News brief
The nation鈥檚 High Court found Najib Razak guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than $700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund. He聽has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and must pay 13.5 billion ringgit ($3.3 billion). Mr. Najib denied wrongdoing, claiming the funds were a Saudi donation. The ruling marked a major milestone in one of the world鈥檚 largest financial scandals, which rippled across global markets and triggered investigations in the United States and other nations.聽Najib, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, is already serving a prison sentence after being convicted in an earlier case linked to the 1MDB scandal, which led to his government鈥檚 defeat in 2018. The new sentence will begin after his current prison term ends.
