KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s High Court has discharged but not acquitted jailed former prime minister Najib Razak of money laundering charges in a long-running case involving a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB, his lawyer said on June 20.
Najib has been in prison since August 2022 after he was found guilty of corruption and money laundering over funds misappropriated from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad, from which Malaysian and US authorities say about US$4.5 billion (S$5.8 billion) was stolen in a complex, globe-spanning scheme.
He was also facing three separate money laundering charges over RM27 million (S$8.2 million) allegedly misappropriated from SRC.
The case had repeatedly stalled since 2019 due to procedural delays, prompting the Kuala Lumpur High Court to grant Najib’s request for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on June 20, his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters.
He said the decision was fair as the prosecution remained free to refile the charges once it was ready to proceed. “So (Najib) isn’t left waiting or, as they say, no longer has the sword of Damocles hanging over his head,” he added.
The June 20 decision was the second time 1MDB-linked charges filed against Najib have been dropped. In 2025, a court allowed another DNAA request due to procedural delays in a corruption case against the ex-premier and the country’s former treasury chief.
In 2023, he was also acquitted on separate charges of tampering with a government audit into 1MDB.
Najib is still awaiting a verdict in the biggest trial he faces over the 1MDB scandal, with the court expected to hear closing arguments in October.
He has denied all the charges.
Najib is also bidding to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest, and has sought to compel the government to confirm the existence of a royal order that he said would allow him to do so. REUTERS
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