The influential ex-premier of Malaysia, Najib Razak, has been imprisoned for another 15 years and fined $2.8 billion on charges of abusing his powers and laundering money in the largest trial related to the scandal of 1MDB.
According to Malaysian and American investigators, at least $4.5 billion was plundered from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a government-run fund founded by Najib himself in 2009, during the first of his nine years of ruling the Southeast Asian nation.
Over $1 billion allegedly found its way into accounts that were reportedly tied to 72-year-old Najib, who was previously jailed in 2022 in a different 1MDB case and has claimed for years that he was made the scapegoat for the largest scandal in Malaysian history.
Judge Dismisses Claims of Deception by Najib Razak
In delivering their verdict after five hours of reading, Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah of the high court said that Najib’s defence that he had been deceived multiple times involving 1MDB was hard to believe and that believing otherwise “would strain one’s imagination too far into the realm of fantasy.”
This move may further escalate tensions within the governing coalition of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, which comprises parties such as the former preeminent United Malays National Organisation Party from which he retains substantial influence despite being behind bars.
It was a day of reckoning for perhaps Malaysia’s most polarising politicians, and Najib was found guilty on all four counts of abuse of power and all 21 counts of money laundering, following an extensive trial process that involved appeals and a partial pardon. Said the judge in the ruling that there is nothing in the evidence to support the allegations made by the accused in his statement in the Roman Catholic Church in Kuala Lumpur.
Sentences to Be Served After Current Jail Term Ends
Sentences were given for 15 years for each charge of abuse of power and five years for each of the charges of money laundering, to run concurrently after Najib’s current imprisonment is over in 2028.
Najib was sentenced to pay fines amounting to RM 11.39 billion, with RM 2.08 billion of assets also to be forfeited from him. Failure to meet both needs would lead to more prison time. Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said that he would appeal this decision on Monday.
Najib apologised for the handling of the scandal a year ago, claiming that he was misled regarding the origin of the money in his accounts by the officials of 1MDB, a Malaysian state-owned firm.
In a statement made through his lawyer, Najib encouraged Malaysians to be calm and rational, “and I will continue my struggle. This struggle of mine is not an attempt to evade responsibility but an attempt to preserve justice, to preserve the integrity of our constitution, to preserve our sovereignty of the-rule-of-law.”
Funds Stolen for Luxury Assets & Hollywood Movie
These funds siphoned away by 1MDB were allegedly used by Low, who lives a life of extravagance, to purchase a vast number of luxury items ranging from a private jet to a $120 million superyacht, hotels, artwork, and jewellery.
Experienced networker Low had high-profile contacts around the world and was known to attend extravagant parties with American A-List celebrities, which included Hollywood actors and pop musicians.
Najib, who was seen several times during the reading of the verdict with his head down and shoulders slumped, has always asserted that Low and other 1MDB executives led him to believe that the monies paid into his account were contributions courtesy of the Saudi Royal Family.
However, this was rejected by the judge, with remarks that Najib – “the British-educated son of a former prime minister – is no country bumpkin and possesses one of the finest minds.” He deemed the reported donations highly unlikely and said that the letters purportedly written by the Saudi royals and produced by Najib were likely to be forgeries. Evidence had pointed strongly to the clear fact that monies were indeed sourced from 1MDB, Sequerah told them.
Verdict Test – Ruling on Alliance
The conviction occurred only weeks after another court rejected an attempt by Najib to carry out his existing prison sentence with house arrest following the reduction of his sentence in 2024 to six years by a pardons board led by Malaysia’s ex-king.
The disapproval by the court of Najib’s application reignited tensions within the ruling coalition, with some members of UMNO voicing disappointment in the development, while others were annoyed by congratulatory posts on social media networks by members of the coalition led by Anwar.
UMNO by Najib campaigned against Anwar in the recent election in 2022 but subsequently formed a unity government out of the election’s resulting hung parliament together with Anwar’s party. Anwar on Tuesday told all to accept the outcome fully with patience and wisdom.
This verdict represents the end of a long investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that began a decade ago and was reportedly hindered by the Najib government while the US, Swiss government, and the government of Singapore pressed ahead with their own 1MDB investigation.
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