Malaysia's ex-PM Ismail Sabri charged with hiding assets

KUALA LUMPUR — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was charged on Thursday with failing to declare his assets, making him the nation’s third leader to face criminal charges over graft-related offenses after leaving office.Ismail Sabri, Malaysia’s prime minister from 2021 to 2022 during a period of political upheaval, ​was accused of concealing assets that consisted of local and ​foreign currencies as well as gold bars and silver.Ismail Sabri, 66, pleaded not guilty to a charge under the anti-graft law that alleged he failed to provide a complete declaration of assets following a notice from the anti-corruption agency in January 2025.If convicted, he faces up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000 ringgit ($24,810).Ismail Sabri’s ⁠defense counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad said at a press conference that ​the charge was essentially a failure to comply with a notice to ​declare certain assets.”We will be studying the charge and as we informed the court, we are raising certain concerns about the propriety and legality of the charge ​but we won’t go into detail here,” he said.Ismail Sabri, the country’s ninth leader, unexpectedly became prime minister without a general election after emerging as a consensus figure during a turbulent political period. He was the shortest-serving leader, with only 15 months in office.After leaving office, Ismail Sabri has been questioned multiple times by anti-graft officials for possible misconduct involving millions of dollars spent on government publicity during his tenure. The anti-graft agency has also seized gold bars and some $40 million in cash from properties linked to him.A trained lawyer, Ismail Sabri has served ⁠in ​various roles in politics, including lawmaker and ​cabinet minister under three prime ministers, with portfolios that included rural and regional development, agriculture ​and domestic trade.His indictment followed that of his two predecessors.Former Prime Minister Najib Razak is serving a reduced six-year prison sentence after his conviction in a case tied to the multibillion-dollar looting of the 1MDB state investment fund. He was sentenced last year to a further 15 years’ imprisonment in his second and biggest graft trial linked to 1MDB, and still faces other proceedings.Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the eighth prime minister, is currently on trial over corruption and money-laundering charges.