On Monday, a judge in Malaysia gave the green light to continue the first trial of former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razzaq, for his role in the scandal of looting of Sovereign Fund Funds "1 MDB", considering that the prosecution evidence is sufficient for that.
Judge Muhammad Nazlan Muhammad Ghazali announced before the Supreme Court in Kuala Lumpur that Abdul Razzaq was facing seven counts related to embezzlement of 42 million ringgit ($ 10 million) from one of the branches of the Malaysian sovereign fund "1 MDB" (1 Mega Development Corporation Berhad).
He said that "the accused was enjoying tremendous influence and dominance" on "SRC International", the unit of the Development Fund "1 MDB" concerned with the embezzlement process, noting that the Public Prosecution concluded that Abdel-Razzaq should face all charges against him.
He explained that the fund branch "was from the beginning subject to the authority of the accused, and the accused had great control over him."
Abdel-Razzaq faces four corruption charges, each of which carries a sentence of twenty years in prison, and three charges of money laundering, which is punishable by 15 years imprisonment.
However, the defense attorneys considered that the prosecution's evidence "does not include any evidence condemning" their client.
The trial deals with only a small part of the huge sums that have been embezzled, as elements of a number of investigations indicate that more than five hundred million dollars have been transferred to the accounts of Naguib Abdul-Razzaq, but he has always denied any embezzlement of funds.
It is noteworthy that the "MDDB" fund is the subject of a major investigation related to corruption that extends across several countries - including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore - based on the suspicion that high-level Malaysian officials misused $ 4.5 billion.
The former prime minister, his wife, Rosma Mansour, and some of his closest family and aides, have emerged as key figures in the scandal.
The judge ordered the former prime minister to defend himself on all seven charges against him, and Najib informed the court that he would take up his own defense.