Tarek Obaid (left) and Patrick Mahony

KUALA LUMPUR (April 18): Swiss state prosecutors are seeking long prison terms for two men accused of embezzling US$1.8 billion from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) — Saudi-Swiss businessman Tarek Obaid and his Swiss-British business partner Patrick Mahony, the AFP reported.

The two, who are on trial in Switzerland's top criminal court in Bellinzona, have been accused of creating a sham oil exploration company through which they stole more than US$1.8 billion in 1MDB funds.

Swiss federal prosecutor Alice de Chambrier called it the "scam of the century" orchestrated by fugitive Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, as she branded the duo "calculative, manipulative and obscenely greedy" during court proceedings on Wednesday. She also said the two had squandered their loot on precious stones, private jets, rented yachts and property in London and Geneva.

She sought a 10-year sentence for Obaid and a nine-year jail term for Mahony, the news agency reported.

Prosecutors, who claimed at the start of the trial that the pair worked with Low on the scheme from as early as 2009, also wanted the two to be detained throughout the trial due to their perceived flight risk, and for assets sequestered in Switzerland to be confiscated and returned to 1MDB.

The trial, which began on April 2 and set to last until the end of the month, is being heard by three judges.

Obaid’s lawyer, Daniel Zappelli, however, highlighted the absence of former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Low in the case, and said there were variations in the amounts that the defendants allegedly laundered, AFP reported, citing Keystone-ATS.