KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — After being charged with three counts of money laundering involving RM42 million, Datuk Seri Najib Razak exited the Jalan Duta Court Complex here at 12.42pm today looking a little more worn than when he arrived nearly four hours ago.

However, the former prime minister still mustered a smile for the flashing cameras and supporters who turned out to greet him on the court grounds.

Najib spent less than a minute waving to his supporters and gave a brief photo opportunity to the media before leaving the compound in his white Toyota Vellfire MPV, escorted by police outriders.

Unlike his first charge on July 4, Najib did not give any press conference this time.

His supporters, who numbered about 20, were heard chanting “Lawan tetap lawan”, “Hidup Najib” and “Hancur fitnah”.

Chants of Najib’s name, followed by “Allahhuakbar”, were also heard.

The supporters were at the court lobby just as he was exiting.

Court security personnel had earlier restricted access to the public ahead of his prosecution this morning, which triggered an outcry of foul play from some, including Umno politician Datuk Lokman Noor Adam who vented that he wasn’t even allowed in to urinate.

Najib was charged with three counts of money laundering, with the first count involving RM27 million, the second count involving RM5 million and the third count involving RM10 million.

The charges under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money-Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2002 (AMLATFPUAA) were initially read out to Najib at the Sessions Court before judge Azura Alwi earlier this morning.

The Section 4(1) offence is punishable by a maximum 15-year jail term and a fine of RM5 million or a minimum five times of the value of the unlawful proceeds at the time the offence was committed, depending on whichever sum is higher.

High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed the extension of a previous RM1 million bail from two previous criminal cases for today’s new case.

The previous case involved three counts of criminal breach of trust and one charge of power abuse in relation to RM42 million funds said to belong to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former unit of 1MDB.