The 110-page claim filed in a Kuala Lumpur court by opposition MP Tony Pua detailed how $731 million was transferred into Najib's personal bank accounts that allegedly originated from 1MDB.

A Malaysian MP has filed a civil lawsuit against the country's prime minister, Najib Razak, and his government over 1Malaysia Development Berhad, the state-owned investment fund embroiled in a worldwide money laundering probe, accusing him of wrongly exercising his lawful authority. 

1MDB is the subject of money laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland, Singapore and the US. International investigators believe associates of Najib siphoned billions of dollars from the scandal-hit fund, which the then-deputy prime minister estalished in 2009 and oversaw through his chairmanship of an advisory board. Najib has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said his country will cooperate with international investigations into the fund, the current debt load of which is estimated at $4.8 billion. 

The 110-page claim filed in a Kuala Lumpur court by opposition MP Tony Pua detailed how $731 million that allegedly originated from 1MDB was transferred into Najib's personal bank accounts.

Pua, the national publicity secretary of the Democratic Action Party, reportedly told Fairfax Media the claim is a “last legal resort to sue Najib to seek justice on behalf of Malaysians in the hope that the guilty will be punished”.

The misfeasance in public office claim - a term for a legal cause of action in civil courts – intensifies pressure on Najib amid speculation he intends to call an early election. 

Earlier this month, WealthBriefing Asia reported that the Malaysian government is making preparations to close 1MDB, investigations into which have seen bank closures and multiple indictments and jail sentences handed to former affiliated bankers. Under a plan spearheaded by a prominent government unit called the Budiman committee, the assets of 1MDB will be transferred in the coming months to two companies owned by the Finance Ministry, according to media reports citing an anonymous senior government official familiar with the matter. 

Former BSI wealth planner Yeo Jiawei, who last month was handed a 30-month jail sentence by a Singapore court over his connection to the fund, reportedly used a tax haven company as part of an $8.2 million splurge on Australian property. BSI and Falcon Private Bank were last year shut down in Singapore amid the city-state's biggest crackdown on alleged money laundering connected to 1MDB.

It appears that fresh investigations into the fund are now underway in Australia, as federal police officers are reportedly assisting one of three financial watchdogs – the Swiss, the US and the Singaporean – with enquiries into the fate of $3.5 billion allegedly looted from 1MDB. Switzerland, for example, has stated that it has frozen accounts linked to the fund.