Malaysian court upholds ex-premier Najib's graft conviction

Malaysia's Appeal Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak linked to the massive looting of the 1MDB state investment fund that brought down his government in 2018.

Najib was sentenced to 12 years in jail after a high court ruled in July 2020 that he was guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering for illegally receiving 42 million ringgit ( 9.9 million) from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB.

The Appeal Court's ruling was delivered via a Zoom hearing after a defence lawyer was suspected to have contracted COVID-19.

We dismiss the appeal... and affirm the conviction by the High Court on all seven charges, said Appeal Court judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.

Najib can still appeal to the Federal Court, the country's top court.

The ruling was part of the first of several corruption trials against Najib that are linked to the 1MDB scandal, which sparked investigations in the US and several other countries. US investigators alleged that over 4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB and laundered by Najib's associates.

Najib, who set up 1MDB shortly after taking office in 2009, has denied all wrongdoing and said the charges against him were political. He is out on bail pending the appeal. He has just returned from Singapore, after the court approved his request earlier to travel to be with his daughter who has just given birth.

Despite his graft conviction, Najib, 68, remains politically influential and his United Malays National Organization party has rebounded from its 2018 shocking election ouster.

UMNO returned to government in March 2020 as part of a new coalition that took power from the reformist government that won 2018 elections. In August, UMNO took back the premiership after one of its leaders was appointed the country's new prime minister following a power struggle.

Defence lawyers argue that Najib has been denied a fair trial because the high court judge made serious misdirections in the trial. Najib has said he wasn't aware of the SRC money channelled into his bank accounts and that he was misled by Malaysian fugitive financier Low Taek Jho.

But the judge said Najib's argument that he was duped by Low into believing the money was part of a donation by the Saudi royal family - to keep Najib from being suspicious of the 1MDB plundering - was far-fetched and a weak fabrication. Investigators have identified Low as the mastermind behind the looting of 1MDB and he remains at large.

Najib faces a total of 42 charges in five separate trials, some of which are ongoing. His wife is also on trial for graft.