Najib yet to instruct lawyers on RM50m fine payment
Lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah says the legal team cannot confirm whether the former prime minister will make the payment this week
KUALA LUMPUR – Whether former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will pay the RM50 million fine to facilitate the implementation of his house arrest arrangement remains uncertain.
This follows his lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, saying he has yet to receive any instructions from the former Pekan MP regarding the payment.
He said the legal team was also unable to predict whether the payment would be made this week.
“I cannot predict. As far as I know, as of today, there have been no instructions,” he told reporters when met at the Court Complex here.
Muhammad Shafee said speculation that the fine might be paid on Wednesday was prompted by media reports.
Media reports said Najib was expected to settle the RM50 million fine at the High Court here on Wednesday to enable him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
Previously, Shafee confirmed that the location for the house arrest stated in the document obtained was Najib's residence at No. 11, Langgak Duta.
Last October, Prime Minister's Department Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) director-general Datuk Zamri Misman said the Malaysian Prisons Department had provided further clarification to Najib on the house arrest mechanism.
On Sept 19, Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar said the Malaysian Prisons Department was expected to prepare standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the implementation of house arrest for the former Pekan MP.
Najib, who has been serving his prison sentence at Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds, filed a petition for a royal pardon with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Sept 2, 2022.
On July 28, 2020, the High Court here sentenced Najib to 12 years in prison and fined him RM210 million after finding him guilty of three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power.
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