馬來西亞前總理納吉布·拉扎克（Najib Razak）在貪污審判中被判有罪。 Malaysia Development Berhad scandala：39億美元的和解協議將取消對該銀行在1MDB中的作用的所有刑事指控。
Najib Razak, Malaysia’s Former Prime Minister, Found Guilty in Graft Trial
Mr. Najib was sentenced to up to 12 years in prison and faces fines of nearly $50 million on charges of abuse of power, breach of trust and money laundering.
The former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, center, arriving at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.Credit...Fazry Ismail/EPA, via Shutterstock
By
Richard C. PaddockJuly 28, 2020Updated 8:01 a.m. ET
BANGKOK — For 45 years, Najib Razak was a master of Malaysia’s cutthroat politics. The son and nephew of prime ministers, he was elected to Parliament at 22 and rose to the country’s highest office. As prime minister he was all but untouchable —
critics called him the “Man of Steal” — even as $4.5 billion disappeared from a government investment fund he controlled.
On Tuesday, he was finally held to account.
After years of allegations that he pilfered government coffers to lead a life of excess and luxury, he was found guilty on seven corruption counts and sentenced to up to 12 years in prison and fined nearly $50 million. The sentence was stayed pending appeal.
The sweeping verdict was a stunning setback for Mr. Najib, whose political party had recently returned to power after forcing out the
reformist government that won elections in 2018.
His political foes applauded the verdict and praised the independence of the trial court. But experts said the verdict could be overturned on appeal in what is likely to be a yearslong process.
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Continue reading the main storyThe severity of the sentence came as a surprise to some, after the government recently cut a deal with Mr. Najib’s stepson that allowed him to keep millions of dollars that were believed to have been stolen from the same
Malaysia Development Berhad fund.
Tuesday’s trial was the first of five related to the theft of billions from the investment fund, commonly known as 1MDB, and Mr. Najib was found guilty on all seven charges of abuse of power, breach of trust and money laundering.
The stolen money was traced by prosecutors to the
purchases of a mega-yacht and a Picasso painting, as well as an investment in the Hollywood blockbuster “The Wolf of Wall Street.” About $1 billion of the money ended up in Mr. Najib’s personal bank accounts, creating the national scandal that
led to the ouster of his party, the United Malays National Organization, in elections two year ago.
The court rejected Mr. Najib’s defense that the theft was carried out without his knowledge by
Jho Low, a wealthy Malaysian businessman who is accused of masterminding the crime and remains an international fugitive.
“After considering all evidence in this trial, I find that the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali of the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
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Continue reading the main storyBefore the sentence was pronounced, Mr. Najib appealed to the judge for leniency, noting his contributions as a public official and that the country prospered during his nine years as prime minister. He said he did not solicit the $9.8 million payment nor was it offered to him.
Mr. Najib, 67, still faces dozens of additional charges. Many of the charges against him carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Mr. Najib remains a member of Parliament, and his party, popularly known as UMNO, returned to power in February, improving the chances that he will not have to spend time behind bars. His conviction could undermine the credibility of the current government headed by his ally, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, which came to power without an election and holds a bare majority in Parliament.
James Chin, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania and an expert on Malaysian politics, said the guilty verdict would likely eventually be overturned on appeal.
“People should not be celebrating, because in the Malaysian context, many of the judgments in these political cases get reversed in the appeals court,” he said. “I expect Najib to appeal, and he will probably win the appeal. In the long term, I expect Najib to get away with it as long as UMNO is in power.”
In this trial, Mr. Najib faced seven charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power for illegally receiving transfers of $9.8 million from SRC International, a former unit of the investment fund commonly known as 1MDB.
The sentence included 12 years for the abuse of power and 10 years for each of the other charges. In Malaysia, sentences run concurrently, so the maximum he would serve would be 12 years in prison.
By Alexandra Stevenson and Matthew Goldstein
The deal settles charges in Malaysia against the Wall Street bank for its role in helping to raise hundreds of millions for a sovereign wealth fund that was used as a personal piggy bank.
BREAKING: Goldman Sachs and Malaysia reach a $3.9 billion settlement deal that would drop all criminal charges against the bank for its role in 1MDB.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1Malaysia_Development_Berhad_scandal
一個馬來西亞發展有限公司醜聞（英語：1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal）， 簡
一個馬來西亞發展有限公司醜聞（英語：
1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal）， 簡稱「
一馬公司醜聞」（1MDB scandal），是指一宗非法盜用
一馬公司大筆資金和牽涉國家政治的貪污醜聞。這宗醜聞也是導致馬來西亞
政權交替的一個主要因素。
[1]
2015年，
馬來西亞首相納吉遭
反對黨指控，將
馬來西亞政府管轄的一馬公司資金轉入他的個人銀行戶口，涉及金額超過26.7億令吉（近7億美元）。事件被揭發後，隨即激起馬來西亞人民的批評聲浪，其中
馬哈地在未回任首相之前曾帶頭呼籲納吉辭職，
[2]而當時的公正黨實權領袖
安華也公開質疑一馬公司的財務。根據一馬公司公開提交的帳戶報告，該公司累計了將近420億令吉（117.3億美元）的債務，
[3]當中一部分是於2013年由
高盛公司牽頭發行和由國家擔保的30億美元債券，傳媒也報導
高盛公司從這筆交易中賺取高達3億美元費用，不過該公司反駁了這項報導
[4]。
馬來西亞統治者會議則認為，此問題將引發馬來西亞的信任危機，並呼籲當時的政府應儘速完成調查。
[5][6]
2018年馬來西亞大選，納吉領導的
國民陣線無法繼續獲得選民支持而敗北，馬哈地領導的新政府上台後則表示將有足夠的證據重新調查一馬公司醜聞。
[7]大選後的數月內，馬來西亞政府先是禁止納吉出境，後搜查與他有關聯的住宅，充公了大量現金和貴重物品，亦將他提控上庭，罪名包括失信、洗黑錢和濫用權力。
[8]另外，有關當局亦指控案件的另一名關鍵人物——商人
劉特佐犯下洗黑錢罪行，並對他發出全球通輯令。
[9]
人群圍觀正在關閉的美駐成都總領事館 REUTERS - THOMAS PETER