Kuala Lumpur (AFP)
The main trial of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in the looting scandal of the 1MDB investment fund opened Wednesday with a presentation by the prosecution of massive money transfers to his personal account.
Najib Razak and his relatives are accused of drawing huge sums from the sovereign wealth fund that is supposed to be used for Malaysia's economic development to finance sumptuous spending, ranging from works of art to real estate.
This is the second trial in Malaysia for embezzling billions of dollars from the 1MDB fund that has resulted in multiple criminal investigations and has contributed to the fall of the former Malaysian prime minister, charged with corruption.
The deposed leader played a "key role" in the looting of the fund and "his goal was personal enrichment," chief prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram told the Kuala Lumpur High Court at the opening of the trial.
The manager, who was also finance minister, positioned himself to control the fund alone and "to exert influence on the 1MDB board of directors to carry out certain abnormal transactions at an accelerated speed," he said. -He denounces.
Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, on the run, considered the mastermind of the 1MDB case and the former prime minister, "acted in concert at all important moments" of the scandal, said the chief prosecutor .
In addition, Najib Razak "acted actively to escape justice in this case," according to Gopal Sri Ram.
In this case, Najib Razak is charged with 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power. He is accused of illegally appropriating some 2.28 billion ringgits ($ 540 million) between 2011 and 2014.
He says he is not guilty of all the charges.
Parts of the investigation into the looting of the 1MDB fund are also underway in the United States and Europe, while this case also splashed the US bank Goldman Sachs suspected of having assisted alleged diversions.
The US Department of Justice estimates that $ 4.5 billion was diverted from the sovereign fund by former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his relatives.
© 2019 AFP