Former Malaysian PM accused of tampering with 1MDB final audit report hinh anh 1Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (centre). (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was taken to court on December 12 to face charges that he tampered with the final audit report into the scandal-hit state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Najib was accused of using his position as prime minister to order the then Auditor-General to remove certain matters from the report.

It is the latest in a string of charges against him in relation to the scandal.

Taken to the court this time together with the Malaysian former PM was former 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy who faces same charges.

Two days ago, Najib was arrested by the MACC, minutes after he arrived at the MACC headquarters for a fresh round of questioning over 1MDB-related issues. He was then freed on a bail.

On November 25, Auditor-General Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad revealed that the final audit report on 1MDB had been tampered with and the matters dropped from the report were on the presence of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, at a 1MDB board meeting.

Jho Low, who used to do consulting work for the 1MDB, has been accused of money laundering relating to the fund by both Malaysia and the US.

Najib has now been hit with a total of 38 charges of corruption, money laundering and breach of trust since losing power, most of them related to the 1MDB.

Najib founded the 1MDB investment fund in 2009, supposedly to serve Malaysia’s development through global partnerships and foreign direct investment.

However, it became the centre of a money laundering scandal, allegedly causing losses of up to 3.7 billion USD and leading to probes into the financial markets in several countries such as the US, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia and China.

After assuming power, Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad declared to give priority to addressing corruption and taking back losses of the fund. The Malaysian government has set up a task force to look into the scandal with help from the US, Switzerland, Singapore, Canada and other countries.-VNA
VNA