A public apology by disgraced former prime minister Najib Razak over the ruinous 1MDB scandal has been met with jeers by Malaysians, as speculation mounts about a possible attempt to secure his early release from prison.

Through his lawyers, Najib on Thursday issued an apology over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, saying it pained him “every day” that the looting of billions of dollars of taxpayers’ cash happened under his watch.

The jailed former leader apologized “unreservedly” for the scandal, but insisted he “did not initiate or knowingly enable” the erosion of a fund he created and signed off on in his dual role as finance minister.

In a brief door stop after Friday prayers, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told reporters that Najib’s apology was “well received”.

Najib began a 12-year prison sentence in August 2022, after exhausting his last-ditch effort to overturn his conviction for corruption and abuse of power linked to a former unit of 1MDB.

However, his apology did not go down well with many Malaysians, who see Najib as a key actor as well as the beneficiary of the looting of what US and Malaysian investigators say was an estimated US$4.5 billion from 1MDB.