Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been slapped with a fresh charge of abuse of power over allegations he tampered with the final audit report of troubled state investment fund 1MDB.
Former 1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda was also charged with abetting Najib in the offence, Malaysian news agency Bernama reported.
Najib already faces multiple separate charges connected to the 1MDB scandal.
Alleged alterations to the 2016 audit report included the removal of at least one paragraph reflecting the attendance of Malaysian fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho - known as Jho Low - at the 1MDB board of directors' meeting, according to Auditor-General Madinah Mohamed.
Kanda was head of the fund from January 2015 until June this year, when he was dismissed from the post for dereliction of duty. Both Kanda and Najib pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Najib, together with his wife Rosmah Mansor, already face a slew of charges for criminal breach of trust and money laundering for his involvement in the 1MDB scandal, which saw millions of dollars being pilfered and spent on luxury goods, private residences and jewellery.
At least six governments - including those of the United States, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong - have opened investigations related to 1MDB.
The scandal became public in 2015, when the Wall Street Journal reported that Malaysian investigators had traced almost 700 million US dollars - at 2015 exchange rates - that had been deposited into Najib's personal bank account via banks, companies and agencies linked to the fund.
Australian Associated Press
