Gov't forfeiture case against Najib, Rosmah, others on May 4

Parties in the forfeiture suit brought by the government against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, his family and several others are scheduled to meet the High Court judge next month.

High Court deputy registrar Catherine Nicholas said judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan had previously set March 23 for case management, but it was vacated following the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) by the government.

“Therefore, the High Court has fixed May 4 for case management of the main suit,” she said when asked on the development of the case.

On May 7, 2019, the government through the prosecution filed a notice of forfeiture over hundreds of items including branded handbags, watches, several properties, other assets and 27 vehicles seized from Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor, their three children and 13 individuals and companies.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had seized the items on May 17, June 11 and Aug 2, 2018, which were allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund scandal.

On Feb 3, 2020, Mohamed Zaini allowed the applications by Najib, Rosmah and their daughter Nooryana Najwa to physically inspect the items, which were kept in a vault at Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).

Mohamed Zaini ordered the prosecution to allow Najib and his family to physically inspect the items and held that they should be given the opportunity to inspect the confiscated items.

On Feb 22, 2020, they went to BNM and spent more than three hours inspecting the items.

On July 18, 2019, Najib filed a notice of motion to inspect and obtain particulars on the said assets on the grounds that parts of the boxes, handbags and containers that were seized had been removed from their original wrappings, and this has caused confusion in their identification process.

Rosmah and Nooryana Najwa, meanwhile, filed an application for leave to be allowed to physically inspect the items.

Among the items mentioned in both the notices are 315 handbags of various brands, 14 watches and 27 pairs of shoes of various brands, as well as cash in various currencies, including RM537,000, pound sterling 2,700, Sri Lanka rupee 2,870,000, RM187,750 in old ringgit notes and 320,500 pound sterling. - Bernama

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