Malaysia 1MDB scandal: ex-PM Najib Razak files bid to serve remaining jail term under house arrest

The decision was made by then-king Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah on January 29, a day before his last day in office.

In his application filed on Monday, Najib claimed that Sultan Abdullah had issued an addendum to his original decree that would allow the former premier to serve his reduced sentence “under condition of home arrest” instead of Kajang prison, where he is currently being held.

Najib’s application argued that despite the decree being made public, the same was not done for the addendum, which was “immediately or simultaneously issued” on the same day as the decree.

“It must be impressed that the Addendum Order was already in existence since the 29.01.2024,” the application read.

Najib named six respondents in his application, including the home minister, prisons commissioner general, attorney general, the pardons board, minister in charge of law and the director general of legal affairs division.

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The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting

He was jailed two years later after failing in his final attempt to overturn the sentence at federal court.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) described the multibillion-dollar scandal at 1MDB, the state fund founded in 2009 just months after Najib became prime minister, as the largest case of kleptocracy ever uncovered.

Najib still faces at least three other trials linked to 1MDB, of which at least US$4.5 billion is believed to have been siphoned off, according to the DOJ and Malaysian investigators.

The defendants from PetroSaudi – a Swiss Saudi citizen and a Swiss British national who were not identified by name for privacy reasons – are accused of having created a scheme in 2009 under which 1MDB would set up a joint venture based on false premises.