PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia s Federal Court on Thursday opened its hearing on Najib Razak's final appeal against the guilty verdict of his 1 Malaysia Development Bhd-linked 1 MDB corruption case.
The court decided to hold a hearing after rejecting a request by Najib s lead counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik to discharge himself from representing the former prime minister.
On Tuesday, the court rejected Najib's application to admit new evidence and defer the case for three to four months.
The court had set aside nine days from Aug 15 for Najib's final bid against his conviction and jail sentence for misappropriating RM 42 million US $9.5 million of funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1 MDB.
Najib's legal team filed the final appeal following the Court of Appeal decision in December 2021 to uphold the verdict of the High Court in July of this year. The High Court found him guilty of all seven counts of criminal breach of trust CBT money laundering and abuse of position.
He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and handed a fine of RM 210 million.
The former prime minister is also facing several other charges in court related to 1 MDB.