The former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has appeared in court facing 25 charges related to the 1MDB scandal, including abuse of power and money laundering.

Najib, who was already facing multiple money-laundering charges, was arrested on Wednesday in connection with a sum of $681m (£513m) that went into his personal bank account, allegedly from the 1MDB government economic development fund.

It is the most significant charge so far against Najib in the long-running 1MDB investigation. While it has long been reported that Najib received the money, the former prime minster – who lost power on 9 May – repeatedly claimed it was a donation from a Saudi prince and unrelated to 1MDB corruption.

Appearing before the Kuala Lumpur sessions court on Thursday afternoon after spending the night in jail, Najib pleaded not guilty to all charges. His bail was set at 3.5m ringgit (£640,000).

Speaking outside court after the hearing, Najib maintained his innocence and added: “I am not a thief”.

He said: “I am happy because now I have the opportunity to clear my name from this issue once and for all. If this court is fair, we believe the verdict will show that rule of law truly exists in this country.”

The charge sheet against Najib, which took 35 minutes to read out in court, includes nine counts of receiving illegal bribes, five counts of using illegal proceeds and seven counts of transferring the proceeds to political allies, companies and the UMNO, his political party. He is said to have carried out the transactions between 2011 and 2014.

Q&A What is Malaysia’s 1MDB financial scandal? Show Hide Malaysia’s extraordinary 1MDB corruption scandal allegedly involved billions being stolen from the country's sovereign wealth fund and spent on everything from Hollywood films to handbags.



Former prime minister Najib Razak was arrested in the 1MDB corruption inquiry set up by his successor, which engulfed the ex-leader and his cronies and resulted in his loss at elections in May 2018.



1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is a state investment fund that Najib launched in 2009 shortly after becoming prime minister.



Its portfolio has included power stations and other energy assets in Malaysia and the Middle East, and real estate in Kuala Lumpur.



The fund was closely overseen by Najib.



Whistleblowers say Low Taek Jho, or ‘Jho Low’, a shadowy, jet-setting Malaysian financier close to Najib but who has no official positions, helped set up 1MDB and made key financial decisions. Jho has now been charged with conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB by the US Department of Justice, though he remains at large. After the scandal emerged, Najib purged 1MDB critics from his government, curbed domestic investigations, enacted a tough new security law and generally lurched to the right.



But the issue exploded in July 2015, when the Wall Street Journal published documents showing Najib received at least $681m (£518m) in payments to his personal bank accounts.



The US justice department has piled on the pressure by filing lawsuits to seize $1.7bn in assets it said were purchased with stolen 1MDB money.



Najib's dramatic election loss in 2018 left him facing the possibility of prosecution and imprisonment.



The election winner, 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, pledged to investigate the scandal and try to recover stolen funds from 1MDB that have been sent abroad.



Najib’s defence team continues to be led by his long-time lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who last week appeared in court charged with multiple counts of money laundering as part of the 1MDB investigation.

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It was Najib’s third court appearance since his shock election defeat in May. His fall from grace has been directly linked to the 1MDB scandal, in which Najib, his wife, Rosmah Mansor, and others are accused of stealing millions from a government fund and spending it on housing, jewellery and designer handbags and embezzling it around the world on yachts, films and celebrity parties. Charges against Najib’s wife are said to be imminent.

While in office, Najib sacked all critics who made 1MDB allegations against him and cleared himself of all wrongdoing in 2015. However, since the new government took power, led by the prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad – who came out of retirement with a pledge to bring Najib to justice – the police and the Malaysian anti-corruption commission have filed a total of 32 charges against him.

In court appearances in July and August, Najib received seven charges for criminal breach of trust, bribery and money laundering over corrupt transactions also linked to 1MDB, to which he also pleaded not guilty. Those seven charges alone carry a total jail sentence of up to 125 years and fines of up to £38m.

Najib’s first trial dates are set for February 2019.