A high court in Kuala Lumpur found former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak guilty on all seven corruption charges in his first trial relating to the disastrous 1MDB scandal.
Najib was found guilty on seven charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power over illegal obtainment of nearly $10 million from a former 1MDB unit, SRC International.
«After considering all evidence in this trial, I find that the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt,» according to a «Reuters» report quoting Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali.
This marks the first trial against Najib since allegations of corruption first emerged five years ago. Only after his defeat in the 2018 elections against successor Mahathir Mohamad were investigations reopened.
«Not Guilty»
Najib pleaded not guilty and said he would appeal any decision at the federal court while his lawyers are seeking to delay sentencing, the report added.
Defendants claim that Najib was misled by Malaysian financier Jho Low, who denies wrongdoing, and other 1MDB officials into wrongly believing that the funds transferred to his account were a Saudi royal family donation rather than a misappropriation from SRC International. Prosecutors claim that Najib’s personal accounts saw more than $1 billion of the alleged $4.5 billion stolen from 1MDB.
His guilty verdict was made one day after the Malaysian government agreed to a settlement deal with Goldman Sachs for $3.9 billion – a $2.5 billion cash payout and $1.4 billion in proceeds from 1MDB-linked assets – which was a $900 million improvement from the bank's previously rejected offering.
