Najib Razak has failed in his bid to postpone his 15-year prison sentence and RM11.4 billion fine in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) corruption case after the High Court rejected his application on Wednesday.
High Court judge Noor Ruwena Md Nurdin dismissed the application by the 73-year-old former prime minister, ruling that he had failed to meet the special and exceptional circumstances required for a stay of execution.
“The applicant can no longer be considered a first-time offender following the upholding of his conviction in the SRC case by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court in Putrajaya,” she said.
Najib, a former Pekan MP and UMNO president, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Dec 26, 2025, after being convicted on all charges in the 1MDB case.
He was found guilty of four counts of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds, as well as 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount between 2011 and 2014.
The offences were alleged to have taken place at AmIslamic Bank Berhad in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014. The money laundering charges related to transactions allegedly carried out at the same location between March 22 and Aug 30, 2013.
The four abuse-of-power charges were brought under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.
The money laundering charges were filed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act.
Then High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who is now a Federal Court judge, also ordered Najib to pay a fine of RM11.38 billion.
If he fails to pay the fine, Najib faces an additional 10 years in prison for each of the corruption offences.
He was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for each abuse-of-power charge and five years for each money laundering charge. However, all the prison terms were ordered to run concurrently after he completes his sentence in the SRC International case at Kajang Prison.
