Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay a staggering $2.8 billion fine after he was convicted of money laundering in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.
The nation’s High Court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than $700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund.
The sentencing capped a years-long legal saga stemming from the looting of the state investment fund, which investigators say was used to siphon billions of dollars for lavish spending and political largesse.
Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said it was evident that Najib was directly tied to Jho Low, the fugitive financier believed to be at the center of the 1MDB scandal.
“The accused was no country bumpkin, but was possessed of not only an impeccable family and political pedigree, but of superior intelligence,” Sequerah was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Najib, who once dominated Malaysian politics, now faces one of the harshest penalties ever imposed on a former leader in the country.
He was already serving a prison term after being convicted in 2020 in the SRC International case focusing on a former 1MDB unit.
1MDB was launched in 2009 under Najib’s leadership, billed as a vehicle to spur economic development and attract foreign investment.
Between 2009 and 2014, top executives and associates of Najib looted over $4.5 billion from the fund, laundering it through countries including the US, Singapore and Switzerland, according to the Justice Department.
Authorities alleged the funds were used to finance Hollywood films and extravagant purchases including hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry.
Jeff Sessions, the US attorney general at the time, called it “kleptocracy at its worst.”
The scandal began unraveling in 2015, when reports revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars linked to 1MDB had landed in Najib’s personal bank accounts.
The ex-PM denied wrongdoing, insisting the funds were a donation. But the reports triggered investigation which uncovered evidence of alleged crimes.
Public outrage over 1MDB fueled political upheaval that culminated in Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition being swept from power in 2018 after ruling Malaysia for more than six decades.
It marked the first change in government since Malaysia gained independence in 1957.
Wall Street was also pulled into the fallout. Goldman Sachs helped raise $6.5 billion for 1MDB through bond deals that generated hefty fees for the bank.
Goldman later paid billions of dollars to settle investigations into its role in the transactions.
With Post Wires
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