KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's former premier Najib Razak was on Tuesday (July 28) found guilty of all seven charges in the first of his five trials relating to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali found Najib, 67, guilty of one count of abuse of power, three counts of criminal breach of trust and three counts of money laundering regarding the misappropriation of RM42 million (S$13.6 million) from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
"I find the accused guilty and convict him on all 7 charges," said the judge.
Each charge carries a prison sentence of up to 15 to 20 years.
Najib's defence team requested a full mitigation to be held on Aug 3.
Najib arrived in court slightly before 10am to shouts of “long live Najib” by hundreds of supporters who had gathered outside.
Wearing a mask and flanked by top leaders of his party, Najib offered prayers just outside the courtroom.
“This is my chance to clear my name,” Najib said in a Facebook post on Monday night. “Whatever the decision tomorrow at the high court, it does not end here,” he said, adding that both sides would appeal any decision at the federal court.
Najib's conviction appears to confirm Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's commitment to "not interfere" in graft cases against prominent Umno politicians like Najib, even though they are his allies in the five-month old Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
Dozens of these corruption charges were instituted under the former ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan, after its shock win against Umno in the May 2018 general election.
Concerns about political interference in the court process were raised after money laundering charges against Najib's stepson, Riza Aziz relating to 1MDB funds were dropped in May, in a settlement reached with prosecutors.
While Najib would still be allowed to keep his parliamentary seat in Pekan, Pahang pending appeal, he will not be able to contest in a general election while the guilty verdict stands, thus scuppering any chances of him returning as lawmaker or prime minister.
There are growing calls from member parties of PN for snap polls to be held even though the next general election is not due until 2023.
Najib will not be able to defend his seat unless his guilty verdict is vacated by either the Court of Appeal or the Federal Court - a process that could take up to a year, or longer.
In total, Najib is facing 42 counts of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering across five different court cases relating to his role in the multi-billion dollar scandal involving 1MDB, the state-owned wealth fund he co-founded in 2009. He also served as the fund's advisory board chairman.
US authorities have alleged over US$4.5 billion (S$6.2 billion) was embezzled from the state fund and spent worldwide on luxury assets like yachts, paintings and high-end properties.
Najib was also recently ordered by Malaysian courts to pay RM1.69 billion in unpaid taxes to the Inland Revenue Board.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zdHJhaXRzdGltZXMuY29tL2FzaWEvc2UtYXNpYS9leC1tYWxheXNpYW4tcG0tbmFqaWItZm91bmQtZ3VpbHR5LW9uLW9uZS1jb3VudC1vZi1hYnVzZS1vZi1wb3dlci1pbi0xbWRiLWxpbmtlZC1ncmFmdNIBAA?oc=5
2020-07-28 03:15:57Z
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