Key facts
- A Malaysian court rejected Najib Razak's bid to suspend his 15-year jail sentence in the 1MDB scandal.
- The court ruled that Najib's health and other grounds did not justify a stay of his sentence.
- Najib Razak's sentence is set to begin after his current prison term ends in August 2028.
- Najib received a conditional royal pardon allowing for house arrest upon payment of a RM50 million fine.
- Najib's legal team stated he cannot pay the fine because his bank accounts remain frozen.
A Malaysian court on Wednesday rejected former Prime Minister Najib Razak's bid to suspend a 15-year jail sentence imposed in connection with the multibillion-dollar 1MDB corruption scandal. The decision means his sentence is set to begin after his current prison term ends in August 2028, as the court found his health and other grounds did not justify a stay.
Najib's lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, had informed the High Court that they were applying for a stay of execution on the 15-year sentence pending an appeal against the conviction. The court had scheduled October 14 for the hearing of this application.
Najib, who has been in jail since 2022 after being found guilty of graft and money laundering linked to the theft of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), has consistently denied wrongdoing. He received a conditional pardon from Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, which allows him to serve the remainder of his original sentence under house arrest until his expected release date in August 2028, provided he pays a RM50 million (US$12.27 million) fine.
However, Najib's legal team has stated that he is unable to pay the fine because his bank accounts remain frozen by the authorities. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party has launched a fundraising drive to help cover the fine. Investigators estimate that at least US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB, with approximately US$1 billion making its way into accounts linked to Najib.