KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A Malaysian court Wednesday approved the government's application to bar PetroSaudi International and its chief executive from accessing $340 million connected to the scandal-wracked 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Ahmad Shahrir Salleh said there was enough evidence to show that the money involved was linked to money-laundering activities.

Granting approval to the application effectively bars PetroSaudi International and its chief executive Tarek Obaid from accessing the money.

Others prohibited include subsidiary PetroSaudi Oil Services (Venezuela), UK based-law firm Clyde & Co LLP, and Temple Fiduciary Services Ltd.

The Malaysian ruling comes after Obaid, the Swiss-Saudi chief executive of the oil exploration and production company, was sentenced in August to seven years in prison in Switzerland over the embezzlement of $1.8 billion from 1MDB.

His right-hand man Patrick Mahony, 47, a Swiss-British director at the Geneva-based firm, was also found guilty and given a six-year sentence.

The multi-billion-dollar financial scandal has led to criminal investigations around the world, including in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

It is alleged that billions of dollars were pilfered from 1MDB by a number of people and used to buy items ranging from artwork to a superyacht.

The scandal led to the fall of Najib Razak's government in 2018.

In jail currently for corruption connected to the plunder of 1MDB, Najib is trying to bolster a legal appeal for him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

The 71-year-old also faces several other cases linked to the financial scandal.