Billion-dollar scandal: Ex-prime minister should be sentenced to 15 years in prison

The 72-year-old has been serving a prison sentence since August 2022 in another case, which also concerns the sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has always denied wrongdoing.

Unbelievable arguments

According to investigators in Malaysia and the US, at least $4.5 billion was embezzled from the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, which Najib co-founded in 2009. Najib had repeatedly said he was misled by fugitive financier Jho Low and other 1MDB officials about the origin of the funds. He assumed that these were donations from the Saudi royal family. However, Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah called that argument implausible. The compelling conclusion is that the funds actually came from the 1MDB fund. Low is facing charges in the US for his central role in the case. His whereabouts are unknown and he has also denied any wrongdoing.

The scandal spread widely and also involved international financial institutions. US investment bank Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $3.9 billion in 2020 to settle investigations into its role in issuing bonds for 1MDB. However, after the government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim renegotiated the agreement, Goldman Sachs sued the state. The auditing firm KPMG also paid $80 million in a settlement in 2021. This involved audits from 2010 to 2012.