The judge has not yet completed the full reading of the verdict or announced the sentence. Najib faces four corruption charges and 21 money laundering charges connected to illegal transfers from the state fund. Investigators in Malaysia and the United States say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a fund Najib helped set up in 2009. More than $1 billion allegedly went into accounts linked to him, which he has always denied.

The court heard that Najib received illegal transfers worth over 2.3 billion ringgit, around $569.45 million. Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah rejected Najib’s claim that the case was politically motivated.

“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,” the judge said while reading the verdict.

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However, Najib could face between 15 and 20 years in jail on each charge, along with heavy fines. He has been in prison since August 2022 after Malaysia’s top court upheld an earlier corruption conviction. His 12-year sentence in that case was later reduced.

Najib has said he was misled by 1MDB officials and fugitive financier Jho Low, believing the money in his account was a donation from the Saudi royal family. The judge dismissed this claim as “implausible”.

“The irresistible conclusion is that the Arab donation narrative is not meritorious,” the judge said, adding that the money clearly came from 1MDB funds.

Jho Low, who is charged in the United States, denies wrongdoing and remains missing. The verdict comes days after a court rejected Najib’s request for house arrest, a decision that stirred debate within Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government. Anwar later urged calm and asked all sides to accept the court’s decision with “full patience and wisdom”.