Ismail Sabri Yaakob Indicted for Failure to Declare Foreign Assets

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was charged on Thursday with failing to declare his assets, becoming the third ex‑premier to face prosecution in recent years over alleged graft‑related offences.

Ismail Sabri, who served as Malaysia’s prime minister for just over 15 months between 2021 and 2022 amid political turbulence, stands accused of concealing assets comprising both local and foreign currencies, as well as gold bars and silver.

His defence counsel, Amer Hamzah Arshad, said at a press conference that the charge stemmed from 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 entered a plea of not guilty at a Kuala Lumpur lower court on Thursday and was released on a 300,000‑ringgit (≈ $74,534) bail. If convicted, he could face up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 100,000 ringgit (≈ $24,828).

In March of last year, the anti‑corruption agency said Ismail Sabri had submitted an assets declaration after being ordered to do so as part of its investigation into alleged graft and money‑laundering, following the seizure of nearly $40 million in assets allegedly linked to him.

Cash amounting to 170 million ringgit (≈ $42.2 million) in various currencies and 16 kg of gold bars were seized during the raids, the agency said at the time.

The 16 kg of gold bars is valued at roughly $2.4 million.

A trained lawyer, Ismail Sabri has held various political offices, including member of parliament and cabinet minister under three prime ministers, overseeing portfolios such as rural and regional development, agriculture, and domestic trade.

Jonah Davidov contributed to this report.

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