KUALA LUMPUR - The judiciary has officially released the full written judgment in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, nearly six months after the High Court found him guilty of multiple corruption and money laundering charges linked to RM2.3 billion in state funds.
The 809-page judgment, uploaded into the judicial system on Tuesday, details the reasoning of trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah who has since been elevated to the Federal Court.
The case represents one of the longest-running trials in recent Malaysian legal history, spanning 303 trial days in total, including 235 days for the prosecution and 58 days for the defence.
A total of 50 prosecution witnesses and 26 defence witnesses were called to the stand during the proceedings, which concluded its final submissions on Oct 21, 2025.
Najib, 73, was sentenced on Dec 25, 2025 at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya to 15 years in prison and fined RM11.38 billion after being found guilty of four charges of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving 1MDB funds.
The court ruled that each abuse of power charge carried a 15-year prison sentence, while each money laundering offence carried five years’ imprisonment. However, the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The court also ruled that the sentence would only commence after Najib completes his current imprisonment for the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, scheduled for Aug 22, 2028.
“This was because the 1MDB and SRC cases did not involve the same transactions and were separate cases,” Sequerah said.
Najib was accused of committing the offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between 2011 and 2014, involving RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds.
The charges were framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act and Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFA), both carrying severe penalties including lengthy imprisonment and heavy fines upon conviction.