KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court on Wednesday ordered former Prime Minister Najib Razak to settle 1.69 billion ringgit ($397.41 million) in unpaid taxes over seven years while he was still in office, according to a report by national newswire Bernama.
Defeated in the 2018 general election amid widespread outrage over allegedly rampant graft in his government, Najib is facing multiple charges of corruption and abuse of power linked to billions of dollars Malaysian prosecutors say was siphoned off from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). A separate U.S. Department of Justice investigation to track down assets bought with funds allegedly stolen from 1MDB was the biggest case pursued by the department under its kleptocracy programme.–Agencies
