Malaysia’s ex-Premier Najib challenges 15-year prison term in corruption, money laundering case

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) - Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak is appealing his guilty verdict and prison sentence in a corruption and money laundering case, his lawyer confirmed on Tuesday.

Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told the Malay Mail that his appeal was filed at the Court of Appeals on Monday night.

Last Friday, a Malaysian court sentenced the former premier to 15 years in prison and imposed a fine of 11.3 billion Malaysian ringgits (about $2.7 billion) after he was found guilty on four charges of abusing his power and 21 counts of money laundering involving 2.3 billion ringgits ($568 million).

High Court Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered Najib’s jail term to begin in 2028, after he completes his six-year sentence in a case related to SRC International, a subsidiary of 1MDB.

Najib, 72, has faced several trials in connection with the 1MDB scandal, as both Malaysian and US authorities allege that around $4.5 billion was embezzled from the state fund in a wide-ranging international scheme from 2009 to 2014.

He was found guilty in 2020 of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for illegally receiving funds misappropriated from 1MDB.

Last year, the Malaysian monarchy granted him a pardon, cutting his 12-year sentence in half.

In July, Najib applied to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, but his request was denied.