Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been charged with four counts of corruption for embezzling public money from Malaysia's 1MDB fund.

In court Wednesday in the Malaysian capital, Najib was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust and one charge of abuse of power, just weeks after voters ousted him from power in large part due to long-standing corruption allegations.

He was arrested Tuesday by a special task force at his home in Kuala Lumpur, according to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which has been investigating billions of state funds that went missing while Najib was in power.

Any corruption related offense carries a general penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a minimum fine of five times the value of any bribe, according to the MACC . Najib could also face lashes with a whip.

Najib pleaded not guilty and is expected to be released on $250,000 bail. He is due to appear in court for case management on August 8.

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