Holiday Ayo - The Kuala Lumpur High Court rejected former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's request to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest on Monday (December 22).

Najib is currently serving a six-year sentence for corruption at the state fund 1MDB.

Najib's lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, argued that an order from the former Malaysian king permitted his client to serve the remainder of his sentence at home.

However, Justice Alice Loke Yee Ching disagreed, stating that the royal addendum was not a valid order.

"Therefore, the court cannot issue an order to order house arrest," Loke told the Kuala Lumpur High Court, as quoted by AFP on Monday.

"There is no legal provision for house arrest in Malaysia. The application for judicial review is rejected," she continued.

Shafee Abdullah said Najib would appeal the decision and was deeply disappointed. Najib was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison in July 2020 in his first trial related to approximately 42 million ringgit in funds misappropriated from a former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd.

That sentence was later halved by the pardons board. This week, he faces sentencing in a separate trial related to the financial scandal that led to his defeat in the 2018 general election.

The trial is seen as the main case for Najib, who faces four counts of abuse of power to obtain approximately 2.28 billion ringgit from 1MDB funds, as well as 21 counts of money laundering.

Prosecutors say Najib abused his positions as prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board to transfer large sums of money into his personal accounts more than a decade ago.

They presented bank records, documents, and testimony from more than 50 witnesses.

However, their defense has blamed Najib's close associate, the mysterious fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.

Low, who remains at large, is believed to be the mastermind behind a scheme to loot Malaysia's investment funds and spend the proceeds on everything from luxury properties and private jets to yachts.

If convicted, Najib could receive an extended sentence on a separate charge on Friday (December 26).