KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — The Attorney General's Chambers will file more charges relating to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal once it receives new investigation papers (IPs) from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas said today.

"Today’s case is the first IP that came to my table when I clocked in three weeks ago. No doubt, there will be more IPs,” he said to reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex.

Earlier, Thomas led the prosecution team in the case of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who was charged in the Sessions Court with three counts of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) and one count of abuse of power in connection with SRC International Sdn Bhd funds totalling RM42 million.

The case was transferred to the High Court and Najib pleaded not guilty to the charges.

When asked about the commotion at the court lobby as he was about to talk to reporters, Thomas said he was surprised as he was only expecting to answer questions from the media.

The press conference venue had to be shifted from the lobby to the fifth floor after several supporters of Najib heckled Thomas and the reporters as they wanted the press conference to be conducted in Bahasa Malaysia.

Commenting on the interim gag order requested by Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to prevent the media from publishing public discussion on the merits of the case, Thomas said the prosecution team was taken by surprise by the request.

He said the judge overseeing the case also did not provide any ground in approving the order.

"We are also not sure about the extent of the gag order. We were taken by surprise and no ground was given. We are totally against it as we believe in free speech,” he said. — Bernama