Malaysian ex-PM Najib goes to jail for multi-billion dollar graft scandal
Malaysia's top court upholds former PM Najib Razak's conviction relating to a multi-billion dollar graft scandal, ordering him to begin his 12-year jail sentence.
On Tuesday, The five-member Federal Court panel declared it unanimously found the high court judge was right in his judgment.
“We find the appeal devoid of any merits. We find the conviction and sentence to be safe,” Chief Justice Maimun Tuan Mat said on behalf of a five-judge panel.
The official also added, “Based on the foregoing, it is our unanimous view that the evidence led during the trial points overwhelmingly to guilt on all seven charges.”
1MDB (Malaysia Development Berhad) was a development fund that Najib co-founded shortly after taking power in 2009, which according to the prosecutors, some $4.5 billion was stolen from it.
The former prime minister who has been on bail since 2018, faced a shocking election defeat in the same year, with allegations of the embezzlement of billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB overshadowing the campaign.
Najib who is still politically influential was found guilty in July 2020 of abuse of power and money laundering by a lower court. The source also convicted him of a criminal breach of trust over the transfer of 42 million ringgit ($10.1m) from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB, to his bank account.
The scandal triggered some investigations in the US and several other countries. The former official, whose wife is also on trial for financial corruption, faces 42 charges in five separate trials linked to 1MDB.
Najib appealed to the court in December, but it was rejected and he went to the Federal Court as a final recourse. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison but was allowed to remain free while he appealed to the Federal Court, Malaysia’s highest court.
Najib’s loss in his final appeal means that his sentence of 12 years and a fine of approximately $45 million are upheld. This makes him the first former prime minister to be jailed.
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