Malaysia: Najib set for house arrest after party pays fine under royal pardon

• Najib Razak is set to move to house arrest after his party paid a 50 million ringgit fine required under a royal pardon

• The arrangement covers his reduced six-year sentence in the SRC International case, which is due to end in August 2028

• A separate 15-year sentence linked to the 1MDB scandal remains under appeal and is not covered by the pardon

Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak is set to serve the remainder of his current corruption sentence under house arrest after his political party paid a 50 million ringgit fine on Friday, fulfilling a key condition of a royal pardon.

The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) raised the money through a donation campaign, its secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said. Payment was completed at the high court on Friday morning.

The timing of Najib’s transfer was not immediately clear. Police were stationed outside his Kuala Lumpur residence early on Friday, and the road leading to the property was blocked.

Najib, 73, has been in prison since August 2022, when Malaysia’s highest court upheld his conviction in the first of his major corruption cases connected to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar granted him conditional clemency in September, allowing him to complete his reduced six-year sentence at home until 23 August 2028, provided the fine was paid.

The arrangement applies only to the case involving SRC International, a former subsidiary of state investment fund 1MDB. It does not extend to the separate 15-year prison sentence imposed in December 2025 for corruption and money laundering in another 1MDB-related trial.

Najib is appealing that conviction and sentence. If his appeal fails, he could return to prison after completing his current term.

In the SRC case, Najib was convicted in 2020 of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving 42 million ringgit transferred into his bank accounts.

He initially received a 12-year prison sentence and a fine of 210 million ringgit. In January 2024, the Pardons Board reduced the prison term to six years and lowered the fine to 50 million ringgit, equivalent to about US$12.3 million.

The latest royal pardon subsequently opened the way for him to serve the balance of that term under house arrest.

Najib established 1MDB shortly after becoming prime minister in 2009. Investigators say at least US$4.5 billion was diverted from the fund and moved through a network of bank accounts in the United States and other countries by his associates.

The stolen money was used, investigators say, to finance Hollywood films and purchases including hotels, a luxury yacht, artworks and jewellery.

Public anger over the scandal contributed to the ruling coalition’s historic defeat in the 2018 general election, ending its uninterrupted hold on power since Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957.

Despite his convictions, Najib retains influence within UMNO, which is part of the governing alliance that took office in 2022.

With PTI inputs