Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (front) arrives at a court in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 20, 2018. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged Thursday with more than 20 counts of corruption and money laundering in connection to the case of state investment fund 1MDB. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged Thursday with more than 20 counts of corruption and money laundering in connection to the case of state investment fund 1MDB.

The prosecutors charged Najib with four counts of abuse of power, saying he used his position as prime minister, finance minister and the chairman of 1MDB's advisory board from 2011 to 2014 to obtain gratification of some 2.3 billion ringgit (556.2 million U.S. dollars).

He was also hit with 21 counts of money laundering, related to receiving, using and transferring illegal money.

Najib has denied all charges and was granted bail.

The former prime minister was arrested again by the Malaysian Anti-corruption Commission (MACC) on Wednesday related to the 1MDB case before being transferred to the police for questioning on money laundering earlier Thursday.

1MDB was set up by Najib after he became prime minister in 2009 to facilitate economic growth. But allegations emerged several years later that large sums of 1MDB's money were misappropriated and some 681 million U.S. dollars were deposited into Najib's personal account.

Najib has denied wrongdoing, insisting the money was legal political donations from the Middle East, most of which has been returned.

Prosecutors has earlier charged Najib with criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering, all of which linked to a 42-million-ringgit (10.3-million-U.S. dollar) deposit transferred into his personal bank account by SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.

Najib has pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges.