From prime minister to prisoner: Najib Razak gets multiple years for abuse of power, money laundering

International

ONCE Malaysia’s most powerful man, Najib Razak is now a convicted felon.

On Friday, the former prime minister was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in siphoning billions from the nation’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund, cementing his fall from grace.

The 72-year-old ex-leader was found guilty of misappropriating nearly 2.3 billion Malaysian ringgit ($569 million; £422 million). The verdict, delivered in Putrajaya, comes after seven years of high-profile legal proceedings involving 76 witnesses.

Najib received four 15-year sentences for abuse of power and 21 five-year terms for money laundering, all running concurrently.

He is already serving time from a previous 1MDB conviction and saw his bid to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest rejected earlier this week.

Dozens of supporters gathered outside the court, asserting that Najib is a victim of unfair rulings.

The 1MDB scandal, which erupted a decade ago, implicated figures from Malaysia to international banks and Hollywood.

Investigators estimated roughly $4.5 billion was siphoned from the fund into private accounts, including Najib’s.

Najib’s defense argued he was misled by advisers, particularly financier Jho Low, who remains at large. Courts have repeatedly rejected this claim. In 2020, Najib was convicted of embezzling 42 million ringgit ($10 million; £7.7 million) from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB, and sentenced to 12 years in prison, later halved.

The latest case concerns a larger sum deposited into Najib’s personal account in 2013. He claimed it was a donation from the late Saudi King Abdullah—a defense dismissed by the judge.

The scandal reshaped Malaysian politics. Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition lost power in the historic 2018 elections after ruling since independence in 1957.

Recent verdicts have also exposed tensions within the current ruling coalition, which includes Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

In a BBC report, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged all politicians to respect the court’s decisions.

Former lawmaker Tony Pua said that the ruling “will send a message” that corruption can catch even the country’s top leaders.

Cynthia Gabriel, founding director of Malaysia’s Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism, warned that “grand corruption continues in different forms” and cautioned that another 1MDB-like scandal could occur.

Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was sentenced to ten years in 2022 for bribery and is currently free on bail pending appeal.(MyTVCebu)