Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak gets 12-year jail term in 1MDB case

Najib Razak was found guilty of corruption, money laundering; fined $50 million

A Malaysia court sentenced former prime minister Najib Razak to 12 years imprisonment after ruling him guilty in the first of a series of trials linked to 1MDB.

Najib was guilty Tuesday of all seven charges in the case involving 42 million ringgit ($10 million) of funds deposited in his personal accounts from a former unit of 1MDB. His lawyer has said an appeal against the ruling is a certainty, while seeking to keep him out of jail during the appeal process.

High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali sentenced him to 12 years in jail for one count of abuse of power, as well as 10 years each for three charges of money laundering and three criminal breach of trust charges, to be served concurrently. He must also pay a fine of 210 million ringgit. The judge told the court he found “the defense has not succeeded in rebutting the presumption on the balance of probabilities or raising reasonable doubt on the charge against the accused” as he delivered his judgment on the abuse of power charge. The verdict comes days after Malaysia resolved settlement talks with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. over the bank’s role in raising funds for 1MDB during Najib’s time as prime minister. 

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