Former Malaysian PM given 12-years in first corruption trial
● Najib Razak found guilty of stealing £3.5bn from state investment fund
A Malaysian court has sentenced former prime Minister Najib Razak to serve 12 years in prison after finding him guilty in the first of several corruption trials linked to the multi-billion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund that brought down his government two years ago.
Najib was calm and stonefaced as he yesterday became the first Malaysian leader to be convicted. He took an oath in brief remarks in the dock that he was innocent.
Judge Mohamad Nazlan Ghazali sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail on one count of abuse of power, ten years each for three counts of criminal breach of trust, and ten years each for three counts of money laundering, as well as a fine of 210 million ringgit (£38m). But he ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning that Najib will face only up to 12 years in jail.
The judge allowed a stay of the jail sentence and fine pending Najib’s planned appeal. But he raised the bail amount and ordered Najib to report to the police twice a month.
“As to my supporters, I hope they will continue to believe in me and believe in our struggle,” Najib said at a news conference after the sentencing.
Najib’s father and uncle were Malaysia’s second and third prime ministers. Shortly after he took office in 2009, he set up 1MDB to ostensibly accelerate Malaysia’s economic development. But the fund accumulated billions in debt, and US investigators allege that at least $4.5 billion (£3.5bn) was stolen from it and laundered by Najib’s associates to finance Hollywood films and buy hotels, a luxury yacht, artwork, jewellery and other extravagances. More than $700m (£543m) from the fund allegedly landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
The judge read out an elaborate two-hour ruling yesterday that convicted Najib of all seven charges. He said the sentence was “appropriate and proportionate” taking into account that Najib had committed the crime from a “position of trust” as prime minister, his final plea and the need to deter others from committing the same crime.
The ruling in the first of his five corruption trials came five months after Najib’s Malay party returned to government as the biggest bloc in an alliance that took power from the reformist government that ousted Najib’s adminoffice istration in 2018 elections.
Analysts said the ruling would bolster the prosecution’s case in Najib’s other trials and would signal to the business community that Malaysia’s legal system had strength in tackling international financial crimes. But others cautioned the ruling could be overturned as his political party remained in office.
Prosecutors earlier said the case had tarnished the country as a kleptocracy and sought a sentence that would remind those in high public that “no one is above the law”. Najib asked the court to take into account his achievements during his nine-year tenure and gave an oath that he wasn’t aware of the 42 million ringgit (£7.7m) channelled into his bank accounts from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.
“I did not demand the 42 million, I did not plan for the 42 million, nor was the 42 million offered to me,” Najib insisted. “There has been no evidence nor witness to this. And I also like to say that I have no knowledge of the 42 million.”
Some of Najib’s supporters outside the courthouse cried when they learned of the verdict, while others chanted “free bossku” and “long live bossku”. The nickname meaning “my boss” was coined for Najib in his social media campaign to reinvent himself as a working-class leader.
Najib, 67, has vowed to fight to the end. He has said he was misled by rogue bankers and the case against him is political.
“I want justice, I want to clear my name,” he wrote on Facebook late Monday.