{"id":17392,"date":"2020-07-28T00:56:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T04:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=17392"},"modified":"2020-07-28T02:32:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T06:32:39","slug":"najib-razak-former-malaysian-pm-guilty-on-all-charges-in-corruption-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2020\/07\/28\/najib-razak-former-malaysian-pm-guilty-on-all-charges-in-corruption-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Najib Razak: Former Malaysian PM guilty on all charges in corruption trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak has been found guilty of all seven charges in the first of several multi-million dollar corruption trials.<\/p>\n

He had pleaded not guilty to the charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering, and abuse of power.<\/p>\n

The case against Najib, in office from 2009 to 2018, was widely seen as a test of Malaysia’s anti-corruption efforts.<\/p>\n

The scandal around Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund has uncovered a global web of fraud and corruption.<\/p>\n

Najib could now face decades in prison – but he is expected to remain out of prison until appeals are exhausted.<\/p>\n

“After considering all evidence in this trial, I find that the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali told the Kuala Lumpur High Court.<\/p>\n

What were the accusations?<\/h2>\n

Tuesday’s verdicts centred on 42 million ringgit ($10m, \u00a37.7m) transferred from the fund to the then-prime minister’s private accounts.<\/p>\n

Najib denies all wrongdoing and says he was misled by financial advisers – in particular fugitive financier Jho Low.<\/p>\n

Jho Low has been charged in both the US and Malaysia, but also maintains his innocence.<\/p>\n

Najib’s defence team argued he was led to believe the funds in his accounts were donated by the Saudi royal family – rather than misappropriated from the state fund.<\/p>\n

The charges carry as much as 15 to 20 years in prison each. Before the verdict, Najib said he would appeal if found guilty.<\/p>\n

What is the 1MDB scandal?<\/h2>\n

The 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund was set up in 2009, when Najib Razak was prime minister, to boost the country’s economic development.<\/p>\n

In 2015, questions were raised around its activities after it missed payments owed to banks and bondholders.<\/p>\n

Malaysian and US authorities allege that $4.5bn was illicitly plundered from the fund and diverted into private pockets.<\/p>\n

The missing money has been linked to luxury real estate, a private jet, Van Gogh and Monet artworks – and even a Hollywood blockbuster, the Wolf of Wall Street.<\/p>\n

Last week,\u00a0US bank Goldman Sachs reached a $3.9bn (\u00a33bn) settlement<\/a>\u00a0with the Malaysian government for its role in the multi-billion-dollar corruption scheme.<\/p>\n

The deal resolved charges in Malaysia that the bank misled investors when it helped raise $6.5bn for 1MDB.<\/p>\n

More on the 1MDB scandal<\/h2>\n