Appeals court grants Najib and son stay of bankruptcy action in RM1.7b tax case

Appeals court grants Najib and son stay of bankruptcy action in RM1.7b tax case



Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary-general Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Mohd Najib speaks during a press conference at Wisma OCM in Kuala Lumpur on April 17, 2025. — Bernama pic


Summary

• The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya has granted former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his son, Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin, a stay of bankruptcy proceedings.
• This decision overturns a previous High Court ruling and allows them time to appeal against additional tax assessments from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT).
• The IRB is pursuing recovery of substantial tax arrears from both individuals, totaling RM1.69 billion from Najib and RM37.6 million from Nazifuddin.
• The stay was deemed necessary due to specific issues requiring resolution before the SCIT.

First Published: Friday, 04 Sep 2026 10:46 AM MYT


PUTRAJAYA, Sept 4 — The Court of Appeal here today granted former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his son, Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin, a stay of bankruptcy proceedings against them.

A three-man bench comprising Justices Datuk Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, Datuk Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman and Datuk Ong Chee Kwan allowed their appeals to set aside the High Court’s decision on Nov 17 last year, which had dismissed their applications for a stay.


Delivering the unanimous decision, Justice Alwi said the stay was warranted as the appellants had raised specific issues to be determined before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT), which constituted sufficient grounds for granting the applications.

Najib and Nazifuddin had sought a stay of the bankruptcy proceedings pending the disposal of their appeals before the SCIT against additional tax assessments issued by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).


The bankruptcy proceedings stemmed from separate High Court decisions granting the IRB summary judgments against the father and son over unpaid tax arrears for the 2011 to 2017 assessment years.

The IRB is seeking to recover RM1.69 billion from Najib and RM37.6 million from Nazifuddin. — Bernama