Malaysia’s ex-PM Najib jailed 15 years, fined US$2.8 billion for abuse of power, money laundering in 1MDB case
Friday’s decision by Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah came after a trial that had stretched across 302 days over a period of six years.
Former prime minister Najib Razak arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex ahead of his scheduled court case on Dec 22, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Fadza Ishak)
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PUTRAJAYA: Former Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak was on Friday (Dec 26) found guilty of abusing his power and of money laundering by the High Court in his long-running 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case.
Najib – who was prime minister from 2009 to 2018 - was convicted on four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.2 billion (US$544.6 million) misappropriated from the state investment fund.
He was found guilty on all 25 charges by judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who sentenced Najib to 15 years' jail for each of the abuse of power charges, and five years' jail for each of the money laundering charge. Najib was also fined a total of RM11.38 billion (US$2.8 billion) for the abuse of power charges.
The sentences will run concurrently, and will start after his current jail term for a separate case finishes. The default imprisonment term for each fine in the four abuse of power charges is 10 years.
For the 21 money laundering charges, Sequerah also imposed a "fine recoverable" of RM2.1 billion. This is a penalty equivalent to the value of the proceeds of unlawful activity which have been disposed of or cannot be traced.
Sequerah ordered the sentences at about 9.15pm, 12 hours after he first started delivering his verdict, which itself lasted nearly five hours in total.
The offences were committed between 2011 and 2014.
"The contention by the accused that the charges against him were a witch hunt and politically motivated were debunked by the cold, hard and incontrovertible evidence that pointed towards the accused having abused his all-powerful position in 1MDB, coupled with the extensive powers conferred upon him," said Sequerah in convicting Najib.
On the 21 money laundering charges, which Sequerah divided into three baskets of receiving, using and transferring proceeds of unlawful activity, the judge said the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.
“The defence advanced by the accused that although he admitted that such funds did enter his accounts, he said that it was by way of an overdraft facility or by way of donations cannot hold true in light of the evidence adduced by the prosecution,” Sequerah said.
Sequerah said Najib had benefitted from the proceeds of unlawful activity after various entities received cheques for services like managing his social media account and countering negative perceptions of his political party.
The judge also noted that money had moved from Tanore Finance Corporation to Najib’s personal account and then back to Tanore, which he said was indicative of “layering”, a common modus operandi employed in money laundering schemes and designed to obscure the illicit origin of funds.
Tanore Finance Corporation is a company controlled by Eric Tan Kim Loong, an associate of Low Taek Jho - better known as Jho Low, seen as the mastermind behind the scheme to plunder the country's investment vehicle.
“The defence advanced by the accused is unmeritorious and incapable of belief,” Sequerah said.
After concluding his verdict at close to 5pm, Sequerah wanted to move on to the mitigation and sentencing phase but Najib's lead counsel Shafee Abdullah asked for a 30-minute adjournment to confer with his client. His request was granted.
When court resumed at 5.45pm, Shafee indicated that he would be appealing the conviction.
“Because this matter is going on appeal, our mitigation cannot be a complete mitigation,” he said.
Both the prosecution and defence then made sentencing submissions for over two hours, ending at about 8pm, before Sequerah asked for a break.
His verdict concluded a trial that had stretched across 302 days over a period of six years.
In a statement on Friday night after he was sentenced, Najib said his mind was calm but his heart was heavy.
"I will continue to fight for my rights through legal channels with dignity and patience, even though the road is lonely and requires much sacrifice," he said.
"Regardless of today's ruling, I continue to have confidence in the country's judicial processes."
Najib called on all Malaysians to remain calm and rational, and to avoid getting involved in any sort of provocation that could disrupt public peace or insult the judiciary.
"Differences in opinion should be expressed maturely, orderly and in line with the law," he added.
Friday's ruling came just four days after the court had rejected the former premier’s bid to serve the remainder of his prison sentence for a different case under house arrest.
The 72-year-old Najib is currently serving a six-year prison sentence in Selangor’s Kajang Prison for the first set of abuse of power and money laundering charges linked to 1MDB.
MORNING SESSION IN COURT
On Friday, Najib arrived in a silver sport utility vehicle at around 8.25am to the chants of “Hidup Bossku” - or “Long Live, Bossku” - from over 30 supporters who were present at the Palace of Justice amid tight security. Bossku is the moniker given to Najib by his supporters.
Sequerah - who has since been elevated as a Federal Court judge - began reading his judgment at around 9.15am. He told the court that he will be reading only the broad grounds of judgment.
The judge started the morning session by rejecting the defence’s argument that the prosecution’s case was faulty.
In particular, he dismissed the defence’s claims that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had failed to “show genuine efforts” to trace the fugitive financier Jho Low.
“There is little doubt as to the well-known public fact made available to the wider media, both nationally and internationally, that Jho Low has yet to be brought before the relevant and appropriate courts in this country and abroad, to face the demands of justice,” Sequerah said.
“To ignore this fact would be akin to a hermit living as a recluse in the far-most corners of the globe and in an inner and dark cave unreached by the outside world. I therefore see no reason to depart from my earlier findings that Jho Low is a person who cannot be found.”
Najib has repeatedly said he was misled by 1MDB officials and Low, who has been charged in the United States for his central role in the case. Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, has denied wrongdoing.
