Kuala Lumpur: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was arrested on Tuesday in a stunning fall from grace, less than two months after losing an election, amid allegations of massive corruption and misappropriation at a state fund he founded.

Najib was arrested as part of the new Malaysian government's probe into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He is to be charged in court on Wednesday morning.

After leading the country for nearly a decade, it was a swift fall for Najib, the son of Malaysia's second Prime Minister, following an unexpected election defeat in May to 92-year-old Mahathir Mohamad.

Anti-graft agents picked up Najib from his home after serving him with a remand order, sources close to the family said.

Najib has consistently denied wrongdoing.

In a pre-recorded message posted on Twitter after his arrest, Najib said not all the accusations against him and his family were true.

"Let investigations be carried out. I have not had a chance to defend myself," Najib said.

Since his loss at the polls to mentor-turned-foe Mahathir, Najib has been barred from leaving the country and had millions of dollars of items seized from properties linked to his family.

Mahathir said in an interview with Reuters last month that embezzlement and bribery with government money were among the charges that Malaysia was looking to bring against Najib, 64, adding that Najib was fully responsible for the 1MDB scandal.

Najib's arrest was in relation SRC International, a former 1MDB unit, a task force investigating the fund said. And sources close to the matter said he may face several charges.

A spokesman for Najib said the SRC charges and the 1MDB investigations against the former leader were "politically motivated", and that Najib will contest these charges and clear his name in court.

The scandal around 1MDB plagued Najib's second term in office, eventually leading to the ousting of a coalition that had ruled Malaysia since its independence from Britain in 1957. Reuters