The appeal of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak began at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya on Monday, as Najib attempts to overturn his 2020 conviction on corruption charges related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Najib’s conviction arose from charges involving money laundering, abuse of power, and criminal breach of trust from laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from the state 1MDB sovereign wealth fund into his own private bank accounts. The embezzled funds, intended for Malaysian public development, came from numerous countries, including the US, and were laundered by several high-level Malaysian officials close to Najib, including his son-in-law Riza Aziz. The US Department of Justice had investigated the American funds that had been laundered through 1MBD and recovered more than $60 million in 2020. Najib was found guilty on seven charges and sentenced to 12 years in jail alongside a fine of 210 million Malaysian ringgit, roughly USD $50 million.

While Najib’s appeal began Monday, his defense counsel argued Tuesday that the trial court erred in the conviction, arguing there was insufficient evidence to prove that Najib was involved with the transfer of 42 million Malaysian ringgit of the funds. Seeking to overturn the conviction, the defense argued that the state had failed to make its case with clear evidence that Najib was involved with the transfer of specific portions of the money and that witnesses were unable to testify as to how the money was removed from state accounts. These arguments, however, only address a small portion of the overall total that Najib is accused of embezzling from the 1MBD accounts. Presently, the appellate trial is scheduled to run until April 22.