KUALA LUMPUR: Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty on Tuesday (Jul 28) of all seven charges in his first corruption trial involving millions of ringgit linked to state development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The charges include abuse of power, money laundering and criminal breach of trust.
High Court judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali said when reading the judgment: “I find that the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. I therefore find the accused guilty and convict the accused on all seven charges."
He also noted that the defence “has not succeeded in rebutting the presumption on the balance of probabilities or raising reasonable doubt” on the abuse of power charge.
The charges against Najib, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, involved the transfer of RM42 million (US$9.8 million) from former 1MDB unit SRC International into his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015.
He was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power.
Following the verdict, Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked for the sentencing to be postponed until Aug 3. “As we are aware, the whole country is in lockdown, my client isn’t going anywhere,” he said.
The prosecution, however, said that there is no valid reason for postponing the sentencing.
The court was told in the course of the trial that Najib was “shocked and upset” when he found out that millions of ringgit had been transferred into his private accounts.
Najib's defence team had argued that he was merely a victim of a conspiracy planned by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho commonly known as Jho Low.
Besides this trial, Najib is also facing two other 1MDB-linked trials. The corruption case related to an alleged money laundering of RM27 million will be tried at Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan's court from July 5 next year.
In 2018, after the Najib-led Barisan Nasional government was ousted in the 14th general election, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the next prime minister on his second stint in office, called for investigations on the 1MDB scandal to be reopened.
In the months that followed, Najib was barred from leaving the country and police had seized cash and other valuable items from premises linked to him.
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.
Supporters of Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak stand outside the gate of the Duta Court complex on July 28, 2020.
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.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's former prime minister Najib Razak arrived at a Kuala Lumpur court on Tuesday (Jul 28) to hear a verdict in the first of several graft trials linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
A high court judge is scheduled to open proceedings at 10am before delivering a ruling on seven charges that Najib faces over allegations he received RM42 million (US$9.9 million) from former 1MDB unit SRC International in 2014.
He has pleaded not guilty to criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power.
"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.
Some of Najib's supporters had gathered near the courthouse early on Tuesday. Roads to the court were closed off for security reasons.
If convicted, the former premier could be punished with hefty fines and jail terms of up to 15 or 20 years on each charge.
It is unclear if he will be sentenced immediately if found guilty. His lawyers have said sentencing could be delayed or suspended due to the complex nature of the case.
The implementation of the sentence can also be stayed if Najib pursues an appeal at the federal court.
Najib faces dozens of criminal charges over allegations that US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB.
Prosecutors allege more than US$1 billion of the funds made its way into his personal accounts.
Najib's lawyers say he was misled by Malaysian financier Jho Low and other 1MDB officials into believing that the funds banked into his accounts were donated by the Saudi royal family, rather than misappropriated from SRC as prosecutors have alleged. Low denies wrongdoing.
Allegations of corruption over 1MDB have hung over Najib for more than five years. But the criminal charges came only after his defeat in the 2018 election when his successor Mahathir Mohamad reopened investigations.
The closely watched case is seen as a test of Malaysia's efforts to root out corruption, after Najib's party was returned to power in February as part of an alliance led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
The verdict could have far reaching political implications.
A guilty verdict could boost Muhyiddin's credibility with the public, but weaken his coalition, which counts Najib's United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) as its biggest component - and potentially trigger snap polls.
An acquittal could turn public sentiment against Muhyiddin, and encourage the opposition to challenge the ruling coalition's two-seat majority in parliament.
The court's decision comes just days after Malaysia reached a US$3.9 billion deal with Goldman Sachs over its role in helping 1MDB raise money.
HANOI: Vietnam has suspended all flights to and from Danang for 15 days starting Tuesday after at least 14 cases of the novel coronavirus had been detected in the city, the government said on Tuesday (Jul 28).
The country has also suspended all passenger bus and train services to and from the city, the government said in a statement.
Until the weekend it appeared that Vietnam had managed to stub out the virus - and with lockdowns lifted since late April, domestic tourists had flocked back to the coastal city of Danang.
But fresh restrictions on movement, including stopping buses and taxis within the city, were announced following the discovery of Vietnam's first locally transmitted COVID-19 infection in nearly 100 days.
After a 57-year-old retired Vietnamese man in Danang was confirmed to have the disease on Saturday - the first community transmission since Apr 16 - more than a dozen new infections were found.
On Monday, the government said it had requested the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to allow domestic airlines to significantly increase the number of flights from Danang to 11 Vietnamese cities in order to help evacuate 80,000 people, mostly tourists.
"All evacuation flights now are cancelled," CAAV deputy director Vo Huy Cuong told Reuters by phone on Tuesday.
"We operated 90 flights to evacuate tourists stranded in Danang yesterday but most tourists had already left Danang on Sunday, mostly by coach or train to nearby provinces," Cuong said.
Trains, boats to islands, buses, taxis and tourist vehicles in Danang will also be halted for 15 days.
Most of the new cases in Danang were linked to three hospitals, which will be "put under lockdown from 12am on July 28 until further notice", according to an announcement on the city's website.
Meanwhile, residents in most of the city's districts were advised to stay home unless absolutely necessary, with a ban on gatherings of more than two people in public.
So far Vietnam has reported a total of just 431 virus cases - including the new patients in Danang - and no deaths, winning praise for its handling of the epidemic.
Two of the Danang cases were in critical condition, Vietnam's health ministry said.
Authorities were quick to lock down the country after the virus emerged in neighbouring China, with a rigorous state quarantine and contact-tracing system.
Vietnam is still closed to foreign tourism, and international flights remain strictly limited with a two-week mandatory quarantine for repatriated citizens.
