‘He did it for himself’

Malaysia’s ex-prime minister Najib Razak played a pivotal role in plundering state fund 1MDB and hundreds of millions of dollars were illicitly channelled to his bank account, a prosecutor said yesterday at the opening of his biggest graft trial.

Claims that Najib and his cronies pilfered massive sums from the fund and spent it on everything from real estate to artwork contributed to the defeat of his long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance.

After losing power last year, the former prime minister was arrested and hit with dozens of charges related to 1MDB. He is expected to face several trials.

The first started earlier this year but yesterday’s is the biggest, with Najib accused of 21 counts of money-laundering and four of abuse of power, centring on allegations that he illicitly obtained 2.28 billion ringgit ($540 million) from 1MDB, a fund established with the ostensible aim of boosting Malaysia’s economy.

“His objective was to enrich himself,” the prosecutor told the packed High Court in Kuala Lumpur, as he outlined how 1MDB funds were channelled in a “circuitous route” between 2011 and 2014 to Najib.

Najib -- who was also finance minister -- put himself in “sole control” of the fund’s important affairs, he said.

In August 2013, over two billion ringgit was sent to Najib’s account at a Malaysian bank before it was quickly transferred out again, according to the prosecutor.  The attorney-general cleared Najib of any wrongdoing, saying the money was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family, and closed down domestic investigations.

The 66-year-old Najib  denies all the charges. Najib faces up to 20 years in jail for each of the abuse of power charges and five years in jail for each of the counts of money-laundering