KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian ex-leader Najib Razak's first trial linked to the 1MDB scandal will proceed after a judge ruled Monday prosecutors had made a sufficient case, boosting efforts to bring him to justice over the mammoth fraud. The judge previously set dates in December for Najib to enter his defence if the prosecutors' case was deemed strong enough. In their closing submissions last month, prosecutors argued that Najib acted like an "emperor" in overseeing massive graft at the former 1MDB unit. Najib is facing four charges of corruption and three money-laundering counts in the trial. The amounts involved in Najib's first trial are small, however, compared to those in his second and most significant one—which centres on allegations he illicitly obtained over $500 million from 1MDB.

Source: Philippine Star November 11, 2019 05:30 UTC