KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 20): Malaysian prosecutors are expected to file money laundering charges today against Paul Stadlen, who was a media advisor to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The British-born Stadlen will be charged in absentia, as he had fled Malaysia immediately after Najib lost power last May.

Sources say the charges involved a sum of RM15 million and investigators have traced the source of money to Najib, who himself has been slapped with 42 charges of criminal breach of trust and money laundering linked to the 1MDB scandal.

Stadlen had worked for the UK-based public relations consultancy APCO International, which did work for Najib immediately after he became prime minister in 2009. He later left APCO to work directly for Najib and was part of a large communications network that was outside the official press team in the Prime Minister's Office.