MACC gets nod on Riza’s seized funds

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has allowed an application by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to forfeit over RM600,000 linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds from film producer Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz.

The court’s ruling yesterday essentially allowed the government to forfeit RM537,000, £2,700 and 2.87 million Sri Lankan rupees that were seized on May 17,2018.

This is in relation to a RM31mil 1MDB forfeiture suit filed by the government last year against Riza and 17 other defendants, including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Faten Hadni Khairuddin told Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan that Riza, Najib’s stepson, had agreed to the forfeiture following a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) granted to him by a Sessions Court here recently.Lawyer Syahirah Hanapiah, who acted for Najib, and lawyer Azrul Zulkifli Stork, who represented Riza and his mother Rosmah, did not object to the forfeiture.

On May 14, Riza was given a DNAA over five counts of money laundering following an agreement struck between the prosecution and his defence.

On May 7 last year, the government, through the prosecution, filed a notice of forfeiture over hundreds of items.

The items included branded handbags, watches, several properties, other assets and 27 vehicles that were seized from Najib, Rosmah, and their three children including Riza, and 13 individuals and companies.The MACC had seized the items, which were allegedly linked to the 1MDB scandal, on May 17, June 11 and Aug 2,2018.

Among the items mentioned in both the notices were 315 handbags of various brands, 14 watches and 27 pairs of shoes of various brands, as well as various currencies, including RM537,000, £2,700,2.87 million Sri Lankan rupees, RM187,750 in old ringgit notes, and £320,500.