Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found guilty of abusing his power in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund. On Friday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court convicted him on four counts related to the illegal transfer of about 539 million dollars from the 1MDB project. Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah stated that the prosecution had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors accused Najib of misusing his positions as prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board to divert large sums into his personal accounts. The 1MDB scandal, first exposed in 2015, revealed Malaysia’s involvement in global fraud and corruption. Najib had previously been sentenced in 2020 to 12 years in prison for misappropriating 9.9 million dollars from the same fund, later reduced to six years.

Najib, who served as prime minister from 2009 to 2018, still faces 21 additional charges of money laundering, each carrying potential prison terms of 15 to 20 years. He has claimed that fugitive financier Jho Low misled him, though Low remains wanted by Interpol since 2016.