Court finds Malaysia’s former PM Najib Razak guilty of abuse of power 

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found guilty in his second major trial involving the multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal.

The ruling was handed down by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday, where Najib, 72, faced four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering over the illegal transfer of about 2.2 billion Malaysian ringgit ($539 million) from 1MDB.

Prosecutors say Najib abused his position as prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB advisory board chairman to move large amounts of money from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund to his personal accounts more than a decade ago.

The marathon legal proceedings have spanned seven years, and saw lawyers call 76 witnesses to the stand, including Najib himself, over the course of the long-running trials.

Najib was previously found guilty and sentenced in 2020 to 12 years imprisonment for misappropriating around $9.9 million in 1MDB funds. His sentence was later commuted to six years.

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