Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced on December 26, 2025 to 15 years in prison and fined RM11.38 billion (US$2.8 billion) in his second and largest trial linked to the 1MDB scandal.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court found Najib guilty on 25 charges, including four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28billion from the state investment fund.
He was sentenced to 15 years for each abuse of power charge and five years for each money laundering charge, with all sentences ordered to run concurrently, resulting in a total jail term of 15 years for this case.
In addition to the prison term, the court imposed a RM11.38 billion fine and ordered the recovery of RM2.08billion in assets under money laundering laws. Failure to pay the fine could result in additional prison time.
Najib’s legal team filed an appeal against the new conviction on December 29, 2025.
Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2022 in a separate corruption case and remains out on bail pending appeal.
Timeline of imprisonment
The new sentence will begin only after Najib completes his current prison term tied to the SRC International case, which is scheduled to end in August 2028.
Najib has been jailed since August 2022 for that earlier conviction. His original 12-year sentence was reduced to six years by Malaysia’s Pardons Board in February 2024, along with a reduction in his fine.
Just days before the latest ruling, the High Court rejected his request to serve the remainder of that sentence under house arrest.
Court’s reasoning
In delivering the verdict, Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah rejected Najib’s defense that he had been misled by fugitive financier Jho Low, calling the argument “pure fantasy.”
The judge said Najib was “the single most powerful decision maker” at the apex of 1MDB.
Political implications
The ruling is expected to have political repercussions, testing the stability of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s unity government, which includes Najib’s party, UMNO.
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