Malaysia’s Najib Has 1MDB Jail Term Halved in Royal Leniency

Kok Leong Chan and Ram Anand
·4 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia’s incarcerated former premier Najib Razak has had his jail term for 1Malaysia Development Bhd-related convictions cut by half to six years due to royal intervention, the Malaysian government said in a statement.

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A Pardons Board meeting on Monday, chaired by Malaysia’s previous king — who hails from Najib’s home state of Pahang — also decided to reduce his 1MDB-related fines to 50 million ($10.6 million) ringgit. The 70-year-old former leader was previously handed a 12-year jail term and a 210 million ringgit fine.

The statement, signed by the Pardons Board secretariat under the Prime Minister’s Department, did not elaborate on the reasons behind the leniency granted to Najib.

The Monday meeting was one of the last acts by Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who ended his five-year reign under Malaysia’s rotational monarchy on Tuesday to return as the ruler of Pahang. Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, the head of Malaysia’s southernmost state, took the throne on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s reform agenda has faced criticisms after the government last year dropped criminal charges against Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the deputy prime minister and a key ally in the ruling coalition. Zahid helms the United Malays National Organisation, which Najib once led.

Immediately after the announcement, Anwar told broadcaster Al-Jazeera that the pardons process was “beyond the Prime Minister and the government”, while acknowledging possible unhappiness by some quarters over the outcome.

“We must respect the right of anyone convicted to appeal to the Pardons Board,” Anwar said, adding that he defers to the decision of the previous King.

If Najib is not satisfied with the outcome, he can appeal to the new king, Anwar said.

The decision is set to affect investors’ faith in the nation, said Bridget Welsh, an honorary research associate with the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute Malaysia.

“They see a situation where you don’t have the process of cleaning up or reforming the system in terms of corruption,” Welsh said.

Najib will be freed by Aug 23, 2028, the board said. The next general election is not due until early 2028.

Even though the leniency could dent Anwar’s anti-corruption credentials, he has a “long enough runway to deal with the political consequences of the pardon,” said BowerGroup Asia director Adib Zalkapli.

The outcome of Monday’s board meeting earlier this week fueled speculation on the extent of the leniency, with officials coy on the matter. The new king, Sultan Ibrahim, had been vocal about stamping out corruption.

Soon after the government’s announcement, Najib’s daughter Nooryana Najwa said on her Instagram account that the family was disappointed that her father wasn’t granted a full pardon that would allow him to be released from prison.

The former leader and his family hold on to the “belief that he is innocent,” she said.

Najib holds the title of a noble - equivalent to peerage - in the state of Pahang, where Sultan Abdullah is currently the monarch.

He is currently serving his sentence after being convicted in 2022 on three counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power in relation to the country’s troubled investment fund 1MDB. The fund became the center of a multi-billion-dollar scandal that spawned probes across continents.

Najib was accused of transferring 42 million ringgit from 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn. to his personal account between 2014 and 2015. He remains on trial for dozens of other criminal charges related to the troubled wealth fund.

If Najib fails to pay the fine, his jail term would be extended by another year to Aug. 23, 2029, the board said.

Najib, who has been in jail since August 2022, had applied for a pardon just days after starting his prison sentence. Pardons are granted at the sole discretion of the king, with advice from a board. The monarch has the power to either grant a full pardon to annul outstanding convictions or commute sentences.

--With assistance from Netty Ismail, Anisah Shukry, Cecilia Yap and Philip J. Heijmans.

(Updates with prime minister’s comments in sixth and seventh paragraphs.)

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