Malaysia’s High Court sentenced ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak to 15 years in prison after convicting him on 25 charges of money laundering and abuse of power linked to the looting of the 1MDB sovereign-wealth fund, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The ruling caps a case that has dragged on for years, with charges first filed in 2018 and dozens of witnesses called by prosecutors and defense lawyers, the news outlet said. In issuing the ruling, the court rejected Najib’s claim that some $570 million in misappropriated assets came into his possession a donation from Saudi Arabia’s royal family rather than from 1MDB. 

Najib helped establish 1MDB in 2009, a fund intended to borrow money, attract investment, and stimulate Malaysia’s economy, the Journal reported. Instead, the fund quickly became controversial, ultimately piling up about $11 billion in debt. 

Prosecutors alleged that a group of conspirators began siphoning money from the fund through a complex web of private banks, offshore companies, and funds, passing through financial centers and jurisdictions including Singapore, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, the Seychelles, the British Virgin Islands, and Curaçao, the Journal reported. 

Hundreds of millions of dollars eventually landed in Najib’s private bank accounts, the Journal reported.

In all, about $4.5 billion was allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB, the Journal reported. Some of the funds were allegedly used to buy artworks and help finance the Hollywood film “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

More than a decade after the scheme began, the scandal’s aftershocks are still moving through global finance, the newspaper said. 

In July, a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore was announced, alleging the bank played a role in the scandal. Standard Chartered rejected the claims and said it had fully cooperated with authorities, according to the Journal. 

In August, JPMorgan agreed to pay $330 million to settle claims that it facilitated transactions related to 1MDB, according to the report. 

Najib is already in prison. He is currently serving time stemming from a 2020 conviction related to the broader 1MDB scandal, the Journal reported. In that earlier case, a Malaysian court sentenced him to 12 years and imposed a fine of nearly $50 million after finding him guilty of abuse of power. 

In that 2020 matter, the judge also rejected Najib’s contention that he was misled by Jho Low and believed incoming funds were a Saudi gift, the Journal reported. Jho Low, a Malaysian financier alleged to have masterminded the 1MDB scheme, remains at large. 

Read more at The Wall Street Journal

Related: Singapore Court Okays $2.7-Billion Lawsuit Against Standard Chartered for 1MDB Role