Mongolian demanded US$500,000 from Razak

ALTANTUYA Shaariibuu threatened to expose her relationship with Abdul Razak Baginda if he did not pay her the US$500,000 she demanded, the court heard. 

“Altantuya said she would reveal everything to Abdul Razak’s wife, daughter Rowena, TV3 and  

reporters,” said Ang Chong Beng, the private investigator hired by Altantuya to investigate the political analyst who she claimed was her husband. 

“Basically the whole world, right?” Abdul Razak’s counsel Wong Kian Kheong asked, when cross-examining the witness on Day 8 of the high profile murder trial. 

Ang, the fifth prosecution witness, agreed. 

Asked if he thought Altantuya’s threat had amounted to blackmail, he replied that he did not. 

Ang later clarified his stance on the matter, when DPP Manoj Kurup re-examined him. 

“I felt it was something between the two of them as husband and wife,” he said, adding that he thought the money was a form of compensation for her to leave him. 

Earlier, Ang said he was not aware that Abdul Razak’s wife Mazlinda Makhzan and daughter had already known about the analyst’s relationship with Altantuya on Oct 17. 

He also denied he had abetted the deceased and her two Mongolian companions to blackmail Abdul Razak. 

When Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, counsel for Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar, asked Ang what his first impression of Altantuya was and whether she looked like she was rich, the private eye replied: “Biasa saja (Ordinary).” 

Ang said he also did not notice if she was wearing any jewellery. 

He disagreed with the lawyer’s contention that Altantuya was “not poor” based on her dressing. 

To Ahmad Zaidi’s question if he thought it was odd for a “poor woman” to be asking for so much money, Ang said he did not think so because “Altantuya had a sick child.” 

The question prompted Justice Mohd Zaki Md Yasin to ask: “Does that mean a poor woman must ask for less money?” 

Ahmad Zaidi just smiled and moved on to his other questions. 

The trial continues today.