported by national news agency Bernama.
“As these documents were critical to the second SRC case, the prosecution had no choice but to wait until they were available, which was until the 1MDB trial proceedings were completed,” said the AGC, adding that it respected the High Court’s decision.
Najib is currently serving a jail term for a separate conviction of corruption and money laundering for illegally receiving about US$10 million from SRC International.
He was in July 2020 found guilty of misappropriating SRC International funds involving the transfer of RM42 million into his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015.
He has been in Kajang Prison since August 2022, after the Federal Court upheld the High Court decision. In February 2024, his jail term was halved from 12 to six years by the Pardons Board and his fine was reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million.
The former premier is fighting to serve the rest of his jail term at home, and has filed an application to initiate contempt proceedings against a former attorney-general for allegedly failing to reveal a royal addendum order allowing him to do so.
He is also on trial for corruption in several other 1MDB-linked cases, for which he has denied wrongdoing.
