KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—A court in Malaysia found former Prime Minister Najib Razak guilty of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in connection with a multibillion-dollar financial scandal that drove him from office in the country’s 2018 elections.

The verdict on 28 July is the first in a string of cases against Najib over allegations he received hundreds of millions of dollars from a state investment fund called 1Malaysia Development, or 1MDB, which he launched in 2009. Najib pleaded not guilty and has denied wrongdoing.