--- description: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been exonerated by Malaysia's attorney general, who said the $681 million in question were a gift title: Malaysian Prime Minister Cleared of Corruption image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt101e64cd0f200e71/69887a952dce0156cc9e7822/ap_17351025307.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Malaysia](/tag/malaysia/) ## Malaysia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Has Been Cleared of Corruption by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 26, 2016 7:16 AM CUT  Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak speaks at a conference in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 25, 2016 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak speaks at a conference in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 25, 2016Joshua Paul—AP by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 26, 2016 7:16 AM CUT Beleaguered Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose alleged embezzlement of nearly $700 million from a state development fund precipitated the largest antigovernment protests in his country’s history, has been [exonerated](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35407017 "undefined") by Malaysia’s Attorney General, who said the funds in question were a gift from the Saudi royal family. In a press statement Tuesday, Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said that in the spring of 2013, royals in Saudi Arabia legally donated $681 million to Najib, who later returned the lion’s share of the funds, the BBC reports. Najib has held Malaysia’s highest office since 2009 and faced mounting public hostility for most of his tenure. Consternation reached its boiling point last summer, when the _Wall Street Journal_ [published a story](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10130211234592774869404581083700187014570 "undefined") alleging that Najib had siphoned millions from an ailing development fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad. The _Journal’_s story furthered claims first levied by the Sarawak Report, a London-based investigative news site that focuses on corruption in Malaysia. In late August, the scandal drove hundreds of thousands of Malaysians into the streets of Kuala Lumpur and other cities to [demand](http://time.com/4015830/malaysia-bersih-protests-kuala-lumpur-umno-najib-corruption/ "undefined") Najib’s resignation. Najib has ardently denied all allegations of wrongdoing and penalized those politicians who have suggested otherwise. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35407017 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4193659/najib-razak-1mdb-corrupt-saudi/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4193659/najib-razak-1mdb-corrupt-saudi/"},"headline":"Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Has Been Cleared of Corruption","datePublished":"2016-01-26T07:16:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:26:22.394Z","description":"He was accused of siphoning $681 million from a state investment fund","url":"https://time.com/4193659/najib-razak-1mdb-corrupt-saudi/","keywords":["Malaysia","corruption","Najib Razak","southeast asia"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt101e64cd0f200e71/69887a952dce0156cc9e7822/ap_17351025307.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt101e64cd0f200e71/69887a952dce0156cc9e7822/ap_17351025307.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Najib Razak","caption":"Najib Razak","creditText":"Joshua Paul—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/malaysia/","name":"Malaysia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4193659/najib-razak-1mdb-corrupt-saudi/","name":"Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Has Been Cleared of Corruption"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Mass Protests in Malaysia Call for PM's Resignation","description":"Tens of thousands of people took the streets of Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur over the weekend to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xo9b0vBz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-31T07:02:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xo9b0vBz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4193659/najib-razak-1mdb-corrupt-saudi/","duration":"PT1M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4193659/najib-razak-1mdb-corrupt-saudi/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```