Riza Aziz granted discharge not amounting to acquittal for money laundering

The Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today granted movie producer Riza Abdul Aziz a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for money laundering involving US$248 million (RM1.08 billion) linked to 1MDB funds.

Judge Azman Ahmad allowed the application by ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram on grounds that an agreement had been reached where the accused will hand over "several million" ringgit to the federal government.

The DNAA would be subject to the accused fulfilling his end of the agreement.

In a statement, the law firm representing Riza said: “We have maintained all along that Riza is innocent. We are extremely grateful to the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the MACC for carefully examining the evidence.

"Riza is pleased to make good on his obligations to those authorities and looks forward to beginning the next chapter of his life.”

Riza, who is former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s stepson, was in July last year, charged with five counts of laundering money allegedly misappropriated from the sovereign wealth fund.

The producer of “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Dumb and Dumber To” pleaded not guilty to receiving a total of US$248 million on five occasions between 2011 and 2012.

He was accused of committing the offences by receiving the money through the bank account of Red Granite, the Hollywood production company he co-founded.

Najib himself is facing a slew of criminal charges for abuse of power and money laundering in relation to 1MDB.

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