Published: 4:22pm, 3 Mar 2025Updated: 4:25pm, 3 Mar 2025
Malaysia’s former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was on Monday named as a suspect in a corruption case involving almost US$40 million in cash and gold bars seized from alleged safe houses across the capital.
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Ismail Sabri, the nation’s shortest-serving prime minister at just 15 months between August 2021 to November 2022, is the third leader to be implicated in corruption while in office following his predecessors Muhyiddin Yassin and Najib Razak, who were charged and convicted respectively.
The cash, in various currencies including US and Singapore dollars, UAE dirham and Japanese yen, was discovered in three raids at properties linked to the ex-prime minister by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“The discovery of this cash confirms that the [former prime minister] is a suspect in this case,” MACC chief Azam Baki told reporters.
Ismail Sabri had previously been named as a witness, not a suspect.
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The commission earlier said its investigation was focused on government publicity expenditure and procurement during the leadership of Ismail Sabri.