Former Malaysian leader sentenced to 15 years after corruption trial

Malaysian former prime minister Najib Razak, centre, is escorted by prison officers on his arrival at the Kuala Lumpur High Court complex for an earlier hearing (Vincent Thian/AP)

Imprisoned former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 15 years and a hefty 13.5 billion ringgit (£2 billion) in fines and seizure of assets after being convicted on Friday in his biggest corruption trial tied to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund.

The nation’s High Court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than 700 million dollars (£519 million) channelled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund.