Former Malaysian PM ordered to enter his defence in money laundering case

Kuala Lumpur: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been ordered to enter his defence against 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) on Wednesday.

The High Court has called on Najib to enter his defence on four charges of power abuse and 21 charges of money laundering involving 2.28 billion ringgit (520 million US dollars) after Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said it had conducted a maximum evaluation and found the prosecution had proven prima facie in its case against the former prime minister.

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

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

Following his conviction, he successfully filed a petition for a royal pardon, which resulted in a reduction of his 12-year imprisonment to six years and a fine cut from 210 million ringgit to 50 million ringgit in February.