Court Jails Ex-Malaysian Prime Minister to 15 Years in Prison for Fraud

A Malaysian court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Najib Razak to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty on multiple counts of abuse of power and money laundering linked to the multibillion-dollar 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal.

The trial judge handed Najib 15-year jail terms on each of the four counts of abuse of power, as well as five years’ imprisonment for each of the 21 money laundering charges.

The sentences are to run concurrently.

Najib, 72, has been in custody since August 2022 following an earlier conviction related to the 1MDB case, a state fund he co-founded in 2009 during his tenure as prime minister.

He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.