Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak gets 15 more years in jail in 1MDB scam, will have to pay heavy fine

News India Live, Digital Desk: Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak has been convicted in a major corruption case related to the country’s biggest financial scam, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in this case and has also been imposed a huge fine of 13.5 billion ringgit (about 2.8 billion US dollars). Najib, aged 72, was found guilty of four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering. This decision has been given by the Kuala Lumpur High Court. 1MDB scam: What is the whole matter? Najib Razak was the Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. He established a government investment fund called 1MDB soon after becoming Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, he was also the Chairman of its Advisory Board and as Finance Minister, he had ‘veto’ power on many major decisions. It is alleged that between 2009 and 2014, Najib and his associates embezzled billions of dollars from this government fund. According to the US Justice Department, more than $4.5 billion was laundered through money laundering. Of this, about $700 million (or 2.2 billion Malaysian ringgit) was deposited into his personal bank accounts. This money was used to finance Hollywood films, buy expensive things such as expensive hotels, a luxury yacht, art works and jewellery. The then US Attorney General Jeff Sessions called it ‘the worst form of corruption’. Punishment and legal battle This is Najib’s second major conviction related to the 1MDB scam. He is already serving a 6-year sentence in another 1MDB-related case, the SRC International case, which was later reduced to 6 years from the 12-year sentence he was sentenced in 2020. He had to go to jail in August 2022 after his last appeal was rejected, making him the first former Prime Minister of Malaysia to go to jail. The court has now ordered that the jail sentences of 15 years for each charge of abuse of power and 5 years for each charge of money laundering will run concurrently. This means that he will have to remain in jail for 15 more years in this new case, which will start after the completion of his existing six-year sentence. Additionally, if Najib does not pay a fine of 13.5 billion ringgit, he could face an additional 10 years in prison. Najib’s defense and the ‘fugitive’ financier Najib has consistently denied all charges against him. He said that this money was a donation received from the royal family of Saudi Arabia. During the trial, he also said that he was misled by fugitive financier Jho Low, who has been on the wanted list of Interpol since 2016. However, the court rejected these arguments of Najib and said that there was solid evidence against him. The impact of this big scam was not limited to Malaysia only, but it had an impact at the global level. The US Justice Department also investigated the matter, and major investment banks such as Goldman Sachs were fined billions of dollars for their role in raising funds for 1MDB.