The High Court of Malaysia decided on Wednesday that the prosecution gathered sufficient evidence to proceed with the trial of former prime minister Mohammad Najib Razak. The court also ruled that Najib Razak must take the stand to defend himself against charges of abuse of power and money laundering related to the mismanagement of the investment fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

In a press release, the High Court stated that the prosecution presented solid grounds confirming the elements of the crimes Najib Razak allegedly committed in the 1MDB scandal. The prosecution filed 25 charges against him. They include four charges of abuse of power under section 23 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC) and 21 charges of money laundering under Section 4(1) (a) of the Anti Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA).

Najib Razak’s defense team claimed that the prosecution failed to comply with Section 163 of the Malaysian Criminal Procedure Code, arguing that the evidence was “defective, duplicitous and ambiguous.” They also added that prosecutors violated the hearsay rule when receiving testimonies from ten witnesses. However, the court maintained that it had thoroughly evaluated the presented evidence and found it to be credible and reliable.

The court explained that Najib Razak used his position as prime minister and chairman of the board of advisers of 1MDB to obtain billions of dollars under the guise of investment projects. In reality, these funds were transferred to his personal accounts at various banks around the world. Some funds originated from foreign companies and others included gifts from Arab royalty. The prosecution also provided evidence that the former prime minister received, used and transferred funds that derived from unlawful activities, which constitutes money laundering.

The ruling is related to one of Malaysia’s biggest financial scandals known as the 1MDB fraud case. 1MDB is a Malaysian state investment fund that was founded in 2009 by Najib Razak who also served as its chairman. The fund was created to finance economic development projects in Malaysia. While the development fund raised billions of dollars, it was misappropriated by government officials. Corruption investigations initiated in 2018 across six countries revealed that Malaysian government officials, including Najib Razak, siphoned $4.5 billion from 1MDB over several years for their personal gains. The case also involves foreign entities including Goldman Sachs. Relatedly, the US Department of Justice reached a settlement agreement with the Malaysian financier who had plotted the fraud scheme.

Najib Razak was arrested and subsequently released on bail in 2018, after which he faced additional corruption charges. In 2020, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for abuse of power, breach of trust, and money laundering. Four years later, Malaysia’s pardon boards reduced Razak’s imprisonment sentence to six years. Additionally, Razak filed a judicial review application requesting to serve his six-year imprisonment sentence under house arrest instead of in prison.

Although his request hasn’t yet been approved, the government introduced a legislative proposal that would allow to substitute prison sentences with house arrests. The timing of this proposal raised concerns and was described as a procedure to benefit the imprisoned former prime minister. Nevertheless, the government denied these allegations, asserting that the proposal is part of a broader criminal justice reform aimed at reducing prison overcrowding.