Malaysia drops 1MDB-related money laundering charges against ex-PM Najib

By Rozanna Latiff

Malaysia's High Court has discharged but not acquitted jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak of money laundering charges in a long-running case involving a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB, his lawyer said on Friday.

Najib has been in prison since August 2022 after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering over funds misappropriated from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad, from which Malaysian and U.S. authorities say about $4.5 billion was stolen in a complex, globe-spanning scheme.

He was also facing three separate money laundering charges over 27 million ringgit ($6.4 million) allegedly misappropriated from SRC.

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The case had repeatedly stalled since 2019 due to procedural delays, prompting the Kuala Lumpur High Court to grant Najib's request for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on Friday, his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters.

Muhammad Shafee said the decision was a fair one, as the prosecution remained free to re-file the charges once they were ready to proceed.

"So (Najib) isn't left waiting or as they say, no longer has the sword of Damocles hanging over his head," he said.

The attorney-general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Friday's decision was the second time 1MDB-linked charges filed against Najib have been dropped. Last year, a court allowed another DNAA request due to procedural delays in a corruption case against the ex-premier and the country's former treasury chief.

In 2023, he was also acquitted on separate charges of tampering with a government audit into 1MDB.

Najib is still awaiting a verdict in the biggest trial he faces over the 1MDB scandal, with the court expected to hear closing arguments in October.

He has denied all of the charges brought against him.

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Najib is also bidding to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, and has sought to compel the government to confirm the existence of a royal order that he says would allow him to do so.