The High Court on June 5 partially allowed former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's request to obtain five categories of documents related to 1MDB's US$8 billion civil suit against him and seven others [1, 2, 3, 4]. The suit is one of 22 civil actions aiming to recover over US$23 billion from individuals tied to the 1MDB financial scandal [2, 3, 4].
The disclosed documents will include a complete list of monies, assets, or properties recovered or repatriated by 1MDB or its subsidiaries, records of legal proceedings, settlement terms, and related documents [1, 2, 3, 4]. Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus ordered strict protective confidentiality measures, limiting access to the judge, court personnel, parties, and solicitors, with redacted versions only to be filed electronically [1]. He said the documents were “relevant and necessary for the fair disposal of the legal proceedings” [2].
The court rejected Najib's other 17 discovery applications, including accounting and valuation reports, restricting disclosure to only the five document categories [1, 4]. The suit initially named 15 defendants but seven were removed, leaving Najib and seven others [2, 3, 4]. Najib was present at the Kuala Lumpur courts complex in relation to the case on April 7 [1].
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) saw leadership changes after Datuk Seri Abd Halim Aman was appointed chief commissioner on May 13, replacing Tan Sri Azam Baki who served over 42 years [5]. Abd Halim has launched senior officer reshuffles and directed all MACC personnel to submit or update their asset declarations within one month of official notice [6, 7, 8]. He pledged to lead by example, saying he will personally be the first to declare assets [6]. He also introduced five leadership principles emphasizing integrity, fairness, prevention, transparency, and public trust [9].
Azam Baki remains under two police investigations involving defamatory Bloomberg article claims related to 17.7 million shares in Velocity Capital Partner Bhd and allegations of abuse of power and criminal intimidation against businessman Albert Tei [10, 11, 12]. The police completed the investigations and referred their papers to the Attorney General's Chambers on June 4 for further action [10, 11, 12]. Bukit Aman CID director Datuk M Kumar said, "The investigation papers for both cases have been completed and were referred to the A-GC on June 4 for further directives" [11].
Azam denied meeting or dealing with Albert Tei, stating he cooperated with police by providing evidence [11]. Abd Halim’s contract as MACC chief commissioner runs for two years until May 12, 2028 [5].
Najib must receive the approved documents within 21 days of the court’s June 5 order [1, 2, 3, 4]. MACC officers have until early July to submit their asset declarations following Abd Halim's June 8 directive [6, 7, 8].
