A Malaysian court on Friday sentenced former premier Najib Razak to serve 15 years in prison after convicting him on multiple counts of abuse of ‍power and money laundering ⁠over his role in the ‍multibillion-dollar fraud scandal at state fund 1MDB.

The judge sentenced Najib to 15 years in jail on each of the four counts of ‍abuse of power and five years in prison for each of the 21 charges of money laundering, ⁠all of which would be served concurrently.

Malaysia and US investigators say at least US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, a state fund Najib co-founded in 2009 while in office.

More than US$1 billion allegedly made its way into accounts linked to Najib, who has denied wrongdoing.

"The contention by the accused that the ⁠charges against him were a witch hunt and politically motivated were debunked by the cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence against him that pointed towards the accused having abused his own powerful position in 1MDB, coupled with the extensive powers conferred upon him," Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said in his verdict.

After the sentencing, Najib urged Malaysians to be calm, adding that he ⁠would continue his "struggle" and demand his ‍rights through legitimate channels.

"I call upon all Malaysians to assess this matter calmly ‌and rationally, not merely from the perspective ‍of my fate ‌as an individual, ‌but ‌for the sake of the future of the nation's institutions ⁠and the principles that we uphold together," he said in a statement read ‌out by his ‍lawyer, who said Najib would appeal the ruling on Monday.

The ruling could add to tensions in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's governing alliance, which includes the once dominant United Malays National Organisation, over which its former leader Najib has retained significant influence.

Najib, 72, has been in prison since August 2022, when Malaysia's top court upheld a verdict convicting him of corruption for illegally receiving funds from a 1MDB unit.

His 12-year jail sentence in that case was halved last year by a pardons board.

Najib last year apologised for mishandling the scandal while in office, saying repeatedly that he was misled by 1MDB officials and the fugitive financier, Jho Low, about the source of the funds.

Judge Sequerah in reading the verdict had earlier said evidence had revealed Najib had an "unmistakable bond and connection" with Low, who acted as the then ⁠prime minister's "proxy and intermediary" in 1MDB affairs.

Low, who has been charged in the United States for his central role in the case, denies all wrongdoing and his whereabouts are unknown.

Najib has maintained he was misled by Low and other 1MDB officials into believing that funds deposited into his account were donations from the Saudi royal family.

But Sequerah said Najib's argument was "implausible" and dismissed letters on the donations produced by Najib that allegedly originated from the Saudi royal family, saying they were not corroborated by evidence and were probably forgeries.

"The irresistible conclusion is that the Arab donation narrative is not meritorious ... the evidence pointed unmistakably to the fact that the monies were, in fact derived from 1MDB funds," Sequerah said.

The verdict came just days after another court denied a bid by Najib to serve his jail sentence under house arrest – a decision that reignited the tensions within Anwar's ruling alliance.

Najib's UMNO campaigned against Anwar in a 2022 election but joined his coalition to form a government after the poll ended in a hung parliament.

Some UMNO leaders expressed disappointment with the decision to ⁠deny Najib house arrest and others were angered by social media posts by some members of Anwar's coalition celebrating the earlier ruling. (Reuters)
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Last updated: 2025-12-26 HKT 22:28