His death on Wednesday was reported by The Star, quoting his former legal adviser Selva Sugumaran as saying that Abdullah had fought a long battle with an illness which saw frequent hospital visits.

His funeral will be held in Kuala Lumpur on June 2.

Abdullah was the chief executive of the now-defunct Malaysian Overseas Investment Corporation when he was convicted of criminal breach of trust of some RM338,000 in 1986.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison and a RM100,000 fine, and did his time in Kajang prison.

However, the Malay Mail newspaper revealed in 1989 that Abdullah was able to roam freely outside prison and even had a carpeted prison cell equipped with a refrigerator, video player and waterbed.

An investigative report by the newspaper led to Abdullah being pictured in Kuala Lumpur, where he was said to be helping run a family business, when he should have been at a prison-run orchid farm in Mantin, Negeri Sembilan.

Former Malay Mail editor Salehuddin Othman said a special home ministry panel which investigated the matter blamed it on weaknesses in the prison system, while then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ordered a shake-up of the prisons department to bring it along the lines of the national police structure.