The convicted former Prime Minister of Malaysia was temporarily released during the appeal period

29 July 2020


Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the court of the first instance for abuse of power,  trust and money laundering, has been temporarily released on monetary bail for the period of appeal to the appellate court, the online version of The Star newspaper reports.


The defense of the former Prime Minister will make an additional monetary bail of one million Malaysian ringgit (235,3 thousand dollars) during the day on Wednesday, the report said.


Before the first-instance verdict in the first of a series of cases involving billions of dollars in embezzlement from the state investment Fund 1MDB, Najib Razak had already been on temporary bail for a long time in this case, which also amounts to one million ringgit. The former Prime Minister is on temporary release simultaneously in all cases related to 1MDB, in which he appears as an accused, and each of the cases has a separate bail.

 

 

The 1MDB (1 Malaysia Development Berhad) Fund was established by the government of Najib Razak in 2009 on the basis of the previously existing investment Fund of the province (sultanate) Terengganu. As a national investment Fund, 1MDB has participated in dozens of investment projects in Malaysia and abroad. According to the investigation, during the activity of the Fund (2009 – 2016), more than 4 billion dollars were stolen from it.


The corruption scandal surrounding the 1MDB Fund was the main reason for the defeat of Najib Razak and the ruling coalition he led at that time in the 2018 elections. The former Prime Minister, his wife and several of his closest aides were arrested shortly after the election.

 

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Photo: Vincent Thian / AP / TASS

Based on materials from RIA Novosti