Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak was found guilty on Tuesday in his first trial over the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, two years after the fraud contributed to the downfall of his long-ruling government.

Razak could now face decades in jail after being convicted on all charges in the case related to the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

The verdict was a test of Malaysia’s rule of law. It comes about five months after Najib’s scandal-plagued party returned to power as part of a coalition, a development observers had feared could affect the outcome of the case.

About 16 months after it began, the Kuala Lumpur High Court delivered the verdict in Najib’s first trial, which centred on the transfer of 42 million ringgit ($9.9 million) from a former 1MDB unit, SRC International, into his accounts.

But Judge Mohamad Nazlan Mohamad Ghazali took apart all the arguments put forward by his defence, and found him guilty on the seven charges he faced.

“In conclusion, after considering all the evidence in this trial, I find the prosecution has successfully proven the case,” the judge told the court.

The counts of abuse of power and criminal breach of trust are punishable by up to 20 years in jail each, while the money-laundering charges are punishable by up to 15 years each.

Sentencing was not handed down straight away. The 67-year-old will likely appeal and he may not be sent to jail immediately. If his conviction is upheld, he will also be barred from political office for several years.

The Prosecutors also dropped dozens of charges against Najib ally Musa Aman, But the two sides agreed to a $3.9 billion settlement last week in exchange for charges being dropped.

The amounts involved in Najib’s first case are small compared to those in his second and most significant trial, which centres on allegations he illicitly obtained more than $500 million.

Malaysia had charged Goldman Sachs and some current and former staff, claiming large amounts were stolen when the bank arranged bond issues for 1MDB.

The former Prime Minister, who faces 42 corruption charges, and his wife was accused of siphoning millions of dollars to their private accounts from the state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The 66-year-old leader, who was in office between 2009 and 2018, allegedly appropriated about 2.6 billion ringgit, according to a media investigation carried out in 2015.

Three of the five proposed trials against Razak are already underway over charges of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering.

(With inputs from agency)