Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak has arrived home to serve the rest of a corruption sentence under house arrest, ending a four-year stay in prison.
The 73-year-old returned to his residence in Kuala Lumpur in an SUV late on Tuesday, escorted by a heavily armed police convoy, as a large media presence waited outside. His mansion, in one of the capital's most exclusive neighborhoods, has been declared a federal prison.
Najib was found guilty over the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The scandal brought down his government. Investigators estimate that $4.5 billion was siphoned from the state-owned fund, which Najib co-founded, into private pockets. Prosecutors say more than $1 billion ended up in accounts linked to him. His lawyers say he was misled by advisers, in particular the financier Jho Low, who maintains his innocence and remains at large.
Najib was prime minister from 2009 to 2018. He denies wrongdoing but was convicted at two separate trials. In the first, he was sentenced in 2020 to 12 years in prison for abuse of power, money laundering and breach of trust over 42 million ringgit ($10 million) transferred from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit, into his private accounts. He was jailed in 2022, and the term was later halved on appeal.
In September, Malaysia's king granted him a conditional pardon so he could serve the remaining two years at home. His party paid a $12 million fine under the terms of the royal pardon. The transfer to his mansion was to take place on Friday but was put on hold after the attorney general sought clarification of the royal decree. On Tuesday, the high court ruled the house arrest was effective immediately.
Critics say his release from jail undermines efforts to fight corruption and question its legal basis, saying Malaysian law makes no provision for house arrest.
Najib is also appealing a 15-year prison sentence handed down at a second trial in December 2025, in a case involving much larger sums. He was convicted of misappropriating nearly 2.3 billion ringgit ($569 million) from 1MDB. He is due to start serving that sentence after his house arrest ends, which is expected in August 2028.
