Lawyer dismisses rumours of Malaysia’s Najib settling US$12.3 million fine

Lawyers for Malaysia’s jailed former prime minister Najib Razak on Wednesday dismissed speculation about his imminent transfer to house arrest, as his former ruling party struggles to raise the 50 million ringgit (US$12.3 million) fine needed to bring him home.

The rumours came as Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (Umno) seeks to build on recent electoral victories, with analysts saying his return to house arrest could give the party a boost among supporters ahead of the next general election

Najib, jailed since 2022 over the misappropriation of funds from SRC International, a former subsidiary of scandal-ravaged state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was granted a reprieve in September when King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar allowed him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest – on the condition that he first settle his multimillion-dollar fine.

The former prime minister has so far been unable to pay the penalty, but rumours of his purported release spread like wildfire after local media cited a source claiming the fine would be paid in full on Wednesday.

However, Najib’s long-time legal counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said he was unaware of any purported settlement.

“I did not receive any instructions on this,” Shafee was quoted as saying by local English newsportal FreeMalaysiaToday.

Local news agencies reported that no settlement had been made by the time payment counters at the Kuala Lumpur court complex closed at 4pm.

Shafee had said in September that Najib could not afford to pay the fine as “he has no money” after authorities froze access to all of his bank accounts as part of investigations into multiple corruption cases linked to 1MDB.

Umno quickly stepped in to organise a fundraiser to help pay off his fine. Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki, the party’s secretary general, said on Wednesday that daily collections averaged between 5,000 ringgit (US$1,230) and 10,000 ringgit, with some contributions as little as 1 ringgit.

“The momentum is good … this is what we call crowdfunding, where members of the public contribute to help Najib,” Asyraf told local media while on the Melaka state election campaign trail.

Asyraf said the fundraiser had yet to hit its target of 50 million ringgit, but did not reveal the amount raised so far.

The party has not set a deadline for when to end the fundraiser. In the previous update in late September, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said they had raised 9.25 million ringgit.

The scramble to raise enough money to secure Najib’s house arrest comes as Umno builds political momentum ahead of national polls due by February 2028.

The Malay nationalist party has already secured two convincing wins over federal partner Pakatan Harapan in the recent Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections, and is widely seen to have little trouble defending its supermajority in Melaka’s November 14 state polls.

Securing Najib’s house arrest would be a “significant political win” for Umno as it would help consolidate grass-roots support, especially among his many loyalists in the party, according to Kamles Kumar, associate director for Malaysia at strategic communications and public affairs firm Asia Group Advisors.

“It also gives Umno greater political leverage, particularly as the party looks to build on its recent electoral momentum,” Kamles said.

The king’s decree, relayed in a statement by the pardons board in September, did not specify a deadline for Najib to settle his fine.

It is unclear where exactly he will be held under house arrest should he manage to pay off the penalty, but prison authorities have carried out several recces at his personal home in Kuala Lumpur.

This was Najib’s second pardon.

In 2024, then king Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah halved Najib’s 12-year sentence and reduced his fine from 210 million ringgit to 50 million ringgit.

But Najib may have to serve a fresh 15-year jail term – on top of an 11.4 billion ringgit fine – after he was found guilty by a high court last December on multiple counts of abuse of power and money laundering involving 2.2 billion ringgit in funds siphoned off from 1MDB.