Malaysia’s ex‑PM Najib appeals 15‑year sentence in corruption, money laundering case

Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak has filed an appeal against his guilty verdict and 15‑year prison sentence in a high‑profile corruption and money laundering case, his lawyer confirmed on Tuesday. Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told the Malay Mail that the appeal was submitted to the Court of Appeals on Monday night.

Sentencing Details and 1MDB Scandal

Last Friday, High Court Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah sentenced Najib to 15 years in prison and imposed a record fine of 11.3 billion Malaysian ringgits (about $2.7 billion) after convicting him on four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving 2.3 billion ringgits ($568 million). The court ordered the sentence to begin in 2028, following completion of a separate six‑year term Najib is serving in the SRC International case, a subsidiary of the 1MDB state fund.

Background of Legal Proceedings

Najib, 72, has faced multiple trials related to the 1MDB scandal, in which Malaysian and US authorities allege some $4.5 billion was embezzled from the fund between 2009 and 2014. He was first found guilty in 2020 of criminal breach of trust and abuse of power. Although Malaysia’s monarchy granted him a partial pardon last year, reducing an earlier 12‑year sentence by half, his subsequent application to serve the remainder under house arrest was denied in July.