Ex-Malaysian PM sentenced to 15 years, fined $2.8 bn for graft

Imprisoned former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 15 years and a hefty 13.5 billion ringgit ($2.8 billion) in fines after being convicted Friday in his biggest corruption trial tied to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund.

The nation's High Court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than $700 million channelled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund.

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah sentenced Najib to 15 years in prison for each charge of abuse of power, and five years for each of the money laundering charges.

The sentences are to run concurrently which means he will face another 15 years in prison. The new sentence will run after his current term for an earlier 1MDB case ends, the judge said. He also imposed a fine of 13.5 million ringgit. If Najib fails to pay, he faces another 10 years in prison.

Najib’s lawyer said they plan to appeal the verdict. Najib denied any wrongdoing and maintained the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal's mastermind, remains at large.

Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after taking office in 2009. He chaired 1MDB's advisory board and held veto power as finance minister while serving as prime minister. Between 2009 and 2014, top executives and associates of Najib looted over $4.5 billion from the fund, laundering it through countries including the US, Singapore and Switzerland, according to the US Justice Department.