A former Malaysian leader indicted in a multi-billion dollar transplant case

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was indicted in court on Wednesday for a criminal trust and corruption offense, two months after a multi-billion dollar bribery scandal at a State investment fund provoked its electoral defeat. dressed in a suit and a red tie, he appeared calm and smiled when he was escorted into the court complex crowded with journalists

He was arrested Tuesday by investigators anti-transplant for a suspicious transfer of 42 million ringgit. his bank account of SRC International, a former unit of the 1MDB state investment fund, which US investigators claim to have been looted by Najib badociates.

In a lower court, Najib was charged with three counts of breach of trust and an account of corruption. Each charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The badlash is also a penalty, but Najib would be exempted because of his age.

The lawsuit against him will be transferred to the High Court where Najib is expected to plead on Wednesday.

The arrest of Najib occurs almost two months after his arrest. Refusal of the coalition by voters at a May 9 general election.

In a pre-recorded video posted on social networks after his arrest, Najib apologized to the Malaysians but remained defiant.

"I did my best, but I recognize that there are a lot of weaknesses … as a normal human being, I'm not perfect, but trust me that the accusations against me and my family are not all true, "he said." I will face it with perseverance, really, Allah knows it. "

The new government has reopened investigations into the 1MDB who were smothered under Najib's rule, Najib and his wife, who were questioned about the CBC by the anti-corruption agency, were prevented from leaving the country. jewelry and valuables worth more than 1.1 billion ringgit ($ 357 million) from property related to Najib, which denied any wrongdoing.

"It's inevitable when Najib lost the elections and lost his political immunity. Bridget Welsh, a professor of political science at John Cabot University in Rome, said in an email: "This shows the new government's willingness to tackle previous abuses of power.

"Motivated Politically"

Najib's daughter, Nooryana Najwa, congratulated her father for his "kindness, love and gentleness" and said that he was emotionally and mentally strong .

"Even facing the adversary today, he smiled, laughed and hugged us … more worried about the family than himself," she wrote on Instagram. . "You can paint a black man but Allah knows that Allah does not sleep."

A spokesman for Najib, sent to the media and posted on social media, said his arrest was expected because the new government had "delivered." the verdict of guilt "against him in public." He blasted the accusations against Najib as "politically motivated and the result of political vengeance" by the new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Funding for Hollywood movies

The anti-corruption agency questioned on Tuesday Riza Aziz, Najib's son-in-law and a Hollywood film producer, while she was intensifying her investigation on 1MDB.Riza was solemn as he arrived at the anti-corruption office and did not speak to reporters [InvestigatorssayRiza'scompanyRedGranitePicturesIncusedstolenmoneyat1MDBtofinanceHollywoodfilmsincludingthefilmdirectedbyMartinScorsese The Wolf of Wall Street Red Granite, in March, agreed to pay $ 78 million to the US government to settle the claims that benefited from the 1MDB scandal.

The civil lawsuit against Red Granite was part of an effort to recover some of the $ 5.9 billion that US prosecutors stole from the 1MDB. They say that hundreds of millions of 1MDB have landed in Najib's bank accounts.

The 1MDB government task force this week said that 408 bank accounts involving funds of nearly 1.1 billion ringgit had been frozen. He said the accounts, belonging to 81 people and 55 companies, would have received 1MDB funding between 2011 and 2015.