The former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, was recently charged with three counts of money laundering involving billions of dollars that were stolen from a government sovereign wealth fund. Najib took about $10 million from a unit of 1MBD (1Malaysia Development Berhad) called SRC International via transactions that were completed through three electronic transfers into his own bank accounts.
Najib believes that the allegations against him are part of a political stunt to hurt his credibility and claims that he was cleared of any wrongdoings by a government panel that he appointed. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice claims to have court filings stating that more than $4.5 billion was taken from 1MBD between 2009 and 2015. These filing reports include high level officials that were named as the culprits of the scandal, however, Najib was not one of them.
Najib was arrested in July by Malaysian police and charged with criminal breach of trust for the transfers from SRC International. Najib pleaded not guilty this past Wednesday but, if convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on the breach of trust charges and a maximum of 15 years for money laundering.
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