Stepson of former Malaysian PM Najib discharged from corruption case

Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, stepson of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was discharged without an acquittal on Thursday on money laundering charges.

Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court judge Azman Ahmad made the ruling after both parties reached an agreement through a representation sent to the Attorney General's Chambers.

Lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram told the court that an agreement had been reached with the government to receive several million ringgit as part of the settlement.

If there is satisfactory completion of the agreement then appropriate steps will be taken to ensure that the accused obtains a full acquittal, he said.

Meanwhile, the country's anti-corruption body said the drop of charges against the accused is conditional and the prosecution reserves the rights to reinstate the charges and prosecute the accused if there is no satisfactory completion of the agreement.

It said the government would recover assets involved in the offense valued at 465.4 million ringgit (107.3 million U.S. dollars).

Riza, who is a film producer, is alleged to have received several hundred million U.S. dollars siphoned from state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to finance films including The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Riza was arrested last year and was charged with five counts of money laundering.

Both Riza's mother Rosmah Mansor and Najib are facing multiple charges related to 1MDB.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)