Former Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has pleaded not guilty to allegedly failing to provide Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency with a complete declaration of assets worth about $40m.
The assets allegedly included holdings across nine currencies, along with gold and silver bars. A Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court judge set bail at 300,000 ringgit ($74,504) and declined to confiscate Ismail Sabri’s passport, finding no evidence he posed a flight risk.
What the charge alleges
The charge concerns an alleged failure to comply fully with a notice requiring Ismail Sabri to declare certain assets. His lawyer, Amer Hamzah Arshad, said the defence would examine concerns about the charge’s propriety and legality, without giving further details.
If convicted, Ismail Sabri faces up to five years in prison. The court ordered him to return on September 29.
A third former prime minister prosecuted
Ismail Sabri served as prime minister for 15 months, from August 2021 to November 2022, the shortest term held by a Malaysian prime minister. Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency said last March that he had submitted an assets declaration after being ordered to do so during an investigation into alleged corruption and money laundering.
He is the third former Malaysian prime minister to face prosecution in recent years over alleged corruption-related activity. Najib Razak is serving a reduced six-year prison sentence following his conviction in a case linked to the 1MDB state investment fund, while Muhyiddin Yassin is on trial on corruption and money-laundering charges.
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