![Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives at court on Tuesday morning. A judge found him guilty on all seven counts [Ted Regencia/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/mbdxxlarge/mritems/Images/2020/7/28/e5e3b3e1f4e247dbbe0e5746bd36fcd6_18.jpg "Malaysia's Najib gets 12 years in jail for 1MDB-linked graft case")
KUALA LUMPUR-(MaraviPost)-Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to serve up to 12 years in jail after a court in Kuala Lumpur found him guilty of corruption in the first of several cases linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB.
The ruling on Tuesday makes Najib the first Malaysian leader to be convicted of corruption.
AlJazeera understands that Judge Mohamad Nazlan Ghazali found the former prime minister guilty on all seven charges filed against him over his role in diverting an estimated 42 million ringgit ($9.8m) from SRC International, a unit of 1MDB, into his personal bank accounts.
Najib was given 12 years in jail on one count of abuse of power, 10 years each for three counts of criminal breach of trust and 10 years each for three counts of money laundering. But the judge ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning Najib will serve 12 years in prison.
“I find that the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. I therefore find the accused guilty and convict the accused on all seven charges,” the judge said.
In addition to the prison term, Najib was also ordered to pay a fine of 210 million ringgit (US$49m). And although the charges also carry a sentence of whipping, the former prime minister, who is 67 years old, was spared the cane.
The conviction comes just six days after the High Court ordered Najib to pay the government as much as 1.69 billion ringgit ($400m) in unpaid taxes and penalties, covering the years from 2011 to 2017.
