Malaysia’s High Court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Najib Razak to 15 more years in prison after finding him guilty of abuse of power and money laundering linked to the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund scandal. He was fined 11.4 billion ringgit ($2.8 billion). Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled the new term will begin after a six-year sentence he is already serving in a separate 1MDB case.
The court convicted the 72-year-old on all four counts of abuse of power and all 21 money laundering charges involving 2.28 billion ringgit ($554 million). Sequerah dismissed claims Najib was duped by associate Jho Low, saying, “Jho Low operated as a proxy or agent of the accused (Najib) with regard to the running of the affairs of 1MDB.” He also rejected donor claims as a “tale that surpassed even those from the Arabian Nights.”
Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said an appeal would be filed, calling the ruling a “blunder.” Najib apologised for the scandal but denied wrongdoing. The prosecution cited over 50 witnesses, bank records and financial documents, saying, “The accused wielded absolute financial, executive and political control,” prosecutors said.