KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 28): Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court will deliver its decision on Wednesday on the case of two PetroSaudi executives accused of embezzling US$1.8 billion from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

The verdict hearing at one of Switzerland’s highest courts is scheduled to start at 1200 GMT, or 8pm Malaysian time, the French international news agency reported. The Federal Supreme Court is Switzerland’s highest court and will rule on appeals from the Federal Criminal Court.

Swiss state prosecutors have asked for a 10-year jail sentence for PetroSaudi chief executive Tarek Obaid and a nine-year term for Patrick Mahony, who is a director at the company, which had established a joint venture with 1MDB.

Both men are accused by Swiss authorities of being involved in embezzlement with Low Taek Jho, the fugitive businessman better known as Jho Low, who had been called the “mirror-image” of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak by Malaysian prosecutors.

Obaid, a Swiss-Saudi dual national, and Swiss-British Mahony have pleaded not guilty and argued that no fraud had taken place.

The original indictment filed in the Federal Criminal Court alleged that both of them acted in concert with Jho Low to have misappropriated at least US$1.8 billion transferred by 1MDB for the joint venture with Petrosaudi, with the aim of enriching themselves and others.

The allegations cover a period of at least from 2009 to 2015, and “constitute the offences of fraud on a commercial basis,” according to a press statement dated April 26, 2023, issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland.

“The two accused used money misappropriated from 1MDB to acquire, among other assets, real estate in Switzerland and in London, jewellery [and] private equity; to develop Petrosaudi activities from which they received substantial income; and to maintain a lavish lifestyle,” the statement had said. 

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