• Ex-PM Najib charged with four counts of corruption.
• Former premier also faces 21 counts of money laundering.
• $4.5bn stolen; over $1bn make way to accounts linked to Najib. 
  

KUALA LUMPUR: Jailed former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was found guilty of abuse of power on Friday in the biggest trial yet in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, a ruling that could have significant political repercussions.

The judge had yet to deliver the full verdict and sentencing.

Malaysia and US investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state fund Najib co-founded in 2009 while in office. More than $1 billion allegedly made its way into accounts linked to Najib, who has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Najib has been charged with four counts of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering for receiving illegal transfers of more than 2.3 billion ringgit ($569.45 million) from 1MDB. He had consistently denied wrongdoing.

“The contention by the accused that the charges against him were a witch hunt and politically motivated was debunked by the cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence against him that pointed towards the accused having abused his own powerful position in 1MDB, coupled with the extensive powers conferred upon him,” Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said in an ongoing reading of the verdict.

Najib could face maximum jail terms of between 15 and 20 years on each charge, as well as a fine of up to five times the value of the alleged misappropriations.

Najib, 72, has been in prison since August 2022, when Malaysia’s top court upheld a verdict convicting him of corruption for illegally receiving funds from a 1MDB unit. His 12-year jail sentence in that case was halved last year by a pardons board.

Link with fugitive financier

Najib last year apologised for mishandling the scandal while in office but had consistently denied wrongdoing, saying repeatedly that he was misled by 1MDB officials and the fugitive financier, Jho Low, about the source of the funds.

Judge Sequerah, in reading the verdict, had earlier said evidence had revealed Najib had an “unmistakable bond and connection” with Low, who acted as the then prime minister’s “proxy and intermediary” in 1MDB affairs.

Low, who has been charged in the United States for his central role in the case, denies all wrongdoing, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Najib has maintained he was misled by Low and other 1MDB officials into believing that funds deposited into his account were donations from the Saudi royal family.

But Sequerah said Najib’s argument was “implausible” and dismissed letters on the donations produced by Najib that allegedly originated from the Saudi royal family, saying they were not corroborated by evidence and were probably forgeries.

“The irresistible conclusion is that the Arab donation narrative is not meritorious … the evidence pointed unmistakably to the fact that the monies were, in fact derived from 1MDB funds,” Sequerah said.

Govt’s test

The verdict came just days after another court denied a bid by Najib to serve his jail sentence under house arrest — a decision that reignited tensions within current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration.

Najib’s party, the United Malays National Organisation, campaigned against Anwar in a 2022 election but joined his coalition to form a government after the poll ended in a hung parliament.

Some UMNO leaders expressed disappointment with the decision to deny Najib house arrest and others were angered by social media posts by some members of Anwar’s coalition celebrating the earlier ruling.

Anwar on Tuesday called for calm, urging all parties to accept the court verdict with “full patience and wisdom”.

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor sent an emotional message to his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, after he was left out alone on a happy occasion.

On December 25, the York sisters joined King Charles and the extended members of the royal family at Sandringham, whereas their parents marked a sombre Christmas.

Andrew was photographed driving out of his current home, the massive Royal Lodge, which he and Fergie have to leave in the coming days.

In the clicked photos, the former Duke of York appeared visibly upset after his daughters decided to celebrate the event with the royals. 

For the unversed, on October 30, Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles stripped his brother of his royal titles and honours.

Moreover, the former Prince was asked to leave the Royal Lodge, and a private accommodation at Sandringham has been arranged for him by the monarch. 

Jessica Alba reflected on a scene from one of her iconic films that left her feeling ‘humiliated’.

The 44-year-old pointed out the infamous bridge sequence from 2005’s Fantastic Four where her character Sue Storm is forced to strip down in order to disappear from a crowd.

During her recent appearance at the Red Sea Film Festival Friday, Alba recalled admitted the scene was her ‘least favourite scene’ from the film.

Variety reported Alba telling the attendees, “I thought that was awful.”

“It was very humiliating in real life. I grew up with a pretty conservative family, and I am a pretty modest person. I dreaded that scene for weeks.

She further added confessing to having the trauma of filming that scene.

“I have a lot of whiplash from those days,” Cash Warren’s ex shared.

Despite the humiliation, Alba emphasized that she still admired Sue Storm as a character.

She described the Invisible Woman as ‘maternal’, ‘very kind’, and morally grounded.

Alba deemed Storm as the superhero who broke gender stereotypes at a time when women in action films were often portrayed as needing to be saved.

“[she was] not a pushover; she spoke her mind. No matter who you are, you can look up to her,” Alba said

Alba eventually stepped away from superhero films after Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007),

She directed her focus to her entrepreneurial career with The Honest Company.

The role of Sue Storm has been passed to Vanessa Kirby in Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps.