The scale of Najib Razak’s 1MDB plunder made Attila the Hun look like a choirboy, says the trial judge in his grounds of judgment.
KUALA LUMPUR: The scale of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal involving former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was so vast that it made ‘Attila the Hun look like a choirboy by comparison’, according to then High Court Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Justice Sequerah, who is now a Federal Court judge, made the observation in his 810-page grounds of judgment released today while describing what has been portrayed both locally and internationally as one of the world’s largest cases of kleptocracy.
“The scale of the plunder that took place (financially speaking, of course) made Attila the Hun look like a choirboy by comparison,” said the judge.
Attila the Hun was the feared ruler of the Hunnic Empire in the fifth century and was notorious for leading devastating military campaigns across Europe. He earned a reputation for destruction, brutality and plunder, gaining the nickname ‘The Scourge of God’.
His campaigns caused widespread fear and significant damage to cities and territories under Roman control.
On Dec 26, 2025, Justice Sequerah sentenced Najib, 72, to 15 years in jail and imposed a total fine of RM11.4 billion after finding him guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.3 billion in funds linked to 1MDB.
Nearly six months later, in the much-awaited full written judgment, the judge said the trial, which began in August 2019, took approximately six years to conclude – a record no court would wish to hold.
“It has in all probability surpassed the length of any other trial in the annals of Malaysian court history, an unenviable record,” he said.
The judge said the lengthy proceedings reflected the complexity of the case, which involved extensive documentary evidence, numerous witnesses and allegations surrounding one of the country’s largest financial scandals.
He said that after the trial had progressed for some time, the nation – and indeed much of the world – was plunged into the COVID-19 pandemic.
The judge said that the ensuing Movement Control Order (MCO) forced the court to adjourn the trial on several occasions.
“As a result of the lockdown, a total of 19 days of trial were lost, while another nine trial dates were lost due to someone involved in the proceedings testing positive for COVID-19 or coming into close contact with a person who had tested positive,” Justice Sequerah said.
The judge said the trial eventually resumed, and one might have thought that the worst, at least in terms of its progress, was over.
