Najib guilty on all 25 charges in 1MDB trial

Friday 25 Sep 2026

Make The Edge Malaysia your preferred source on Google

PUTRAJAYA (Dec 26): Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been found guilty in a corruption case that has been billed as one of the world’s worst public corruption scandals.

The former prime minister was convicted at the High Court on Friday on all four abuse of power and 21 money laundering charges involving more than RM2 billion of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds.

Federal Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who presided over the trial, said Najib had failed to raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case on all 25 charges.

In his decision, Sequerah said Najib was the apex decision maker and that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho was his conduit or agent.

"The bond and connection between the accused and Jho Low as testified [by prosecution witness Jasmine Loo] show that Jho Low operated as 'a go between', between the accused and the running of the affairs of 1MDB.

"[…] Instructions clearly reflected the directions of the accused in respect of the operations of 1MDB," the judge said.

He observed that Jho Low's central role with Najib was "significant" and that for instance, the former had personally arranged and coordinated several of Najib’s family vacations, where his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and their children had, at the invitation of Middle Eastern royalty, sailed in a yacht in waters off France, Greece and Italy while on holiday together — proving that Najib did indeed know Jho Low.

Sequerah said any attempt to portray Najib as ignorant of wrongdoing surrounding 1MDB “failed miserably”, given Najib’s background and the warnings he had received.

The judge also noted that Najib had not lodged any report with law enforcement authorities regarding the alleged embezzlement of 1MDB funds.

“Such an omission can only reasonably be construed as an act of condonation on the part of the accused, who at material time wielded considerable powers as both finance minister, chairman of the board of advisers and prime minister.

Not a country bumpkin

“The accused is no country bumpkin; but was possessed of not only an impeccable family and political pedigree, but of superior intelligence, given his academic background and his previous experience in politics, and in the administration not only regionally but also on a national level.

“Any attempt to paint the accused as an ignoramus or as hopelessly unaware of the misdeeds going on around him must therefore fail miserably,” the judge said.

Sequerah also pointed to the disbandment of a special task force set up to investigate 1MDB and deposits into Najib’s personal accounts in July 2015, as well as the removal of key figures involved in the investigations.

According to the judge, these actions demonstrated efforts by Najib to consolidate and protect his interests.

In addition, he also ruled that the defence's Arab donation argument lacked merit and that subsequent donation letters said to be from Saudi royalty and tendered as evidence were forged.

"The evidence, when viewed as a whole, showed that there is no credible, contemporaneous or reliable documentary evidence that directly connects the large sums deposited into the accused’s personal accounts to King Abdullah or any member of the Saudi royal family [...]

"The ultimate finding of this court, therefore, and the irresistible conclusion is that the Arab donation narrative is not meritorious, donation letters were forgeries, and that the evidence pointed unmistakably to the fact that the monies were in fact derived from 1MDB funds [...]” the judge said.

Umno's lack of political donation records was another issue the judge found wanting. "It is inconceivable that a person in the position of prime minister of the ruling political party at the time would not have any accounting records kept by an organisation who was supposedly to be the beneficiary of these sums of monies which were not of an insignificant amount."

Court unconvinced of political prosecution

Najib's argument that the charges against him were politically motivated was also not persuasive.

"[This contention however] cannot hold true in light of the glaring evidence that large sums of money were siphoned and diverted from what was supposed to be a sovereign fund to the accounts of the companies associated with [Jho Low] and ultimately into the accounts of the accused," Sequerah said.

The judge also noted that the fallout of the 1MDB saga was an international one with court cases in several other jurisdictions, including the US.

"There is no basis, therefore, to the defence’s contention that the charges against the accused were politically motivated," he said.

Najib was first charged in September 2018, with the trial officially starting in August a year later. The entire proceedings stretched over 303 long days and finally ended on Nov 4 with closing submissions.

This is the last of the five criminal trials which the ex-PM faced in 2018, following the fall of his Barisan Nasional-led government in the 14th general election.

The 72-year-old is already serving his prison sentence meted out in the SRC International case in August 2022, which was later reduced to six years in prison and a fine of RM 50 million by the Pardon's Board.

It has not been a great start of the week for the ex-Umno president, as his bid to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest was dismissed on Monday. This decision simply means that Najib remains behind bars in the Kajang Prison.

The 1MDB prosecuting team comprised Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib, Datuk Kamal Baharin Omar, Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam, Deepa Nair Thevahara, Nadia Mohd Izhar, Najwa Bistaman, Hazmida Harris Lee and Siti Aina Rodhiah Shikh Md Saud.

Najib's defence lawyers were Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Datuk Tania Scivetti, Wan Azwan Arman, Muhammad Farhan Shafee, Hartrisha Kaur Sandhu and Naresh Mayachanran.

The Edge is covering the trial live here.

Text Size