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Iman Muttaqin Yusof

Malaysia’s High Court is poised on Friday to deliver its verdict in the final criminal trial of jailed former prime minister Najib Razak, bringing to a close one of Southeast Asia’s most far-reaching corruption sagas.
The case centres on allegations that the disgraced 72-year-old misappropriated 2.3 billion ringgit (US$490 million) from the scandal-ridden Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib is currently in Kajang Prison, over halfway through a sentence reduced to six years for a conviction in a separate case linked to a former 1MDB subsidiary.
Prosecutors allege the money was siphoned off through a complex network of banks, shell companies and intermediaries while Najib was both prime minister and finance chief.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur is expected to rule on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering. If Najib is found guilty, he could face lengthy prison terms that could run into decades, depending on whether any sentences are ordered to be served consecutively.
The decision will be delivered at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya and will be closely watched by a Malaysian public split over its opinion towards Najib, who is adored by his loyalists and loathed by critics for the corruption that billowed out under his administration.
It will be delivered by Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who presided over the trial and has since been elevated to the Federal Court.

A case years in the making
The trial is the last unresolved criminal proceeding against Najib linked to 1MDB, the scandal that erupted in 2015 and ultimately contributed to the collapse of his government three years later.
The trial stretched over seven years, with prosecutors calling 50 witnesses across 235 days, while the defence presented 26 witnesses, including Najib himself.
Prosecutors sought to prove that Najib was not an unwitting bystander, misled by aides or financiers – as his defence claimed – but was, in fact, the central decision-maker at 1MDB who controlled its affairs and benefited from its funds. They alleged the money moved through Najib’s personal accounts at AmIslamic Bank in Kuala Lumpur between 2011 and 2014.
Najib’s defence team, led by senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, has consistently denied his client’s wrongdoing.
The defence argued that the funds were legitimate political donations from Saudi Arabia and that Najib was deceived by shadowy fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, whom Shafee described as the “main architect” of the plundering scheme.
Low remains at large and is wanted by authorities in Malaysia, the United States and Singapore.

Global fallout
Malaysia’s taxpayers lost billions of dollars to the 1MDB scandal. But it has also triggered investigations and prosecutions across multiple jurisdictions, including the US, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Singapore, in what analysts say is one of the most egregious examples of kleptocracy in the modern era.
US prosecutors previously described the affair as one of the largest corruption cases ever pursued by the Department of Justice, alleging that more than US$4.5 billion was looted from the fund and pushed through banks and assets across the world.
Stolen money was traced to luxury real estate in New York and Los Angeles, a superyacht once owned by Low, and works by artists including Monet and Van Gogh.
Hollywood was also pulled into the scandal, with funds linked to 1MDB used to finance The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, who later returned artworks and other gifts tied to the case after US authorities launched asset recovery proceedings.
Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa was convicted in the US in April 2022 over his role in helping raise funds for 1MDB.
He was later extradited to Malaysia in October 2023 to assist local investigations, following the return in July that year of former 1MDB lawyer and Jho Low associate Jasmine Loo Ai Swan after years on the run.
The Malaysian government in October said it had so far recovered about 20.73 billion ringgit through settlements with financial institutions linked to the scandal.
This includes US$3.9 billion from a settlement with Goldman Sachs, comprising US$2.5 billion in cash and a US$1.4 billion asset recovery guarantee, as well as 2.83 billion ringgit from AmBank Group and US$330 million from JPMorgan (Switzerland).

High stakes
Najib has been incarcerated at Kajang Prison since August 2022 after being convicted in a separate case involving SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.
That conviction, which involved 42 million ringgit, initially carried a 12-year jail term that was later reduced to six years following partial royal clemency. He has been tirelessly pushing the courts to allow him to serve his time under house arrest rather than in jail.
But earlier this week, the High Court rejected Najib’s bid to serve the remainder of that sentence under house arrest, ruling that an alleged royal addendum permitting such an arrangement had no legal effect.
It remains unclear whether Najib would remain in prison immediately if convicted in the 1MDB case, though his lawyers have said they will seek a stay of execution pending appeal, potentially taking the case to the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
Political analyst Oh Ei Sun said the latest developments had reinforced expectations that Najib faced an uphill battle in court.
“Well, as with all indicted, he has to prepare for the worst,” Oh told This Week in Asia.


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Supporters of Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak gather outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex on Monday. Photo: AP

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Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is escorted by prison officers on his arrival at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex on Monday. Photo: AP

Supporters of Malaysia’s jailed former prime minister Najib Razak wait outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court during a court hearing on Monday. Photo: AFP

Former Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak arrives at Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday. Photo: EPA

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Supporters of former prime minister Najib Razak wait outside the Court of Appeal, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on Monday. Photo: AP

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The High Court will rule on abuse of power and money laundering charges, with Najib facing the prospect of lengthy prison terms if found guilty


The High Court will rule on abuse of power and money laundering charges, with Najib facing the prospect of lengthy prison terms if found guilty.


With 1MDB verdict due, will Malaysia’s Najib have to ‘prepare for the worst’?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The High Court will rule on abuse of power and money laundering charges, with Najib facing the prospect of lengthy prison terms if found guilty

The High Court will rule on abuse of power and money laundering charges, with Najib facing the prospect of lengthy prison terms if found guilty