Najib still to pay RM50m fine needed for house arrest, says AG

A conditional pardon is mercy granted subject to a stated requirement. Here, Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, granted Najib permission to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, but only if he paid RM50 million. The condition matters because the alternative arrangement was not unconditional.

The Pardons Board’s 64th meeting concerned Najib’s case. The Legal Affairs Division said the house-arrest arrangement was conditional on payment of the reduced fine. The article does not state a specific payment deadline. It does state that the Attorney-General’s Chambers had received information that Najib had not fulfilled the requirement.

That unpaid condition affects what happens next. Attorney-General Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar confirmed Najib would still have to serve his prison sentence while the fine remained unpaid. The article does not describe any further deadline or enforcement timetable. It only establishes that payment is required for the house-arrest condition to operate.

Najib was originally fined RM210 million after the Kuala Lumpur High Court convicted him in 2020 over RM42 million belonging to SRC International. The fine formed part of a 12-year imprisonment and financial penalty imposed for that case. The Court of Appeal and Federal Court later upheld the sentence.

On Jan 29, 2024, the Pardons Board reduced the prison term from 12 years to six years. It also reduced the fine from RM210 million to RM50 million. Later, the conditional pardon linked house arrest to payment of this reduced amount. The article presents the reduced fine as the amount currently required.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers said Najib had yet to pay RM50 million. Therefore, the unpaid balance reported in the article is RM50 million. The article does not mention a partial payment or a deadline. It also says the prison sentence remains applicable while the fine is unpaid.

The immediate consequence is that Najib cannot rely on the conditional house-arrest arrangement while the required fine remains unpaid. Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar confirmed that Najib would still have to serve his prison sentence as long as the RM50 million fine remained outstanding.

The relevant sentence was reduced from 12 years to six years by the Pardons Board in January 2024. On Sept 18, the reported conditional pardon allowed Najib to serve the remainder under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, but payment of RM50 million was attached as a condition. The article does not state a separate deadline.

The latest information received by the Attorney-General’s Chambers says Najib has not paid. Thus, the reported legal position is that the prison sentence continues to apply unless the condition is met. The article does not specify how authorities would implement the sentence or whether a new order would follow.

Malaysia’s Pardons Board is the institution involved in decisions on reducing a federal sentence and fine. In Najib’s case, the board for Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya held meetings about his punishment. Its role was central to the reduction of his sentence and fine, while the King granted the conditional pardon reported later.

At its 61st meeting on Jan 29, 2024, the Pardons Board decided to cut Najib’s prison term from 12 years to six years. It reduced his fine from RM210 million to RM50 million. The Legal Affairs Division said the later conditional decision came from the board’s 64th meeting at Istana Negara.

The article therefore shows two connected functions. The board made the reported reduction decision, and Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, granted the conditional pardon allowing house arrest. The house-arrest arrangement required payment of RM50 million, which Najib had not made according to the latest information.

The original punishment followed a criminal conviction, not simply an administrative calculation. In July 2020, the Kuala Lumpur High Court found Najib guilty of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd. It then sentenced him to 12 years’ imprisonment and imposed a RM210 million fine.

The case went through two appeals. The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence in December 2021. The Federal Court upheld it again in August 2022. These decisions left the original conviction and punishment standing before the later reduction by the Pardons Board.

The article does not explain the court’s detailed reasoning or how it calculated the exact prison term and fine. It establishes the key process: a High Court conviction led to the original sentence, and two higher courts confirmed it. The Pardons Board later reduced the punishment, cutting imprisonment to six years and the fine to RM50 million.

Criminal and civil cases serve different purposes. A criminal case can punish conduct found to be an offence, through imprisonment and a fine. A civil case can require repayment or compensation when a person is found responsible for financial harm. The two processes can arise from related events without being the same proceeding.

Najib received criminal punishment in the SRC case after conviction for misappropriating RM42 million. Separately, in a civil case, the High Court ordered him on March 31 to repay US$1.3 billion to SRC International. The court found that he breached fiduciary duties, abused his position and misappropriated company funds for personal gain.

The civil payment order was stayed pending the outcome of Najib’s appeal. That stay affects enforcement of the repayment order, not the existence of the separate criminal sentence described in the article. Najib also faces other civil lawsuits, including claims by SRC International, Gandingan Mentari and 1MDB with four subsidiaries.

Fiduciary duties are responsibilities owed by a person entrusted to act for a company or another party. They generally require loyalty, proper use of authority and protection of the organisation’s interests. A breach can make the person responsible for losses caused by misuse of that position. These principles explain why a court may order repayment.

In the civil case described, the High Court found that Najib breached his fiduciary duties, abused his position and misappropriated company funds for personal gain. On March 31, it ordered him to repay US$1.3 billion to SRC International. The order was separate from the criminal fine and imprisonment.

The repayment order is not currently being enforced because the High Court stayed enforcement pending the outcome of Najib’s appeal. The article says Najib also faces other civil lawsuits. It does not give the detailed evidence behind the fiduciary-duty findings, but it clearly links those findings to the repayment order.