Reuters
—
Jailed former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty on Friday of abuse of power in the biggest trial ever in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, a verdict that could have significant political implications.
The judge had not yet issued a full verdict and sentence.
Malaysian and US investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a national fund co-founded by President Najib in 2009 while he was in office. More than $1 billion is said to have flowed into accounts linked to Mr. Najib, who has always denied any wrongdoing.
Najib is charged with four counts of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering for allegedly receiving more than 2.3 billion ringgit ($569.45 million) in illegal transfers from 1MDB.
“The defendant’s claims that the charges against him were a witch-hunt and politically motivated were debunked by cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence showing that he abused his powerful position in 1MDB and the broad powers vested in him,” Judge Colin Lawrence Secera said in an ongoing reading of the verdict.
Mr Najib could face up to 15 to 20 years in prison on each charge and a fine up to five times the embezzlement charge.
Najib, 72, has been in prison since August 2022, when Malaysia’s Supreme Court upheld his conviction on corruption charges for illegally receiving funds from the 1MDB unit. His 12-year sentence for the case was cut in half by a pardons board last year.
Prime Minister Najib apologized last year for mishandling the scandal while in office, but has consistently denied wrongdoing, repeatedly saying he was misled about the source of the funds by 1MDB officials and fugitive financier Jho Low.
Judge Secera read out his verdict earlier, saying the evidence showed that Mr Najib had “unmistakable ties and connections” with Mr Low, who was acting as the then prime minister’s “agent and intermediary” in the 1MDB matter.
Lowe has been indicted in the United States for playing a central role in the incident, but he denies all wrongdoing and his whereabouts are unknown.
Mr Najib claims he was misled by Mr Lowe and other 1MDB officials into believing that the funds deposited into his account were donations from the Saudi royal family.
But Sehra said Najib’s claims were “impossible” and dismissed the letter about Najib’s donations, which is said to have come from the Saudi royal family, saying it was not supported by evidence and was likely a forgery.
“The irresistible conclusion is that the Arab donation story has no merit…The evidence points beyond doubt to the fact that the funds did in fact originate from 1MDB funds,” Sequery said.
The ruling came days after another court rejected Najib’s decision to serve a prison sentence under house arrest, reigniting tensions within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government.
Mr. Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organization, campaigned against Mr. Anwar in the 2022 election, but after the vote resulted in a hung parliament, it joined Mr. Anwar in forming a coalition government.
Some UMNO leaders expressed disappointment at the decision to refuse Mr. Najib’s house arrest, and others were outraged by social media posts celebrating the earlier verdict by some members of Anwar’s coalition.
Mr. Anwar on Tuesday called for calm and urged all parties to accept the court’s ruling with “full patience and wisdom.”
