The verdict is scheduled during a hearing starting at 2pm local time (8pm in Malaysia) in the southern city of Bellinzona, AFP reported.

PetroSaudi chief executive Tarek Obaid, 48, and Patrick Mahony, 47, a director at the Saudi oil exploration and production company, are accused of involvement in a vast embezzlement orchestrated by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.

Prosecutor Alice de Chambrier previously called it the “scam of the century” and branded the defendants as “calculative, manipulative and obscenely greedy”, the Keystone-ATS news agency reported.

The prosecution has sought a 10-year jail sentence for Obaid and a nine-year term for his right-hand man.

The defence pleaded for acquittal, arguing that no fraud had taken place.

Obaid is a Swiss-Saudi dual national, while Mahony is Swiss-British.

The multi-billion dollar 1MDB financial scandal has led to criminal investigations around the world, including in the US, Switzerland and Singapore, in addition to Malaysia.

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

In 2022, former prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Malaysia for offences linked to the misuse of public money in SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.

In February, his sentence was halved to six years and his fine reduced from RM210 million to RM50 million.