Court allows Najib and Rosmah to physically inspect watches, handbags seized in May 2018

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 3): The High Court has today allowed former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor to physically inspect the 263 handbags and 40 watches seized by the authorities in May 2018.

Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ordered the inspection be done within two weeks from today, in a venue to be chosen by the prosecution and government.

“I also allow that each of them be allowed to be accompanied by one solicitor in conducting the inspection,” said the judge.

Justice Zaini, in allowing Najib and Rosmah's application for leave to inspect those items, said they should be given the opportunity to examine the items that were seized and the respondents' (prosecution and government) fears can be easily allayed in a premises controlled by them.

"I am not able to fathom how the removal of these items (from a vault controlled by Bank Negara Malaysia) would result in their deterioration. This can be done in a controlled environment with the applicant alone be allowed to examine those items in the respondent's presence.

"Based on the reasons, the court is allowing their application; however, the court would determine at the end the defence's merit [in challenging the forfeiture] or otherwise. The inspection will be done only once within two weeks of today at a premises decided by the respondent," the judge said.

Justice Zaini then asked Najib and Rosmah to file an affidavit by March 2, should they want to contest the forfeiture application.

Najib's counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked that the court order be varied or amended to allow one each of Najib's and Rosmah's solicitors to be present for the inspection, and the court allowed it.

The items were seized by the authorities after they raided several premises at Pavillion Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, right after the 14th general election.

The items all in all are said to be worth RM10 million from the RM31 million forfeiture claim that the authorities filed against Najib, Rosmah their children Nooryana and Norashman Najib, and Najib's stepson Riza Shahriz Aziz.

Also named in the forfeiture were former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa and his wife Lim Hwee Bin, Low Taek Jho (Jho Low)'s known associate Kee Kok Thiam, and Rembulan Kembara Sdn Bhd, whose registered shareholder is Jho Low's father Tan Sri Larry Low, from which the government managed to seize a total of RM1.99 million after Maybank dropped its claim on them following purported debts.

It was reported on Aug 30 that the bank wanted to claim a total of RM1.99 million from the four as the government had filed forfeiture action against them. The bank is seeking the amount following alleged loans taken by the four of them and wanted to stake its claim.

The police claimed Kee had left the country while the whereabouts of Larry along with his wife and Jho Low's mother, Goh Gaik Ewe, are also unknown.

They were named in the civil forfeiture suit where the government is seeking to recover 263 pieces of branded handbags, 40 pieces of branded watches, 27 pairs of branded shoes, cash in various denominations including some RM725,000, 26 Nissan Urvan vehicles and a Nissan X-Trail.

Besides Shafee appearing for Najib, lawyer Iskandar Shah Ibrahim came for Rosmah, while deputy public prosecutor Fatnin Yusof and Harris Ong Mohd Jeffrey Ong appeared for the prosecution.

Najib and Rosmah filed separate discovery application to examine those items seized after they had been removed from the original boxes that they came with by the authorities.

They contend that identifying those items via photographs were difficult.

Fatnin and Harris objected to the discovery application on the grounds of security as the items are kept in a secured vault in Bank Negara and that examination of items forfeited has not been done before.

Furthermore, they argued that removing them from the vault would depreciate the value of the branded items.

Besides this, the prosecution had also filed a separate forfeiture proceeding against OBYU Holdings Sdn Bhd to retrieve more than RM600 million worth of items that were also seized from the same premises by the police.

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