Najib was arrested at his home on Jalan Langgak Duta in Kuala Lumpur earlier today. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be prosecuted tomorrow, the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigation special taskforce said today.

The taskforce confirmed that Najib was arrested today in relation to the case of former 1MDB unit, SRC International Sdn Bhd.

“Mohd Najib will be charged on July 4, 2018 (tomorrow) at 8.30am in the Kuala Lumpur court,” said the taskforce in a statement.

The 1MDB special taskforce — led by former attorney general (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, current MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull and Special Branch director Datuk Abdul Hamid Bador — said that it arrested Najib at 2.35pm at his house on Jalan Langgak Duta here today.

Today’s arrest of Najib, who took office in 2009, came three years and a day after US paper the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on July 2, 2015, that investigators probing state investment firm 1MDB had found US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) of deposits into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

Of the RM2.6 billion that was deposited just before the 13th general election, RM42 million was believed to have originated from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

In 2016, then-AG Tan Sri Apandi Ali cleared Najib of corruption and claimed that the RM2.6 billion was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family. He had also said Najib returned US$620 million to the Saudi royalty in August 2013.

Apandi said he had also found Najib committed no wrongdoing over the RM42 million deposited by SRC International into Najib’s bank account.

Under Najib, Barisan Nasional (BN) lost federal power for the first time in history in the 2018 election.