The son of one of Malaysia’s founding fathers, Najib Razak was groomed for the prime minister’s post from a young age.
But after helming the country for nine years, Najib is now behind bars, serving a six-year sentence for graft linked to the plunder of Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
The 72-year-old faces a pivotal verdict on Friday in a second major trial on fresh charges that could land him even more jail time if convicted.
Since his 2018 election loss, investigations under successive governments have ensnared Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor deeper in graft allegations.
It is a stunning reversal for a man who rose to power in 2009 promising reform amid calls to end the long-ruling coalition’s repressive tactics.
Najib initially promoted liberal views, repealing criticised security laws.
But many voters viewed the British-educated leader as an aloof elitist disconnected from ordinary Malaysians, a perception exacerbated by gaffes and unpopular moves like the 2015 goods and services tax, later scrapped.
Rosmah was also a constant lightning rod for critics due to her imperious manner and elaborately coiffed hair, which she once complained cost her 1,200 ringgit ($300) to style.
Malaysia’s minimum monthly wage at the time was 900 ringgit.
– ‘Cash is king’ –
Then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has said Najib told him in 2015 that “cash is king” in maintaining political support in Malaysia, a phrase that opponents turned against Najib as a sign of his hubris and corruption.
Money and power appeared to act as a firewall protecting Najib through a scandal involving Malaysia’s 2002 purchase of French submarines while he was defence minister, a deal brokered by a close associate.
Kickback claims followed, and the deal was tainted by the murder of Mongolian negotiator Altantuya Shaariibuu, shot and blown up with military explosives near Kuala Lumpur.
Two police officers who were former bodyguards to Najib were convicted.
Najib also denied rumours that he had had an affair with 28-year-old Altantuya.
– Final straw –
Launched by Najib in 2009 for development, 1MDB amassed debt after his re-election in 2013. Its missing funds were exposed around 2015.
Public outrage fuelled Mahathir’s electoral win in 2018 and set the stage for the investigations into Najib.
Probes in the United States revealed that hundreds of millions of dollars of funding had been diverted from 1MDB into properties in Los Angeles, New York and London.
Millions more were funnelled into art by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, a private jet, and the production of the Hollywood movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” by Najib’s stepson.
A New York Times report also alleged some of the money was spent on jewellery for Rosmah.
Najib denied any wrongdoing but was sentenced in 2020 to 12 years in prison after a first trial over 42 million ringgit siphoned from former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International into his personal bank accounts.
He began serving the jail term two years later after losing all his appeals. The term was later halved by a pardons board.
– More jail time? –
Friday’s verdict is seen as the main case against Najib, who faces four counts of abuse of power to obtain some 2.28 billion ringgit from 1MDB funds, and 21 counts of money laundering.
Defence lawyers blamed Najib’s close associate, the fugitive businessman Jho Low, seen as the mastermind of the scheme.
A conviction could add years to Najib’s sentence and deal a further blow to his lingering influence within Malaysia’s oldest political party, the United Malays National Organisation, which lost power in the 2018 election.
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© Agence France-Presse