Kuala Lumpur, Nov 27 (AFP/APP): Malaysian court allowed corruption charges in one of several cases linked to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund against jailed ex-prime minister Najib Razak to be dropped, his lawyer said Wednesday.
“The court correctly exercised its jurisdiction to discharge our client of the charges” in the case on payments of 6.6 billion ringgit ($1.48 billion) allegedly made to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company, his lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told AFP.
“The decision today was based on the non-disclosure of critical documents, six years from the initial charges being read, that are relevant to our client’s preparation of his defense,” Farhan said.
Najib, in October, issued an apology that the 1MDB scandal happened during his tenure, but maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.
Allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from investment vehicle 1MDB and used to buy everything from a super-yacht to artwork played a major role in prompting voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation party in 2018 elections.
The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered.
The current case is one of five brought against Najib in 2018.
Najib began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offences linked to the misuse of public money from former 1MDB unit SRC International. The sentence was later halved by Malaysia’s pardons board.
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