Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (C) is escorted by police to a courthouse in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 25, 2018.
Mohd Rasfan | AFP | Getty Images
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found guilty of all seven charges in the first of his five trials linked to the multi-billion dollar financial scandal at state fund 1MDB.
Najib stepped down as prime minister after the political coalition he led lost in the country’s 2018 general elections — which many analysts attributed partly to the 1MDB scandal. Najib has remained a member of parliament and an influential figure within his coalition.
But his conviction on Tuesday could affect his overall presence in the Malaysian political scene, said Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at think tank Singapore Institute of International Affairs.
Najib faced three counts of money laundering, three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power. Najib had allegedly illegally received nearly $10 million from SRC International — a unit under 1MDB.
Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali, a judge at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, said the prosecution “has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
He earlier pleaded not guilty and said he would appeal the guilty verdict.
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