Najib's stepson Riza Aziz to be charged tomorrow

Former premier Najib Abdul Razak's stepson Riza Aziz, who was implicated in the 1MDB scandal, will be charged tomorrow.

According to MACC chairperson Latheefa Koya, the "The Wolf of Wall Street" producer was arrested today but subsequently released on bail.

"He has to appear before the court tomorrow to face charges under Amla (Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act)," she said when contacted.

The charges are believed to be in relation to Red Granite Pictures receiving 1MDB funds.

Earlier, sources indicated that a Najib confidant, Habibul Rahman Kadir Shah, was also expected to be charged tomorrow over RM2.5 million he received from the former prime minister for political intelligence.

Latheefa, however, denied this but declined to comment when asked if Habibul would be facing any charges soon.

In an Instagram post, Riza's half-sister Nooryana Najwa Najib protested MACC's actions, pointing to the fact that Red Granite had already paid a settlement to the US Department of Justice.

"But despite the settlement in the US and the fact that alleged wrongdoings occurred entirely outside of Malaysia, MACC decides to press charges aftrer a whole year of leaving this case in cold storage.

"He is not a criminal, he's my brother," she wrote.

The settlement Nooryana is referring to is the US$60 million deal Red Granite Picture, the production company, struck with the DOJ to avoid its assets being seized.

However, these are not the only allegations involving Riza.

According to the DOJ, US$238 million misappropriated from 1MDB was allegedly channelled to Riza through Red Granite Capital under the Aabar-BVI phase of the scandal.

Of this amount, US$64 million was channelled into Red Granite Pictures to finance films including "The Wolf of Wall Street", "Daddy's Home" and "Dumb and Dumber Too".

Meanwhile, Riza allegedly spent US$17.5 million and US$33.5 million of the Red Granite Capital funds to acquire a Hillcrest property and Park Laurel Condominium from his friend Jho Low.

The movie producer is also accused of spending close to US$5.5 million on movie posters - including US$1.2 million on one of the 1927 silent film "Metropolis".