KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 29): Royal Lake Club Kuala Lumpur, one of the oldest social clubs in the country, has removed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as its patron.

The decision was made in a meeting held by the club's general committee last Thursday (Aug 25), two days after the Federal Court upheld Najib's graft conviction and sentence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, for which he is now serving a 12-year sentence in jail. He has also been fined RM210 million.

"The general committee in its meeting on Aug 25, pursuant to the conviction of the above-named by the Federal Court on Aug 23, revoked the club's patronship conferred on Datuk Seri Najib Razak on June 1, 2011, with immediate effect," read the club's brief letter titled "Revocation of Patronship, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak" that was addressed to members and sighted by The Edge. The letter was signed by its president Manjeet Singh Dhillon.

Founded on Aug 16, 1890, Royal Lake Club Kuala Lumpur is located within Lake Gardens here, near the Parliament House.

In July 2020, the High Court found Najib guilty of abuse of power involving RM4 billion loans from Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) to SRC, and three counts each of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds. At the time, SRC was a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

Najib was then sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million for abuse of power, and 10 years jail each for each of the CBT and money laundering charges. But he will only be spending 12 years behind bars as the court also ordered that the jail terms run concurrently.

His conviction and sentence were subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021, and later by the Federal Court last Tuesday.