Najib Razak, prime minister of Malaysia between 2009 and 2018, has finally been sent to jail to start serving a 12-year sentence for his role in the massive corruption scandal involving the country’s state-owned wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.
The marching order came from Malaysia’s Federal Court which on August 23 dismissed Razak’s final appeal and upheld a guilty conviction on various 1MDB charges.
The 69-year-old was convicted in July 2020 by the High Court on seven counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from a former unit of 1MDB. He appealed and had been out on bail since.
Nearly $50 million in fines
The conviction included not only the prison term but also a fine of 210 million ringgit ($46.8 million). If Razak fails to pay the fine, he will be serving another five years in prison.
The Federal Court denied Razak’s request to postpone his sentence after he in a last-minute attempt tried to delay the court from delivering its final verdict by changing lawyers just before the start of the appeal hearing.
The conviction means Razak will lose his parliamentary seat and cannot contest elections. He also faces several other 1MDB trials but continues to deny any wrongdoing.
Two options left
The ex-prime minister now has two options left. He could apply for a review of the Federal Court decision, though such applications are rarely successful. He can also seek a royal pardon. If successful with the latter, he could be released without serving the full 12-year term.
Prosecutors have said in total some $4.5 billion were stolen from 1MDB, which was co-founded by Razak as prime minister in 2009, and over $1 billion allegedly went to Najib in what the US Department of Justice has described as its “biggest kleptocracy investigation.”
Various recipients of the siphoned-off 1MDB funds, including fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, used the money to buy luxury assets and real estate, art paintings, a private jet, a superyacht, hotels, jewelry and to finance the 2013 Hollywood film “The Wolf of Wall Street”, US lawsuits have said.
“Most unfair”
“It’s the worst feeling to have to realise that the might of the judiciary is pinned against me in the most unfair manner,” Najib told the court.
A day before the final verdict, he said in a Facebook post that he was “overwhelmed” and felt “betrayed and alone.”
Razak was transported to Kajang Prison, located 30 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, in a police motorcade about an hour after the court delivered its ruling.
Najib Razak, prime minister of Malaysia between 2009 and 2018, has finally been sent to jail to start serving a 12-year sentence for his role in the massive corruption scandal involving the country’s state-owned wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB. The marching order came from Malaysia’s Federal Court which on August 23 dismissed Razak’s final appeal and upheld a guilty conviction on various 1MDB charges. The 69-year-old was convicted in July 2020 by the High Court on seven counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from a former…
Najib Razak, prime minister of Malaysia between 2009 and 2018, has finally been sent to jail to start serving a 12-year sentence for his role in the massive corruption scandal involving the country’s state-owned wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.
The marching order came from Malaysia’s Federal Court which on August 23 dismissed Razak’s final appeal and upheld a guilty conviction on various 1MDB charges.
The 69-year-old was convicted in July 2020 by the High Court on seven counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving about $10 million from a former unit of 1MDB. He appealed and had been out on bail since.
Nearly $50 million in fines
The conviction included not only the prison term but also a fine of 210 million ringgit ($46.8 million). If Razak fails to pay the fine, he will be serving another five years in prison.
The Federal Court denied Razak’s request to postpone his sentence after he in a last-minute attempt tried to delay the court from delivering its final verdict by changing lawyers just before the start of the appeal hearing.
The conviction means Razak will lose his parliamentary seat and cannot contest elections. He also faces several other 1MDB trials but continues to deny any wrongdoing.
Two options left
The ex-prime minister now has two options left. He could apply for a review of the Federal Court decision, though such applications are rarely successful. He can also seek a royal pardon. If successful with the latter, he could be released without serving the full 12-year term.
Prosecutors have said in total some $4.5 billion were stolen from 1MDB, which was co-founded by Razak as prime minister in 2009, and over $1 billion allegedly went to Najib in what the US Department of Justice has described as its “biggest kleptocracy investigation.”
Various recipients of the siphoned-off 1MDB funds, including fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, used the money to buy luxury assets and real estate, art paintings, a private jet, a superyacht, hotels, jewelry and to finance the 2013 Hollywood film “The Wolf of Wall Street”, US lawsuits have said.
“Most unfair”
“It’s the worst feeling to have to realise that the might of the judiciary is pinned against me in the most unfair manner,” Najib told the court.
A day before the final verdict, he said in a Facebook post that he was “overwhelmed” and felt “betrayed and alone.”
Razak was transported to Kajang Prison, located 30 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, in a police motorcade about an hour after the court delivered its ruling.
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