Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak sentenced to 15 years in prison for public funds scandal

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for abuse of power and money laundering, in his second major trial over a multibillion-dollar public funds scandal.

Najib, 72, was accused of embezzling nearly 2.3 billion Malaysian ringgit ($569 million; £422 million) from national sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

On Friday afternoon, a judge found him guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering.

The former prime minister is already in prison after being convicted years ago in another 1MDB-related case.

Friday’s verdict comes after seven years of legal proceedings, during which 76 witnesses were called to the stand.

The verdict, delivered in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital, is the second blow dealt in the same week to the embattled former leader, who has been imprisoned since 2022.

He was sentenced to four 15-year prison terms for abuse of power, as well as five years each for 21 money laundering charges. Prison sentences are concurrent under Malaysian law.

On Monday, the court rejected his request to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

But the former prime minister retains a base of loyal supporters, who say they are victims of unjust judgments and have shown up at his trials to demand his release.

On Friday, dozens of people gathered outside the Putrajaya court in support of Najib.

The 1MDB scandal made headlines around the world when it came to light a decade ago, involving prominent figures from Malaysia to Goldman Sachs and Hollywood.

Investigators estimated that $4.5 billion was diverted from public funds into private pockets, including those of Najib.

Najib’s lawyers say he was misled by his advisers, including financier Jho Low, who has proclaimed his innocence but remains at large.

But this argument did not convince the Malaysian courts, which have already tried Najib guilty of embezzlement in 2020.

That year, Najib was convicted of abuse of power, money laundering and breach of trust over more than 42 million ringgit ($10 million; £7.7 million) transferred from SRC International – a former unit of 1MDB – to his private accounts.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but saw time served halved last year.

The latest case involves a larger sum of money, also linked to 1MDB, received in his personal bank account in 2013. Najib said he believed the money was a donation from the late Saudi King Abdullah – a claim rejected by the judge on Friday.

Furthermore, Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2022 for corruption. She is on bail pending an appeal against her conviction.

The scandal had profound repercussions on Malaysian politics. In 2018, this led to a historic electoral defeat for Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition, which had governed the country since its independence in 1957.

Now, the recent verdicts highlight fissures within Malaysia’s ruling coalition, which includes Najib’s party, the United Malaysians National Organization (UMNO).

The failure of Najib’s house arrest attempt on Monday was disappointed by his allies but celebrated by his detractors within the same coalition.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called on politicians of all stripes to respect the court’s rulings.

Former Malaysian lawmaker Tony Pua told the BBC’s Newsday program that the verdict would “send a message” to the country’s leaders that “you can be arrested for corruption even if you are the number one in the country like the prime minister.”

But Cynthia Gabriel, founding director of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption and Cronyism Centre, said the country had made little progress in anti-corruption efforts despite years of accountability after the 1MDB scandal.

Public institutions have not been strengthened enough to reassure Malaysians that “the politicians they put in power will actually serve their interests” instead of “their own pockets”, she told Newsday.

“Grand corruption continues in different forms,” she added. “We have no idea if another 1MDB could happen, or if it has already happened.”