Najib Razak: In the big 1MDB case, former Malaysian Prime Minister was sentenced to 15 extra years in prison

Najib Razak: the former prime minister of Malaysia, was found guilty in a significant corruption case connected to the 1MDB crisis and was given a 15-year jail term. According to Al Jazeera, the Kuala Lumpur High Court rendered the decision on Friday.

Najib, 72, was convicted of moving 2.2 billion Malaysian ringgit, or around USD 543 million, into his personal bank accounts without authorization from the state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He was found guilty by the court on 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of authority.

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah dismissed Najib’s argument that the case was motivated by politics when he delivered the ruling.

“The contention by the accused that the charges against him were a witch hunt and politically motivated were debunked by the cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence against him that pointed towards the accused having abused his own powerful position in 1MDB, coupled with the extensive powers conferred upon him,” the judge stated.

According to Al Jazeera, more than ten years ago, Najib misappropriated public funds for his own gain by abusing his positions as prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board.

He received a 15-year prison term on the abuse of authority charges, and he faces a five-year sentence for each of the money laundering counts. Every prison sentence will expire simultaneously.

Najib has been convicted twice in connection with the 1MDB scam. He was convicted in 2020 of embezzling about $10 million from the fund and given a 12-year jail term. Later on, that term was lowered to six years.

Najib expressed regret to Malaysians for his involvement in the 1MDB scandal last year. However, he said throughout the trial that he had been duped by Jho Low, a wanted man on Interpol’s wanted list since 2016.