Najib maintains seized items are mostly gifts, legal process started to reclaim items

A file picture of Najib at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Office in Putrajaya, May 24, 2018. - AP

KUALA LUMPUR: The family of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has started the legal process to reclaim their seized items from the police.

His family maintains the seizures are mostly of gifts from friends and foreign dignitaries, including royalty, for various occasions such as official visits and family events, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and engagements, said the former prime minister.

“Some of the items seized belong 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,” Najib said in a statement on Thursday (June 28).

As most of the items were gifts accumulated over decades, the family is not aware of how much was paid by those who had gifted these items, he added.

“Any valuation based on retail price and at current prices 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 said.

For example, Najib said the police had stated in their press conference that the most expensive watch was a Rolex Daytona which they say is valued at RM3.4mil.

“This item referred by the police appears to be a recent gift along with several other valuables given by an 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,” Najib said, adding that such facts should not have been omitted.

Many of the items seized were stored in boxes properly labelled by staff members with the item description, photographs, date of gift and the identity of the persons who gave the gift, the Pekan MP added.

“Should the police call our family for questioning over this matter, we will provide our full cooperation. To the best of our ability, we shall help the police identify those who have given the gifts over the decades.

“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.

On Wednesday (June 27), up to RM1.1bil worth of cash, jewellery, luxury handbags and watches, as well as sunglasses have been seized from residences and offices linked to Najib in the ongoing investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), making it the biggest seizure in Malaysian history.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Amar Singh said the collective market value of the items seized was estimated at between RM900mil and RM1.1bil.