Wife of Malaysia's ex-PM charged with 17 offences

The wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was charged with 17 money laundering offences yesterday, as anti-graft agents investigate billions of dollars missing from state coffers.

Rosmah Mansor, criticised for her extravagant lifestyle as first lady of Malaysia, and Najib, are at the centre of a wide-ranging graft probe launched after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's stunning election victory in May.

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Najib faces 32 charges from money laundering to abuse of power and criminal breach of trust over billions of dollars that went missing from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has denied any wrongdoing.

It was not clear if the charges against Rosmah relate to 1MDB, but Rosmah's arrest came after three rounds of questioning by anti-graft agents over 1MDB, from which US authorities say over $4.5 billion was misappropriated. Last Wednesday, Rosmah was questioned for nearly 13 hours.

Rosmah was charged with 17 counts under the anti-money laundering law. She was accused of handling funds of about 7.1 million ringgit ($1.71 million) from unlawful activities, and failing to declare the amount for tax purposes.

"The offences in which the accused has been charged are very serious," prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram told the court.

Rosmah pleaded not guilty to all charges. The judge granted her a bail of 2 million ringgit ($482,509.05).

Najib also appeared at another courtroom in Kuala Lumpur yesterday for a pre-trial hearing, as he faces multiple charges in relation to about $10.6 million allegedly transferred into his account from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB. Najib has plead not guilty.