But Sequerah described Low as close to Najib - he detailed their yacht holidays together - and an adviser who directed 1MDB dealings on the former premier’s behalf.
“All these pieces of evidence, outlined as above and taken cumulatively, cannot be described in any other manner except that it revealed an unmistakable bond and connection between the accused and Jho Low,” the judge said.
“The evidence clearly points to the fact that this was no coincidence, but was evident of a relationship in which Jho Low operated as a proxy or agent of the accused, with regard to the running of the affairs of 1MDB.”
The judge then went over the defence’s case, zeroing in on what he called the “Arab donation defence” - that the money Najib received in his accounts was purportedly a political donation from Saudi royalty.
The judge dismissed letters produced by Najib allegedly originating from the Saudi royal family on the donations, saying they were not corroborated by other documentary evidence and were probably forgeries.
It was reported that Najib had received around US$680 million in his personal bank account.
“The fact that the accused’s explanation vacillated between attributing the funds as coming directly from (former Saudi) King Abdullah to later attributing them as emanating from the royal family, in general, does not further the cause of the defence with regard to the legitimacy of the funds,” said the judge.
“The evidence, when taken cumulatively, cannot but tend to the conclusion that the four Arab letters were, in fact, forgeries.”
Sequerah said there was no “credible, contemporaneous or reliable documentary evidence” that directly connected the large sums deposited into Najib’s personal accounts to King Abdullah or any member of the Saudi royal family.
“It defies reasonable belief that, given the colossal amount remitted into the account of the accused in the form of political donations, that there was no evidence of proper and transparent accounting, taking into account the political party which was headed by the accused at the time was not some fly-by-night rookie political entity, but a party - UMNO - that was at the time Malaysia's largest political party, having its roots established as far back as 1946,” he said.
When Najib was prime minister, he was president of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin party he still holds considerable sway over. BN is now part of current premier Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government.
Sequerah adjourned the court at 12.15pm for a lunch break and Friday prayers. Court then resumed at 3pm, with the judge delivering his guilty verdict almost two hours later.
NAJIB TAKING PHD IN PRISON
In his mitigation plea on Najib's behalf after the conviction, Shafee said his client was undertaking a PhD programme by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in prison, and working on a thesis paper about Malaysia's economic transformation.
"I don't think it can be denied under his leadership, Malaysia witnessed major economic reform and infrastructure expansion," Shafee said, noting that Najib is expected to complete the programme in 2026.
"In his mind, he is still thinking about the development of Malaysia."
Shafee asked the judge to consider his client's health issues during sentencing, saying Najib suffers from bleeding ulcers, severe hypertension and acute inflammation in both knees.
Shafee also urged the court to impose concurrent sentences, regardless of the total length handed down for all charges, and for the sentence to start immediately from Friday.
"We therefore humbly urge that any custodial term imposed be the minimum permitted by law," he said.
But the prosecution urged the court to hand down the maximum 20 years' imprisonment for each of the four charges of abuse of power, and a total fine of around RM11.4 billion.
The abuse of power offences carry a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the amount or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
If Najib does not pay the fine, he will have to serve an additional 10-year default imprisonment term for each charge, the prosecution said.
"The prosecution respectfully submits that where there is a sustained cost of corrupt conduct committed by an individual holding a high and powerful public office, particularly involving substantial sums of money of over a prolonged period, deterrence must be the parallel consideration in sentencing," said deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib.
Each money laundering offence carries up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to RM5 million.
If either side files an appeal, the execution of the court ruling could be delayed pending the outcome of the appeal.
Najib was first charged on Sept 20, 2018, and his trial began on Aug 28, 2019.
In October last year, the court ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Najib and ordered for him to enter his defence. The defence then began its case on Dec 2, 2024 with Najib himself taking the stand in his defence.
The corruption trial ended only in mid-November this year.
Najib’s lawyers had argued that monies that flowed into Najib’s bank accounts were donations he had received from Saudi Arabia and were not funds obtained through illegal means.
But the prosecution highlighted that the funds were deposited into Najib's personal accounts subsequent to major 1MDB transactions.
On Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had rejected Naib’s bid to serve the remainder of his prison sentence for his SRC International case conviction under house arrest. The charges involved the transfer of RM42 million from SRC International - a former 1MDB subsidiary - into his personal bank accounts in 2014 and 2015.
Justice Alice Loke’s decision marks the latest development in Najib’s legal bid for house arrest that began in April 2024. The defence has indicated it will file an appeal.
Najib’s lawyer Shafee also said that Najib could seek a fresh pardon from Malaysia’s current King, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar. Shafee had also claimed that Monday’s decision may have taken away the Malay Rulers’ full discretion of pardon and clemency.
Malaysia’s Attorney General’s Chambers has since rebutted Shafee’s claims.
The claim is “not true at all and does not reflect the actual grounds given by the High Court”, the AGC said in a statement on Tuesday.
The AGC said the High Court ruling on Monday had reaffirmed the power of pardon is a prerogative of the king, as guaranteed under Article 42 of the federal constitution.
It also warned against attempts to incite or disrupt public order through misleading interpretations of the court's judgment, reported news outlet New Straits Times.
The AGC said it is committed to defending the royal institution and upholding the constitution.
