Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged yet again with three additional charges of money-laundering involving USD$10.3 million which was deposited into his personal bank accounts. The ex-official pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to the above accusations.
The money-laundering cases are the latest addition of charges filed against the former PM. In July, the 65-year-old politician was charged with several counts of criminal breach of trust and corruption.
According to Xinhuanet, Razak appeared at the Kuala Lumpur Courts complex, morning on Wednesday, for the pre-trial hearing.
The cases were then transferred to the High Court where the accused pleaded not guilty to all three charges, demanded a trial, and was released on bail.
Documents of the court filings revealed that the first and second offenses were committed by Razak on December 2014 at the AmIslamic Bank in Kuala Lumpur. The third offense was later on committed on February 2015 at the same place.
On Friday, August 10, the Malaysian court will decide on the trial date. Najib's lawyers are also applying for a gag order, which prohibits the public from discussing the merits of the case.
The new charges are meanwhile being linked to the three alleged electronic transfers which, according to reports, has a total of USD$10 million. The transfer was made from a certain investment firm, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, to the bank accounts of the accused.
The said amount happens to be just the tip of the iceberg. The report from NY Times said that United States prosecutors found at least USD$4.5 billion from the same investment fund that was funneled through several American financing institutions and was then squandered by Najib and his cohorts.
Just this week, a USD$250 million yacht was surrendered back to the Malaysian authorities after it was seized in Indonesia. Funding for the purchase of the said vessel was purportedly taken from the questionable 1MBD money.
Aside from Kuala Lumpur and Washington, there are other countries involved in what is now considered to be one of the biggest court trials in Malaysia's history involving the break of public trust.
Each of the money-laundering charges is punishable by up to 15 years in jail plus fines that could amount to at least $USD1.2 million.
Razak served as the 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 until his defeat against Mahathir Mohamad in the country's May election.
Part of Mohamad's advocacies during his campaign includes reopening investigations into the 1MBD scam and with him already in the office, the public can expect a much speedier trial on his predecessor's case.
