Graft dragnet tightens as Malaysia’s former PM Ismail Sabri charged after hospitalisation delay

KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysian prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was charged under the country’s anti-corruption laws at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Aug 27.

He pleaded not guilty to one charge of failing to comply with a notice requiring him to declare assets.

The move marks yet another high-profile step in Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s determined reform agenda, as his administration continues a sweeping crackdown on graft involving senior political figures. This intensified campaign has seen the arrest of a Barisan Nasional (BN) leader on Aug 26, with another expected to be charged on Aug 28.

Ismail Sabri’s offence is said to have taken place on Feb 7, 2025, at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya, when he allegedly gave a written statement that did not comply with the notice to declare assets.

He is accused of failing to declare cash in several currencies, as well as five gold bars, one silver bar and one gold coin.

MACC enforcers had previously seized about RM170 million (S$53.6 million) in foreign currencies and 16kg of gold bars worth about RM7 million during raids on premises linked to several of his former aides.

If found guilty, he faces imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to RM100,000.

Proceedings against the former prime minister were previously postponed owing to his health issues. He underwent a leadless pacemaker implantation at the National Heart Institute on Aug 7 to treat an abnormal heart rhythm.

Three ex-Malaysian PMs face separate legal proceedings

Ismail Sabri is the third former Malaysian prime minister to be charged in court, after Najib Razak in 2018 and Muhyiddin Yassin in 2023.

All three were at the same court complex on Aug 27 for their respective legal proceedings.

Najib was in court for the ongoing hearing of a US$5.6 billion (S$7.1 billion) civil suit filed by 1MDB against him and five other former 1MDB directors, while Muhyiddin’s graft trial is being heard at the High Court in the same complex. Najib is currently serving a prison sentence for an earlier 1MDB-linked case.

The renewed scrutiny of senior BN figures comes at a politically sensitive time for Anwar’s coalition, which has faced growing strains with UMNO, BN’s largest component and a key pillar of the unity government.

UMNO is moving closer to its former rival, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), signalling a stronger alignment with the Islamist party.

The developments extend beyond former prime minister Ismail Sabri. Deputy president of BN’s Malaysian Indian Congress, M. Saravanan, also a former minister, has confirmed that he will be charged on Aug 28.

Meanwhile, two former senior officials linked to pilgrimage fund Tabung Haji (TH) were arrested on Aug 26 as the authorities stepped up investigations into past governance issues at the institution. The former TH chairman, who is from UMNO, and former Treasury secretary-general have been remanded for seven days.

TH was established to help Muslims save for the haj and to manage their savings and investments. It has more than 9 million depositors and manages investments exceeding RM96 billion, making it one of the country’s most prominent institutions serving the Muslim community.

The arrests followed a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into TH’s management and operations between 2014 and 2020. The report, which runs to more than 200 pages, was declassified on July 29.

The commission found weaknesses in governance, accounting and investment management, and said political considerations had influenced decisions on profit distributions.

Among its findings, the RCI said Tabung Haji should have recorded a net loss of about RM1.4 billion in 2017, rather than the RM3.4 billion profit it reported at the time. The finding has raised questions over how the fund’s financial position was represented.

Will Anwar’s government be considered ‘petty’?

The timing of the cases could raise some eyebrows, coming after Pakatan Harapan’s losses in the recent Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections.

With the possibility of further losses, the latest investigations could be interpreted by some as “one strategy to go after UMNO”, said political analyst Syaza Shukri of the International Islamic University Malaysia.

“I’m sure the government would say it’s just the rule of law, but yes, there might be questions on the timing given the other DNAAs and similar cases,” said Syaza, referring to a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

The release of the TH RCI report during the Negeri Sembilan campaign likewise fuelled speculation that anti-corruption issues could be deployed politically, she added. The latest developments can potentially be seen as serving a similar purpose ahead of the next state election expected in Melaka.

However, she told The Straits Times that the cases gave PH an opportunity “to contrast itself as the coalition of reform, against the so-called corrupt old guards”. That could be useful for PH at a time when its economic messaging appears to be struggling to resonate and identity politics is gaining traction.

The risk, however, is that the government could be labelled “petty” and no different from the predecessors it once criticised for using state institutions against political opponents, she noted.

The bigger issue, the analyst suggested, is the perception of selectivity when these cases are viewed alongside other high-profile investigations and prosecutions. Even if that perception is unfounded, it could still carry political costs.

“I don’t think it matters what the timing is, it could always be used as ‘political persecution’,” she said.