Malaysia 1mdb Scandal Probe: $28m seized in raids linked to ex-PM Najib
Malaysian police said yesterday that cash worth 114 million ringgit ($28.6 million) and over 400 luxury handbags were seized from several apartments as part of an anti-graft probe into a state fund founded by former prime minister Najib Razak.
Najib's home, and the apartments of a son, and a daughter were among a dozen properties searched since May 18, Amar Singh, the head of commercial crime division, told a news conference.
Since his defeat in an election on May 9, Najib has been barred from leaving the country by the new government, which has reopened an investigation into billions of dollars missing from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
At one empty apartment, officers found 35 bags stuffed with cash valued at 114 million ringgit. The banknotes were in 26 currencies, though the largest amounts were in ringgit and Singapore dollars.
"We have sat together with bank officials to tally and estimate the total cash seized," Singh said.
Singh said the empty apartment in Pavillion Residences, in the Bukit Bintang neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur, did not belong to any of Najib's family members. He declined to name the owner.
Police also found 284 boxes of handbags in the apartment, and a further 150 handbags were seized from the home of Najib's daughter, Nooryana Najwa, along with various shoes, including baby shoes.
Singh said most of the bags appeared to be a Hermes brand.
"We have had discussions with Hermes, and we will take pictures and send them to Paris to verify their authenticity and their value," Singh said.
Nooryana, better known as Gina, married a nephew of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev's three years ago.
Singh did not say what was found at the home of Najib's son Ashman.
Experts were being brought in to value the jewelry, watches and other luxury items seized during the raid.
Singh said half a million ringgit, excluding foreign currency, was found at Najib's home.
Najib concluded giving a statement to anti-graft agents on Thursday that was related to transactions of $10.6 million into his bank account that investigators had traced to a former unit of 1MDB.
Najib, who led the country for almost a decade, has consistently denied any wrongdoing, having explained three years ago that $680 million transferred into his account had been a donation from an unnamed Saudi royal.
In a separate development, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a tweet that he had asked tax authorities to investigate financier Low Taek Jho and his family as part of the 1MDB probe.
Commonly referred to as Jho Low, the high-living 36-year-old was close to Najib's family. His whereabouts are unknown.
He has previously denied any wrongdoing, but the US Department of Justice is seeking to seize his assets, including a $250 million superyacht that the department says was purchased with funds "stolen and embezzled" from 1MDB.
Malaysia's new government yesterday pledged to honour all payments on debt arising from 1MDB. It has estimated that government guarantees covered 38 billion ringgit ($9.54 billion) of 1MDB's debt at the end of 2017.
"We will honour those even though we are not happy with 1MDB, but we have to honour our international obligations," Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said. "I think this will reassure the markets that this government knows what it is doing".
Comments