Malaysian king allows jailed ex-PM Najib Razak to serve term under house arrest

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s king agreed on Friday to allow jailed former premier Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, the prime minister’s legal department said, four years after he was convicted for his involvement in a multi-billion-dollar financial scandal.

Najib, 73, who was prime minister from 2009 to 2018, was found guilty of corruption in relation to the embezzlement of billions of dollars tied to 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state investment fund he co-founded while in power.

“King Sultan Ibrahim, has consented to grant a conditional pardon to Najib Razak, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until August 23, 2028,” the department said in a statement.

Najib must pay a fine of 50 million ringgit ($12.27 million) it said.

It was the second pardon for Najib, who under the previous king in 2024 had his 12-year sentence halved and the fines imposed on him reduced.

Najib had insisted that the decision also allowed him to serve out his term under house arrest, but a legal effort to secure that was unsuccessful.

It was not immediately clear when Najib would leave prison.

Najib’s legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Najib was convicted in a separate 1MDB-related case in December last year, for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $2.8 billion for abuse of power and money laundering.

He has lodged an appeal in that case, but it was not immediately clear at what stage it was at.

In the 1MDB scandal, More than $1 billion allegedly made its way into accounts linked to Najib.

He has consistently denied wrongdoing, saying he has been made the scapegoat for a complex, globe-spanning scheme that siphoned away as much as $4.5 billion in funds, according to US investigators.