NAJIB Razak’s trial on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal will begin on August 19 after the high court this morning rejected an application by Putrajaya to postpone it in view of the ongoing SRC International case in a separate court.

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah made the decision when the case came up for mention this morning.

This is the third time the prosecution had asked Collin to postpone 1MDB hearing dates to make way for Najib’s SRC International trial.

Najib was slapped with 25 corruption charges in September last year involving RM2.28 billion allegedly from 1MDB.

His first four charges were under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act while the other 21 charges were under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act (AMLATFA).

For the charges under the MACC Act, Najib was accused of using his then position as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board, to receive bribes on four occasions.

The money-laundering charges include nine counts of receiving illegal proceeds, five counts of using illegal proceeds and seven counts of transferring the proceeds to other entities.

Najib is currently on trial in a separate court for charges linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to SRC International in 2011 and 2012, for which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in his personal accounts in 2014 and 2015.

He faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money-laundering and one count of abuse of power. – July 8, 2019.