Former prime minister of Malaysia Najib Razak looks on as he walks escorted by prison officers during an appeal hearing at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on April 17, 2024. MOHD RASFAN / AFP
Imprisoned former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was convicted on Friday, December 26, following a corruption trial tied to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund. 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. Najib's defense team was expected to make mitigation arguments before sentencing later Friday.
Najib denied any wrongdoing and maintained that the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal's mastermind, remains at large. Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said Najib's claim of a Saudi donation was "incapable of belief." Four letters purportedly from the Saudi donor were forged, and evidence clearly showed the funds originated from 1MDB, he said.
The judge rejected defense arguments that Najib was an unwitting victim, duped by former 1MDB officials and Low. Witness testimonies had pointed to an "unmistakable bond" between Najib and Low, who had played a pivotal role in the scandal and operated as "the proxy, the conduit, the intermediary and the facilitator" for Najib in 1MDB, the judge said.
