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Malaysia’s former PM Najib Razak served with bankruptcy notice over unpaid US$400 million tax bill
- Najib said he believed the notice was linked to last month’s decision by Umno to stop cooperating with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government in upcoming elections
- On Monday he launched an appeal against his 12-year jail sentence and fine linked to the 1MDB scandal
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Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak has been served with a bankruptcy notice for failing to pay more than US$400 million in unpaid taxes, a move that the ex-premier described as an attempt to destroy his political career.
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Najib, who lost the historic 2018 election, is facing dozens of corruption and money laundering charges over the suspected theft of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state fund he co-founded.
He has denied wrongdoing and on Monday launched a court appeal to set aside his conviction and 12-year jail sentence in a 1MDB-related case.
Last year, a Malaysian court ordered Najib to settle 1.69 billion ringgit (US$409.80 million) in unpaid taxes accumulated between 2011 and 2017 while he was still in office, including penalties and interest.
Najib, in a Facebook post late on Tuesday, said officials from the Inland Revenue Board had issued a bankruptcy notice to him over the unpaid tax bill on Monday, soon after his appeal hearing.
Najib said he believed the timing of the notice was linked to last month’s decision by his political party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), to stop cooperating with Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government in upcoming elections.
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If declared bankrupt, Najib said he would lose his seat as a member of parliament and would not be able to stand as an election candidate.
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