Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Malaysia’s Najib Gets 12 Years in Jail for 1MDB-Linked Graft Case

Malaysia’s Najib Gets 12 Years in Jail  for 1MDB-Linked Graft Case

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to serve up to 12 years in jail after a court in Kuala Lumpur found him guilty of corruption in the first of several cases linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from the state fund, 1MDB.
The ruling on Tuesday makes Najib the first Malaysian leader to be convicted of corruption.
But the 67-year-old remains free as Judge Mohamad Nazlan Ghazali granted a stay order on the execution of Najib's sentence, pending an appeal.
"Surely, I am not satisfied with the result," Najib told reporters as he exited Kuala Lumpur's High Court.
"But within our system, the high court is the first court and the decision was only made by one judge. We have the benefit of an appeal," he added, vowing to "continue the effort to clear my name".
The guilty verdict against Najib relates to his role in diverting an estimated 42 million ringgits ($9.8m) from SRC International, a unit of 1MDB, into his personal bank accounts. The judge had found the former prime minister guilty on all seven charges filed against him.
"I find that the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. I therefore find the accused guilty and convict the accused on all seven charges," Mohamad said.
He then ordered Najib to pay a fine of 210 million ringgits ($49m), and gave him 12 years in jail on one count of abuse of power, 10 years each for three counts of criminal breach of trust and 10 years each for three counts of money laundering.
But the judge also ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning Najib will serve 12 years in prison.
The conviction comes just six days after the High Court ordered Najib to pay the government as much as 1.69 billion ringgits ($400m) in unpaid taxes and penalties, covering the years from 2011 to 2017. (Aljazeera)