Why Najib’s conviction alone won’t stop the next 1MDB scandal

The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) recognises the conviction of disgraced former Prime Minister Najib Razak by the High Court on abuse of power and money laundering charges involving nearly RM2.2bn in the 1MDB case as a critical step towards accountability.

However, while this conviction is a reminder that no individual, no matter how powerful, is above the law, it cannot lead us to complacency as many of the same systems and structures that enabled Najib to squander billions in public funds remain to this day.

It has been seven years since Najib was removed from power, yet fundamental anti-corruption reforms have still not materialised to ensure another 1MDB scandal does not happen.

In his judgment, High Court judge Collin Sequerah [since elevated to a Federal Court judge) made several key determinations that should put any doubts of Najib’s guilt to rest.

He ruled that the famous “Saudi donation” defence that Najib and his supporters have raised lacked merit and was based on forged letters, that 1MDB officers could not reasonably have conspired against a sitting prime minister, and that attempts to paint Najib as ignorant of wrongdoing occurring under his purview were unreasonable.

However, there were also other determinations that raise questions about the robustness of Malaysian law enforcement and bureaucracy.

For example, it was found that 1MDB officers acted on instructions by fugitive businessman Jho Low as they genuinely believed that Low – an outsider with no official position within the company – was acting on Najib’s instructions or with his endorsement.

Have there been any effective reforms to the management and governance of government-linked companies to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future?

Under Anwar Ibrahim’s administration, new circulars on the management and governance of federal statutory bodies and government-linked companies still allow for the appointment of politicians to leadership positions, which preserves the possibility for conflicts of interest to arise.

We also call for the government to ensure that Low is brought back to face charges for his part in the 1MDB project that defrauded the entire nation. His role and ‘working relationship’ with Najib was at the core of the entire operation.

Furthermore, we demand that parties complicit in legitimising the now debunked narrative of the Arab donation must be held accountable for being part of the cover-up of the crime involving the former prime minister. This includes the team of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers who were sent to Riyadh to investigate the veracity of the donation letters and had then claimed it was indeed a donation to the former prime minister. 

The head of that group that conducted the visit to Riyadh was under the supervision of Azam Baki, the current MACC chief. This was noted by Judge Sequerah, who said the trip was “pre-planned” and an attempt to “complete the story” about the donation.

Current Deputy PM Zahid Hamidi also publicly stated he had met the representative of the donor family in support of the ‘donation’ narrative.

These actions raise extremely serious questions of credibility now that the truth has come to light, especially as they were used to defend a man found guilty of grand corruption. All parties involved in the cover-up must be held accountable.

The scars that Najib has left on this nation will remain for a long time. His greed led to the loss of billions in taxpayer money that could have been used to improve people’s lives.

His legacy is a reminder of the dangers ever present in the Malaysian political system, where power is centralised in the hands of the prime minister and checks and balances are insufficient.

Under Najib’s regime, the then attorney general Gani Patail himself was removed in the midst of investigating allegations of impropriety in 1MDB.

The court further noted that both the MACC chief at the time, Abu Kassim, and his deputy were also removed by Najib, further illustrating the power the prime minister has over key institutions and officers.

C4 Center has long called for structural reforms such as stronger oversight mechanisms and independent appointments for the MACC, the independence of the public prosecutor’s office, and laws regulating political donations. 

Anwar’s administration has taken steps towards improving these checks and balances such as introducing amendments to the Audit Act 1957 to increase the powers of the auditor general and passing the Parliamentary Service Bill 2025 to grant Parliament greater autonomy in managing its affairs.

Yet the appointment process and tenure of the MACC chief commissioner remains under the unilateral discretion of the prime minister. Although plans are underway to separate the roles of the attorney general and public prosecutor, there has been no official confirmation that the new public prosecutor’s office will not also be selected by the prime minister.

It is incumbent upon this government to ensure that when such laws do come to pass, they must substantially improve Malaysia’s anti-corruption framework, and not simply be a cosmetic, box-ticking exercise. – C4 Center

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