“The ultimate aim of the accused was to obtain gratification for himself. He succeeded in achieving that aim,” he said, claiming Najib employed an “elaborate charade” to cover his tracks.

Najib’s popularity surges as legal battle enters next phase

Najib faces a total of 42 charges stemming from his role in the 1MDB scandal. Investigators say some US$4.5 billion dollars was looted in total from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund Najib founded soon after he took office as prime minister in 2009. The theft involves criminal activity in multiple jurisdictions including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

The current trial – the second of five – involves 25 of the 42 total charges against Najib, focusing on 1MDB’s multibillion-dollar bond sales and acquisitions. That includes accusations he received 2.08 billion ringgit (US$495 million) of bribes related to a letter of government support for US$3 billion of 1MDB bonds in 2013, as well as allegations he accepted 49.9 million ringgit linked to a US$975 million loan facility from Deutsche Bank AG. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Jho Low, or Low Taek Jho, is accused of being at the centre of the scandal but has denied any wrongdoing in response to charges against him in the US and Malaysia.

Explained: Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal

However, Gopal Sri Ram said Jho Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, “was the accused’s mirror image” and “alter ego”.

This trial, referred to as the Tanore trial as it centres on the allegedly illegal fund transactions facilitated by Tanore Finance Corporation, follows the prosecution stage of the first trial involving 1MDB subsidiary SRC International and amounts of 42 million ringgit.

The latest trial is expected to last until November, with some 60 witnesses expected to take the stand.

Najib previously maintained the large sums that wound up in his private bank accounts were a donation from the Saudi royal family before last year acknowledging the possibility the funds were questionable.

“There was no reason at that time for me or the beneficiary banks to question or investigate deeper into identifying whether the source of the money was from anywhere else, there was a letter from King Abdullah’s representative attached,” he said.

Najib’s Barisan Nasional administration was toppled last year by the Pakatan Harapan coalition, led by Mahathir Mohamad, ushering in a new government for the first time in 61 years.

Pakatan Harapan swiftly implemented an anti-corruption crackdown, charging several prominent figures, including former deputy prime minister Zahid Hamidi and Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.

Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak spent US$800,000 on jewellery in one day

Meanwhile, Najib’s youngest daughter Nooryana Najib, has revealed Malaysian tax authorities are pursuing her for 10.3 million ringgit in unpaid income tax. She accused the government of being “hell-bent” on targeting her entire family, claiming the purported “income” involved transfers from her husband’s family in Kazakhstan.

Najib has maintained his innocence and claimed the charges are trumped-up attempts to discredit him. His public image has recovered after his initial fall from grace when police raided his homes and seized items worth millions of dollars, including cash, jewellery and designer handbags.

He has since sought to recast himself as an everyman Malaysian, shedding his patrician image – he is the son of Malaysia’s second prime minister – and taking on a more streetwise motorcycle-riding hoodie-wearing guise.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg