Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives in court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 4, 2018.(Photo: EPA/VNA)Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The “FreeNajib” fund has collected 11,000 ringgit (2,723 USD) since it was launched onJuly 5 by supporters of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to raisefunds for his bail.
The fundraising aims to help the formerPM pay his remaining 500,000-ringgit bail, said the fund’s spokesman MohdRazlan Muhammad Rafii. Najib already posted 500,000 ringgit on July 4 and heneeds another 500,000 ringgit by July 9 to cover the 1-million-ringgit bail.
It is hard for Najib to raise the moneyfor the bail as the bank accounts belonging to him and his family were frozenand all cash in the house were seized, Razlan added.
He noted that the fund will be kept openuntil 13:00 on July 9.
Najib was arrested on July 3 forcorruption-related charges over his involvement in the multi-billion-dollar1MBD scandal. He was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust inhis former posts as a prime minister and minister of finance, in associationwith the transfer of 42 million ringgit, or 10 million USD, from SRCInternational, a subsidiary of the 1MBD, to his personal bank accounts betweenAugust 2011 and March 2015.
He also faced one count of corruption.
Each count carries a fine and a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges at the court.
Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak founded the 1MDB investment fund in 2009 withthe aim of serving Malaysia’s development through global partnerships andforeign direct investment.
However, it became the centre of a money laundering scandal, allegedly causinglosses of up to 3.7 billion USD and leading to probes into the financialmarkets in several countries such as the US, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia,and China.
In early May, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission summoned Najib and hiswife for investigation. From recent raids on several Najib’s properties inKuala Lumpur, police also seized a large quantity of valuables worth up to 273million USD.
His trial is scheduled to begin inFebruary next year. –VNA
VNA
