Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to serve 12 years in jail after a court in Kuala Lumpur found him guilty of corruption in the first of several cases linked to the alleged theft of billions of dollars from the state fund, 1MDB.

Tuesday's ruling makes Najib the first Malaysian leader to be convicted of corruption.

But the 67-year-old remains free as Judge Mohamad Nazlan Ghazali granted a stay order on the execution of Najib's sentence, pending an appeal.

"Surely, I am not satisfied with the result," Najib told reporters as he exited Kuala Lumpur's High Court.

"But within our system, the high court is the first court and the decision was only made by one judge. We have the benefit of an appeal," he added, vowing to "continue the effort to clear my name".

The guilty verdict against Najib relates to his role in diverting an estimated 42 million ringgit ($9.87m) from SRC International, a unit of 1MDB, into his personal bank accounts. The judge had found the former prime minister guilty on all seven charges filed against him.

"I find that the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. I therefore find the accused guilty and convict the accused on all seven charges," Mohamad said.