"A Malaysian court on Friday found Najib Razak guilty on multiple charges of abuse of power and money laundering tied to multibillion-dollar looting of the Malaysia Development Berhad, better known as the 1MDB investment fund. Najib was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 13.5 billion ringgit ($2.8 billion or 2.4 billion) after being convicted."
"On Friday, the judge reading the verdict noted the "unmistakable bond" between Najib and Low. "It must be appreciated that the accused... stood at the very apex of the decision-making process with regard to matters in 1MDB," Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said. "To entertain the belief that officers subordinate to him in the hierarchy would willingly and knowingly conspire against a sitting prime minister of the day, together with Jho Low who did not even hold an official position in 1MDB, would be to stretch the imagination into the realms of pure fantasy.""
"Investigators have claimed Najib received hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB. The court also dismissed the narrative presented by Najib's defense, which insisted that the defendant believed funds in his account were donations from the Saudi royal family. Judge Sequerah noted that Najib, while serving as prime minister, would have had all the necessary resources to verify this claim."
Najib Razak was found guilty on multiple counts of abuse of power and money laundering connected to the multibillion-dollar looting of 1MDB and received a 15-year prison sentence plus a 13.5 billion ringgit fine. The verdict supplements a 2020 conviction for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering related to the same affair. Najib apologized for mishandling the scandal but denied broader wrongdoing, saying he was misled by fund officials and Jho Low. The court rejected Najib’s defenses and noted his central role in decision-making at 1MDB. Investigators allege he received hundreds of millions from the fund. The ruling could carry major political consequences for the ruling coalition.
Read at www.dw.com
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