Umno has completed the RM50 million payment that allows its former president Najib Razak to serve the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest, the party said on 6 Nov.
Secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund, launched on 18 Sept, had raised enough to meet the amount fixed under the royal pardon, NST wrote. He thanked party members and Malaysians who contributed to the drive.
The fine is the last condition standing between Najib and home. He was jailed in August 2022 after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering over RM42 million from SRC International, FMT reported, on a 12-year sentence and a RM210 million fine.
The Federal Territories Pardons Board cut that in January 2024 to six years and RM50 million. On 18 Sept this year, Sultan Ibrahim granted a further conditional pardon allowing Najib to serve the remainder at home until 23 Aug 2028, provided the fine and the other conditions are met. The pardon is open to revocation if those terms are broken. The fund opened hours after the announcement.
Until this week the money was short. Asyraf said on Wednesday that Najib was not preparing to pay and that the campaign had yet to reach its target, and he declined to give the collected figure, in remarks carried by Malay Mail. Attorney-General Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar had confirmed days earlier that the fine remained unpaid and that no deadline had been set for it.
At the Kuala Lumpur courts complex on 6 Nov, Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor said the family had been told nothing. “I do not know. You all know better,” she said, adding: “The family does not know and I am not being told about it.” She said she had no part in the crowdfunding drive and pointed questions to Asyraf.
Donations stood at RM9.25 million by 27 Sept, leaving RM40.75 million to find, after early giving that put RM1 million into the account within a day. Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has said he holds no instructions from Najib to settle the fine.
Najib, 73, has been at Kajang Prison since 23 Aug 2022. Neither the Attorney-General’s Chambers nor the courts issued a statement alongside the party’s announcement. The Prisons Department has said it will carry out the terms of the pardon once the official notification reaches it.
The payment, if it clears as the party describes, closes a collection that began with small notes and public transfers. Umno has not published a final total, and the party’s statement credited its members rather than naming a figure above the RM50 million mark.
