Jailed Malaysian ex-PM Najib pays fine, meeting condition for house arrest

Jailed Malaysian former prime minister Najib Razak paid a fine Friday, a condition of his royal pardon allowing him to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest, his party said.

The 73-year-old former leader was jailed for his role in one of the largest-ever global plunders of a sovereign wealth fund, the now-defunct 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

"UMNO has completed all payment processes to the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning," the United Malays National Organisation said in a statement, referring to the 50 million ringgit ($12 million) fine.

"UMNO hereby officially closes the special Najib Razak Solidarity Fund account, which was established to receive public contributions. There is no longer a need for public crowdfunding for this purpose."

Najib's aide, Ahmad Lutfi Azhar, also confirmed the payment had been made and told reporters they were now waiting for transfer papers to be issued.

Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim had granted Najib the conditional pardon in September, allowing him to the serve out the rest of his prison sentence under house arrest provided he pay the fine.

The road leading to Najib's residence was cordoned off as of noon, with yellow police tape and traffic cones blocking access to the area, an AFP journalist saw.

Police had parked patrol cars and mobile vans as well as set up two tents near the entrance to the road, in preparation for crowd control.