Najib cannot afford $15.7 million house arrest fine due to frozen accounts: Lawyer
Sign up now: Get insights on the biggest stories in Malaysia
The Kuala Lumpur High Court will decide on Oct 14 on whether to grant Najib’s request.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Najib Razak cannot pay the RM50 million fine for house arrest as all his bank accounts, including his official salary account, are frozen by authorities.
- His lawyer applied for a stay of execution on Najib's 15-year prison sentence, hoping Najib can serve remaining time under house arrest once the fine is paid.
- The court scheduled the hearing for Oct 14, with the prosecution planning to respond, while Najib's defence awaits updates on UMNO's fundraising to cover the fine.
AI generated
KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is unable to pay the RM50 million (S$15.7 million) fine required as a condition for his house arrest because his bank accounts remain frozen, according to his lead defence counsel.
Speaking to reporters outside the High Court on Sept 25, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said: “A lot of people are asking if we are paying the fine today.
“My answer until today is that Datuk Seri Najib himself cannot afford it. He himself cannot pay.”
Shafee explained that all of Najib’s bank accounts – including an Affin Bank account where his official salary and allowances as former prime minister and Member of Parliament were credited – have been frozen by the authorities.
When asked about the progress of UMNO’s public fund-raising campaign to help cover the fine, Shafee said he had no information on the total amount collected so far.
The lawyer was speaking to media after Najib asked the court for a stay of execution on his 15-year prison sentence and fine in the RM2.28 billion 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial.
Shafee informed High Court Judge Justice Noor Ruwena Md Nordin of the matter during case management on Sept 25, adding that a certificate of urgency has also been filed.
Najib’s defence team did not make the application for a stay when he was convicted of 25 charges of power abuse and money laundering on Dec 25, 2025.
The former prime minister was serving a 12-year sentence in Kajang Prison for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International, a former company under 1MDB. Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered for the 1MDB sentence to run consecutively after the completion of the SRC sentence.
“We apply for the stay now because there is the conditional pardon granted to him. After the SRC sentence is completed, the 1MDB sentence would kick in.
“So we ask for a stay so that the stay has an effect,” Shafee said.
He added that Najib could most likely serve the remainder of his prison time under house arrest on the same day he pays the prerequisite fine.
Shafee said: “It depends. If we are ready, for instance this Oct 14 we get the stay (on the 1MDB sentence) and the RM50 million fine is paid, there is a good chance he would be released on the same day.
“Or maybe there will be some argument in court whether his freedom takes place on the same day or not.”
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam told the court the prosecution intends to file an affidavit in response to the application.
Justice Noor Ruwena then fixed Oct 14 for the hearing of the application.
“Written submissions, if you wish to submit, must be sent in before Oct 13,” she told the parties.
Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, was seen arriving at court at 10.30am. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK