A Malaysian court has sentenced jailed former prime minister Najib Razak to an additional 15 years in prison after finding him guilty of abuse of power in the largest trial so far linked to the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal.

The latest conviction significantly adds to the prison term Najib is already serving for a separate 1MDB-related case, deepening the legal fallout from one of the world’s biggest financial fraud scandals, in which billions of dollars were siphoned from the now-defunct state fund.

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah convicted Najib, 72, on all four counts of abuse of power, rejecting claims that the case was politically motivated. The court ruled that evidence showed Najib had abused his powerful positions in relation to 1MDB, where he served as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of its advisory board.

“The contention by the accused that the charges against him were a witch-hunt was debunked by the cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence,” the judge said in his verdict.

Najib was charged with four counts of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering for allegedly receiving illegal transfers amounting to about 2.2 billion ringgit (approximately $544 million) from 1MDB. While the court delivered its verdict on the abuse of power charges, Najib is still awaiting a ruling on the 21 money laundering counts.

Investigations into the 1MDB scandal have spanned several countries, including Singapore and the United States. Malaysian and US authorities estimate that at least $4.5 billion was misappropriated from the fund, which Najib co-founded in 2009. Prosecutors allege that more than $1 billion flowed into accounts linked to Najib, claims he has consistently denied.

Najib has been behind bars since August 2022, when Malaysia’s top court upheld his conviction for illegally receiving funds from a 1MDB unit. His original 12-year sentence in that case was reduced by half last year following a decision by a pardons board.

The ruling is expected to add strain to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s governing coalition, which includes the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party once led by Najib and where he still wields influence.

Prosecutors told the court that funds stolen from 1MDB were used to finance luxury real estate, a superyacht and valuable artworks. Najib has maintained that he was misled by 1MDB officials and fugitive financier Jho Low, who has been charged in the US for his alleged central role in the scandal. Low’s whereabouts remain unknown.

The judge dismissed defence arguments that Najib was duped by his associates or that the money entering his accounts were donations from Middle Eastern benefactors, describing such claims as implausible.

Najib has apologised for allowing the 1MDB scandal to unfold during his tenure but insists he was unaware of the illegal transfers. His legal challenges suffered another setback earlier this week when a court rejected his request to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest instead of at Kajang prison near Kuala Lumpur.

BOB Post