Lawyer questions why belongings of Najib's children also seized

The lawyer representing Najib Abdul Razak, Harpal Singh Grewal, has questioned the reason behind the seizure of possessions belonging to the former prime minister’s children.

Citing the Pavilion Residences raid, Harpal stated the two condominium units involved were occupied by Najib’s son and daughter, Ashman and Nooryana Najwa.

“Najib would like to express disappointment on the indiscriminate manner in which the seizure of personal belongings was undertaken at both premises,” he said in a statement issued to reporters outside Najib’s home in Jalan Langgak Duta today.

According to the lawyer, among the items seized that belonged to Ashman were watches and a laptop, while dresses, shoes and baby clothes were taken from Nooryana’s home.

“No attempt was made to verify whether these dresses, shoes and baby clothes had anything to do with the investigation.

“The two children are not in any way connected with 1MDB or any of the companies being investigated.

“They are professionals in their own right, successful in their undertakings, they are entitled to all these clothes and shoes, just like you, I suppose,” Harpal told reporters.

The items seized from Ashman, Harpal added, were used by the former for work.

“As far as Gina (Nooryana) is concerned, those are her wedding presents, some of them,” he said.

Both the occupants of the condominium units would like to appeal to the police's Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) to "quickly return all personal effects and avoid causing further embarrassment and distress to the family".

"There is no relevance and no prima facie evidence for this seizure to take place."

Apart from the raids conducted at the units, 72 bags of cash and jewellery, as well as 284 boxes of high-end designer handbags, were also seized from two condominium units linked to Najib at the Pavilion Residences on Thursday night. 

The haul was so enormous that Bukit Aman CCID director Amar Singh could not provide an estimate of the value. -Mkini