Najib 1MDB court case status unchanged after conditional pardon

 

A file pic shows Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex ahead of his 1MDB trial. - NSTP FILE PIC

PUTRAJAYA: The status of Datuk Seri Najib Razak's pending 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) court case remains unchanged despite the former prime minister being granted a conditional pardon.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abd Halim Aman said each case had to be treated separately according to the issues and investigations involved.

"As far as we are concerned, cases which are still pending remain as they are.

"As it is now, the status quo remains," he told a press conference when asked whether Najib's conditional pardon would have any bearing on the pending 1MDB case and appeal.

Abd Halim said one case could not simply be equated with another, as each investigation concerned specific allegations and issues.

"We have to understand that each case is different from another.

"They cannot be treated as the same case. They differ in the sense that an investigation is directed at what is being investigated in relation to a particular issue raised or complaint made," he said.

On Dec 26 last year, Najib was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and fined RM13.4 billion for abuse of power and money laundering involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds.

High Court judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered the jail term to run consecutively to his current jail term in Kajang Prison for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd.

He would face an additional 40 years in prison if he failed to settle the fine.

The judge also ordered the sentence to take effect from that day, as there was no application by defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah for a stay of execution, with liberty to apply.

The court ordered the accused to pay RM2 billion in fines for the money-laundering charges, with two years and six months' imprisonment in default.

Following the ruling, his lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said the appeal would be filed on Monday.

Yesterday, the Federal Territories Pardons Board announced that Najib, 73, had been granted a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028, subject to the payment of a RM50 million fine.

The decision was made at the 64th meeting of the Pardons Board for the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya at Istana Negara.

The Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister's Department said His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, had consented to the conditional pardon. - NST