Former Prime Minister Najib Razak was found guilty of abuse of power and money laundering in a sovereign wealth fund graft case, and a Malaysian judge sentenced him to an additional 15 years in prison on Friday.
According to AFP, Najib was also fined 11.4 billion ringgit ($2.8 billion) for his involvement in the theft of billions from the now-defunct 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) over ten years ago.
Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah stated that Najib’s most recent term would not start until the completion of his six-year sentence, which he is now serving after being found guilty in a different 1MDB case.
The 72-year-old former leader was found guilty by Sequerah of all 21 counts of money laundering and all four counts of abuse of power, involving around 2.28 billion ringgit ($554 million) from the fund.
After an exhausting eight-hour hearing, Najib, wearing a white shirt and navy blue suit, was seen slumped in his seat and staring down as the judge read the verdict.
Najib, the son of one of Malaysia’s founding fathers, was cultivated for leadership from an early age but experienced a dramatic decline in authority as public outrage over the corruption scandal grew.
Since his defeat in the 2018 elections, he and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, have been implicated in graft investigations under various regimes.
Prosecutors claim that Najib transferred enormous amounts of money from the fund into his personal accounts by abusing his roles as prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board.
Investigators claim that the fund’s earnings were utilized to finance expensive real estate, a lavish yacht, and priceless artwork, such as a Van Gogh and a Monet.
“Unmeritorious”
Sequerah rejected a number of Najib’s defense team’s claims, such as the claim that he had been tricked by his close friend, the enigmatic billionaire Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.
In reference to the management of 1MDB’s affairs, Sequerah stated, “the evidence clearly points to the fact that this was not a coincidence but was evident of a relationship in which Jho Low operated as a proxy or agent of the accused (Najib).”
Najib was “misled and duped by management and by Jho Low,” he added, refuting the defense’s claim.
Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib’s attorney, informed reporters that they would file an appeal against the ruling on the grounds that Sequerah had “blundered.”
Najib established 1MDB, a state investment vehicle, in 2009, not long after he was appointed prime minister.
According to whistleblowers, Jho Low, a prominent Malaysian banker with no official position, contributed to the fund’s establishment and made important financial choices.
The estimated amount of money that fund officials and affiliates, including Low, who is still at large, took from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 was over $4.5 billion.
Sequerah also rejected the idea that the money entering Najib’s accounts was the result of Middle Eastern contributors, such as the late Saudi King Abdullah, describing it as a “tale that surpassed even those from the Arabian Nights.”
Bank records, testimony from over fifty witnesses, and documentary evidence were all submitted by the prosecution.
Prosecutors claimed that “the accused wielded absolute financial, executive, and political control.”
I apologize.
According to Najib’s attorneys, he was not aware that the administration of 1MDB was collaborating closely with Low to embezzle significant sums of money from the fund, which was supposedly created to promote economic development in Malaysia.
Last Wednesday, Shafee told reporters that his client “never got a fair trial.”
He once more held Low accountable for the scandal, which damaged Malaysia’s reputation overseas and led to investigations in a number of nations, including the US and Singapore.
Najib has expressed regret for let the 1MDB scandal to occur while he was in office, but he has continuously denied any wrongdoing and insisted he was unaware of any illicit fund transfers.
He lost a request on Monday to serve the rest of his current jail sentence at home instead of at the Kajang Prison outside Kuala Lumpur, dealing him yet another setback in his legal battle.
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