Najib Razak set for house arrest after UMNO pays 50 million ringgit fine

Release from Kajang prison

Former Prime Minister Najib Razak is set to leave Kajang prison and serve the rest of his six-year sentence at home after UMNO paid a 50 million ringgit fine. UMNO secretary-general Asyraf Wajid Dusuki said in a statement on Friday, 6 November 2026, that the party had collected enough money through a donation drive. Najib's lawyer, Farhan Shafee, said he had been given the release order and would deliver it to the Kajang prison right away, adding that house arrest could begin that day if everything went to plan. AFP reporting said Najib was seen leaving the prison by car, followed by a convoy of vehicles. It was not immediately clear when he would be officially allowed to leave, and police had been stationed at his house in Kuala Lumpur early on Friday, 6 November, with the road leading to it blocked.

The fine and the pardon

King Sultan Ibrahim agreed in September 2026 to pardon Najib on condition that the fine was paid, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence at home. The fine is reported as 50 million ringgit, or between $12 million and $12.3 million depending on the conversion used. Najib, 73, has been jailed since 2022 for corruption and embezzlement connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state investment fund he co-founded while prime minister from 2009 to 2018. Investigators say about $4.5bn was stolen from the fund, and more than $1bn of it was linked to Najib. His bank accounts have been frozen, and UMNO has reportedly used crowdfunding to cover the fine. Najib denies any wrongdoing and has said he was solely blamed for a highly complicated global fraud scheme.

Second sentence and appeal

The house arrest covers only the reduced six-year term from the first trial. In December 2025 Najib received a separate 15-year sentence for corruption and money laundering in a second 1MDB trial, and he is appealing that conviction. A judge rejected his request in September 2026 to halt that jail term and the fines, citing the gravity of the offence. If the appeal fails, he could return to prison after 23 August 2028. Accounts differ on the size of the fine in that case, with one putting it at 11.4 billion ringgit and another at $2.5bn.

Political fallout

Transport Minister Anthony Loke has said he will resign from the cabinet once Najib reaches his home, and he put it this way:

“As soon as Najib arrives at his home, my resignation will take effect.”

UMNO, Najib's party, is part of the government that came to power in 2022, so the cabinet change would reach into the governing coalition. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has publicly raised concerns about the pardon, and speculation has circulated that he may have helped it through behind the scenes under pressure from Najib's party. Najib still holds influence within UMNO despite the embezzlement conviction, and the political impact of the pardon is expected to continue as the appeal proceeds.

Timeline

The sequence runs from the 2020 sentence to the reported departure from Kajang prison on 6 November 2026.