On Wednesday, November 7, 2021, a Malaysian appeals court rejected the appeal submitted by former Prime Minister Muhammad Najib Abdul Razak, 67, against his conviction on corruption charges.

Najib was convicted of breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering for illegally receiving approximately $10 million from the SRC International unit of the dissolved fund.

The court upheld a 12-year prison sentence imposed on him in July 2020, for his involvement in the scandal of embezzlement of millions of dollars from the Malaysian sovereign fund (1MDB), which caused the fall of his government in 2018.

According to his lawyer, Abdul Razzaq will appeal the verdict before the Federal Court of Cassation - the highest court in Malaysia - and then he will remain outside bars on bail until a final ruling is issued in this case.

Birth and upbringing

- July 23, 1953: Najeeb Muhammad bin Tun Haji Abd al-Razzaq was born in the small town of Kualalibis in the Fahagh Dar al-Maamour province.

He is the eldest of six children of Haji Abdul Razak, who was the second prime minister in Malaysia's history (1970-1976).

His uncle Tun Hussein Aoun is the third prime minister in the history of Malaysia, and he held the position from 1976 to 1981, the date of his abdication in favor of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Abdul Razzaq studied primary and secondary education at St. John's Institution in Kuala Lumpur.

He attended Malvern College in Worcester, England.

He received his BA in Industrial Economics in 1974 from the University of Nottingham, UK.

1974: Abdul Razzaq returned to Malaysia and entered the business world, and worked for a short period in the Malaysian Central Bank, then with Petronas (the Malaysian National Oil Company) as Director of Public Affairs.

From Parliament to the Prime Minister

1976: Abdul Razzaq was elected to Parliament to replace his deceased father in the Bikan seat in Fahag State.

1978: Najib was appointed as Deputy Minister of Energy, Communications and Post.

1982: Najib became the first minister in Fahag.

1986: Najib was re-elected to parliament.

1986: He was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in the government of Mahathir Muhammad.

January 7, 2004: He became deputy prime minister under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

- April 3, 2009: He assumed the position of Prime Minister after his companion in the ruling United Malays National Organization, Abdullah Badawi, submitted his resignation.

- May 2013: The ruling National Front coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Abdel Razak won the general elections by a simple majority, extending his 56-year rule of the country, after it was confirmed that it won two-thirds of the seats.

- The Electoral Commission said that Abdul Razzaq's coalition won more than 112 of the 222 parliament seats.

Abdul Razzaq was known for saying that Malaysia was never secular because secularism by the Western definition means separating Islamic principles from the ways in which we govern the country.

700 million dollars.. charges of financial corruption

- After assuming the position of prime minister, the Minister of Tourism accused him of financial corruption, and the minister stated that "millions of dollars were put into Najib Abdul Razzaq's bank account at the hands of a sister country."

The American Wall Street Journal reported that investigations revealed that about $700 million was deposited in the personal accounts of Prime Minister Najib.

Najib responded with his willingness to reveal the source of the funds in his bank accounts if the opposition parties disclosed their balances, and denied receiving money from the government investment fund or any party for the purpose of personal profit.

Demonstrations took place in the Malaysian street calling for Najib's resignation and condemning mismanagement and financial corruption, and former Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad intervened, calling for measures to be taken to withhold confidence from Najib, accusing him of buying the loyalty of parliamentarians in positions.

August 2015: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (an independent body) acquitted Najib of embezzling $700 million, saying that this amount was contributions from donors and not from the investment fund, and has nothing to do with a corruption scandal or embezzlement of funds.

October 2, 2015: Najib Abdul Razzaq announced his country's intention to receive 3,000 Syrian refugees within 3 years.

Arrest and travel ban

July 3, 2018: Najib was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Authority.

May 10, 2018: Mahathir Muhammad was sworn in as Prime Minister and pledged to investigate the graft scandal of Abdul Razzaq.

May 11, 2018: Malaysian sources said that Mahathir will appoint an advisor from the Ministry of Finance to oversee the recovery of billions of dollars stolen from the fund.

May 12, 2018: The Malaysian Immigration Department issued a travel ban on Abdul Razzaq and his wife.

November 11, 2019: Judge Muhammad Nazlan Muhammad Ghazali announced before the Supreme Court in Kuala Lumpur that Abdul Razzaq faces seven charges in connection with the embezzlement of 42 million ringgit ($10 million) from a branch of the Malaysian sovereign fund.

July 28, 2020: Sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fine of 210 million Malaysian ringgit ($50 million), at the end of the first of five large-scale graft-related trials during his nine years as prime minister.

March 2021: His political party (the United Malays National Organization) decided to stop cooperating with the government of the current Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, in the upcoming elections.

April 5, 2021: The Malaysian Court of Appeal refused to defer consideration of the appeals brought by Najib Abdul Razak against the decision of his conviction by the Supreme Court.

Abdul Razzaq received a bankruptcy notice for failing to pay taxes exceeding $ 400 million, in a move that Najib described as an attempt to destroy his political career.

August 16, 2021: Muhyiddin Yassin resigns as prime minister, after less than 18 months in office, due to internal conflicts in his coalition, which led to him losing his parliamentary majority.

August 20, 2021: Ismail Sabri Yaqoub, 61, is appointed as the new prime minister. He belongs to Najib's party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), which was ousted from power three years ago.

- September 19, 2021: Abdul Razzaq said that he does not rule out seeking re-election in Parliament within the next two years, despite his conviction on corruption charges that prevent him from running.

November 19, 2021: Abdul-Zarraq leads his party to win the local legislative elections of the southern state of Malacca with his partners in the national government.

The party won two-thirds of the state parliament’s seats, and controlled through its alliances 21 of the 28 contested seats, while its partner in the government secured two seats.