Najib squares off
DATUK Seri Najib Razak says legal action has been initiated to reclaim the luxury items seized by police. He maintains that most of them were gifts, while some belonged to relatives and third parties.
A comprehensive list was given. What more does he want?
Datuk Seri Amar Singh, Federal CCID chief
Why would I greenlight public funds to buy yacht, luxury items?
Jho Low told me he was acting on Middle East royal members’ behalf.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak, former prime minister
Valuation of luxury items seized, which he describes as ‘subjective and unrealistic’, was done by experts who know their true value
Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, IGP
Najib must provide evidence that he gave RM10 million to my aide during the run-up to GE13 in 2013
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, prime minister
FORMER prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said some of the items seized by police belong to relatives and various third parties who have initiated legal process to claim their items.
“They have started the legal process to claim their items from police,” Najib said.
In a statement yesterday, Najib disputed the valuation of the items seized by police as “such valuation is subjective and is subject to when the gifts were given”.
“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.
“Any valuation based on retail price and at current prices would be unrealistic, likely to be grossly inflated and will give a distorted picture as these items were received as gifts over a period that spans decades,” he added.
Najib was referring to a press conference held by Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Amar Singh on Wednesday to announce the total value of items seized from residences related to Najib in May over a probe into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Amar said including the cash seizure of RM116.7 million, the total value of the seized items was between RM900 million and RM1.1 billion.
“The Najib Razak family maintains the seizures by police are mostly gifts from friends, foreign dignitaries, including royalty, for various occasions, including official visits and family events, such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and engagements,” Najib said.
On a Rolex Daytona watch that police valued at RM3.4 million, and said to be the most expensive watch among the items seized, Najib said the item was a gift from an interior minister, who was 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.
“This fact should not have been omitted,” Najib said, adding that many of the items seized were contained in boxes labelled by staff members with the items’ description, photographs, date of gift and the identity of the persons who gave the gifts.
In a related development, Najib said he and his family were ready to cooperate with police.
“Should the police call our family for questioning over this matter (seized items), we will provide our full cooperation.
“To the best of our ability, we shall help them identify those who have given the gifts over the decades,” he said.