Court Dismisses Appeal, Finds No Evidence of Funds from Arab Royalty
Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of former Prime Minister Najib Razak in a case involving the misappropriation of RM42 million (S$13.5 million) from SRC International. The court dismissed his application for appeal and confirmed the High Court’s ruling, which found him guilty of seven charges related to the funds.
Judge Abdul Karim, delivering the unanimous decision, stated that there was “no good reason” to overturn the original verdict. The High Court had found that Najib was the “shadow director” of SRC International and had “full dominion” over the company. The panel of judges further concluded that there was no evidence to support Najib’s claims that the money came from an Arab royal family, as ample evidence showed the funds were sourced from SRC.
As a result, the court upheld Najib’s conviction, imposing a fine of RM210 million (S$67.8 million) and a 12-year prison sentence. In response, Najib’s defence team filed for a stay of execution, which was granted pending an appeal to the Federal Court. The stay conditions require Najib to maintain a bail of RM2 million (S$650,000) with two sureties and report to the police station twice a month.
