Kuala Lumpur: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was convicted on Friday by the country’s High Court in a corruption trial tied to the looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah found the 72-year-old guilty on four counts of abuse of power, while rulings on additional money laundering charges were still being delivered later in the day.

Prosecutors said Najib siphoned more than $700 million from the 1MDB fund into his personal bank accounts. Najib denied wrongdoing, claiming the money was a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by financier Low Taek Jho, widely regarded as the mastermind of the scandal and who remains at large.

The judge rejected Najib’s defence, calling the Saudi donation claim “incapable of belief” and stating that letters allegedly supporting the claim were forged. The court ruled that evidence clearly showed the funds originated from 1MDB and highlighted what it described as an “unmistakable bond” between Najib and Low, who acted as a key intermediary in the scheme.

Justice Sequerah noted that Najib failed to verify the origin of the funds and continued using the money despite its suspicious nature. The court also cited actions taken by Najib to protect his position, including removing officials who were investigating the scandal. The judge dismissed arguments that Najib was an unwitting victim, stating that attempts to portray him as unaware of the wrongdoing “must therefore, fail miserably”.

Najib, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, is already serving a prison sentence following an earlier conviction linked to 1MDB. In 2020, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving funds from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. He began serving the sentence in August 2022, becoming Malaysia’s first former leader to be jailed, though his sentence was later reduced by the Pardons Board in 2024.

The 1MDB scandal triggered global investigations and is regarded as one of the world’s largest financial corruption cases. According to US authorities, more than $4.5 billion was looted from the fund between 2009 and 2014 and laundered through multiple countries. The scandal also ensnared major financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, which paid billions in penalties.

Earlier this week, Najib failed in a legal bid to serve his remaining sentence under house arrest after the High Court ruled that a purported royal order allowing it was constitutionally invalid. With the latest conviction, Najib now faces the prospect of spending additional years behind bars as legal proceedings continue.
(With AP inputs)