Najib’s family starts legal process to claim seized items from police

KUALA LUMPUR (June 29): The family of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pictured) has commenced the legal process to claim their items which have been seized by police.

In a Facebook statement yesterday, Najib reiterated that the items seized are mostly gifts from friends and foreign dignitaries which include royalty.

He said that these gifts were received in conjunction with various occasions including official visits and family events such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and engagements.

Najib added that some of the items seized belonged to relatives and various third parties.

“We dispute the quantity and the valuation given in the press conference by the police since such valuation is subjective and is subject to when the gifts were given,” said Najib.

He went on to say that as most of the items were gifts accumulated over decades, his family is not aware of how much was paid by those who had gifted these items.

Najib said that any valuation based on retail price and at current prices for the items would be “unrealistic, likely to be grossly inflated, and will give a very distorted picture as these items were received as gifts over a period that spans decades”.

He cited an example in which the police had stated in the press conference that the most expensive watch was a Rolex Daytona which was said to be valued at RM3.4 million

“This item referred by the police appears to be a recent gift along with several other valuables given by the Interior Minister, who is also a prince of a Middle Eastern country who visited Malaysia in March this year.

“The police should also have stated that this item along with several others were contained in a box with the royal crest of a foreign country. This fact should not have been omitted,” he said.

Najib also pointed out that many of the items seized were contained in boxes properly labelled by staff members with the item description, photographs, date of gift and the identity of the giver.

He added that his family will provide full cooperation should the police call them for questioning over this matter.

“To the best of our ability, we shall help the police identify those who have given the gifts over the decades,” said Najib.

The Pekan Member of Parliament also labelled the seizure as a political attack on his family.

“Similar to the over-inflating of the national debt, the over-inflating of the quantity and value of the items seized as well as the press conference appears to be done with a view for political vengeance and political attack on my family,” he said.