Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal: Najib sentenced to 15 years in jail for abuse of power, money laundering
The ruling comes after a years-long trial in the financial fraud that saw more than US$4.5 billion plundered from the state fund
The High Court found Najib, 72, guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering, after taking account of his “direct role” in the siphoning of 2.3 billion ringgit (US$568 million) from the troubled sovereign wealth fund.
“I have taken into account the public interest and the need for deterrence, as well as the mitigating and aggravating factors raised by both sides,” Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said as he meted out the sentence.
“I have also considered and taken into account the antecedents of the accused, including the fact and the length of his public service and the other mitigating factors advanced in the respect of the sentencing provision.”
Sequerah sentenced Najib to 15 years in jail on each of the four counts of abuse of power and five years in prison for each of the 21 charges of money laundering. The sentences would be served concurrently.
The judge also fined Najib 11.4 billion ringgit (US$2.82 billion). If Najib failed to pay the fine, the court ruled, he would have to serve an additional 10 years, on top of his current imprisonment.
Najib was also ordered to return 2.08 billion ringgit deemed to be proceeds of money-laundering offences, failing which he faces up to two years in jail.