SINGAPORE (Sept 20): Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was today hit with a total of 25 charges in court.
The 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power are related to the misappropriation of state funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Najib pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He has been granted bail of RM3.5 million ($1.2 million) by two sureties.
Najib's lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah appealed for the payment of bail to be staggered, with RM1 million to be paid on Friday (Sept 21) and another RM500,000 next week.
Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi agreed for the bail payments be made over a period, as long as it was settled by Sept 28.
According to the charge sheet, the offences took place at the AmIslamic Bank Berhad branch on Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, when he was previously prime minister, finance minister and adviser emeritus of 1MDB.
It was alleged that he had used his position to received bribes on four separate occasions between 2011 and 2014, amounting to RM60.6 million, RM90.9 million, RM2.08 billion and RM49.9 million.
Given today is the third time Najib has appeared in court, the total number of charges brought against him now totals 32 as investigators ramp up their probe into 1MDB, which he founded and chaired.
The first abuse of power charge alleged that Najib abused his position between Feb 24 and June 14, 2011, to misappropriate RM60.6 million. He did so by asking the cabinet in Apr 1, 2009 to grant a government guarantee to Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), which was used to secure a RM5 billion loan.
On July 29, 2009, Najib as prime minister then ordered the federal government to take over TIA and renamed it 1MDB. He had a direct interest in it.
The second charge alleged that Najib abused his position as finance minister to secure RM90.9 million on Feb 9, 2012.
He had done so to approve 1MDB’s bid to take over Tanjong Energy Holdings for RM10.6 billion, as well as approving 1MDB’ bid to take over take over Mastika Lagenda for RM2.75 billion in Aug 10, 2012.
He was also accused of subsequently approving 1MDB's issuance of a 10-year structured loan note worth US$1.75 billion.
The third charge alleged that he received RM2.6 billion in his personal bank account, while the fourth charge claimed that he abused his position as finance minister and prime minister on June 23, 2014, to receive RM49.9 million.
In addition, the 21 money-laundering charges are:
1. Receiving RM155 million from a Tanore Finance accounts in Falcon Bank Singapore on Mar 22, 2013
2. Receiving RM155 million from Tanore Finance on Mar 22, 2013
3. Receiving RM155 million from Tanore Finance on Mar 22, 2013
4. Receiving RM188 million from Tanore Finance on Mar 26, 2013
5. Receiving RM231 million from Tanore Finance on Mar 28, 2013
6. Receiving RM138 million from Tanore Finance on Mar 28, 2013
7. Receiving RM152 million from Tanore Finance on Apr 8, 2013
8. Receiving RM304 million from Tanore Finance on Apr 9, 2013
9. Receiving RM602 million from Tanore Finance on Apr 10, 2013
10. Transferring RM652 million from his Ambank account to Tanore Finance on Aug 2, 2013
11. Paying RM20 million to UMNO on Aug 2, 2013
12. Paying RM0.1 million to UMNO’s Batu Kawan division on Aug 7, 2013
13. Paying RM0.25 million to Lim Soon Peng on Aug 7, 2013
14. Paying RM2 million to ORB Solutions on Aug 12, 2013
15. Paying RM0.3 million to Semarak Consortiu on Aug 14, 2013
16. Transferring RM326.8 million to Tanore Finance on Aug 15, 2013
17. Transferring RM327.3 million to Tanore Finance on Aug 15, 2013
18. Transferring RM181.8 million to Tanore Finance on Aug 22, 2013
19. Transferring RM545.8 million to Tanore Finance on Aug 23, 2013
20. Transferring RM150 million to Tanore Finance on Aug 27, 2013
21. Transferring RM12.4 million to another Ambank account belonging to him on Aug 30, 2013
To recap, Najib was first arrested on July 3 and faced four charges then for criminal breach of trust.
See: The 1MDB-linked charges Najib faces
During his second arrest last month, he was charged with three counts of money laundering breaches related to SRC International, a former unit of state fund 1MDB.
See: Najib pleads not guilty to three counts of 1MDB-linked money laundering
Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to all his previous charges.
On the other hand, Najib's lawyer Shafee Abdullah last week pleaded not guilty to two charges under Malaysia’s anti-money laundering act, for receiving RM4.3 million and RM5.2 million from Najib.
See: Najib's lawyer Muhammad Shafee pleads not guilty to money laundering charges; granted RM1 mil bail
