KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian former Prime Minister Najib Razak was acquitted Friday within the newest trial in response to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Improvement Berhad state fund.

Najib, who’s serving a 12-year jail time period after dropping the ultimate attraction in his first of a number of corruption trials linked to the 1MDB scandal, was discovered not responsible on the cost of tampering with an audit report back to cowl up wrongdoings.

Protection lawyer Mohamad Shafee Abdullah stated the Excessive Courtroom dominated that prosecutors didn’t have enough proof to show Najib responsible of abusing his place as Prime Minister and Finance Minister to order amendments to the 1MDB audit report in 2016 earlier than it was offered to Parliament.

“My consumer may be very grateful to Allah for the choice right this moment as a result of it actually uplifted his spirit and the will to combat for his innocence,” Shafee stated Friday at a information convention.

The 1MDB growth fund was arrange months after Najib turned prime minister in 2009. Investigators allege greater than $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates by means of layers of financial institution accounts in the US and different nations to finance Hollywood movies and lavish purchases that included resorts, a luxurious yacht, artwork and jewellery. Greater than $700 million landed in Najib’s financial institution accounts.

He and his spouse, Rosmah Mansor, had been hit with a number of graft fees after the saga led to his ruling coalition’s stunning defeat in 2018 basic elections. Rosmah was sentenced in 2022 to 10 years in jail and a file tremendous of 970 million ringgit ($217 million) for corruption over a photo voltaic power undertaking and is out on bail pending an attraction.

Shafee stated financer Low Taek Jho — believed to be the mastermind of the scandal — remained at massive.

Former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy, who was collectively charged with abetting Najib and appeared as a prosecution witness throughout the trial, was additionally acquitted by the courtroom Friday.

Shafee has maintained that fees towards Najib had been politically motivated. Najib is looking for a evaluate of the highest courtroom’s resolution in August to reject his closing attraction and is hoping for a good end result later this month, he added.