Najib disputes cops’ valuation of seized items

The former prime minister says it is another political attack on him and his family.

Former prime minister Najib Razak says it is not accurate to base the valuation of the seized items on current retail prices. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Najib Razak today disputed the police valuation of RM1.1 billion for the items seized from several premises linked to him as part of the 1MDB probe, labelling it as another political attack on him and his family.

Arguing that the police’s valuation was subjective, the former prime minister said most of the items were gifts accumulated over decades.

The family, he said, would not be aware of how much was paid by those who had given them the items.

“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 in a statement.

Najib said for example, the police stated in their press conference that the most expensive watch was a Rolex Daytona which they said was valued at RM3.4 million.

He said the watch was a gift, along with several other valuables, given by the interior minister, who is also a prince of a middle eastern country, who visited Malaysia in March this year.

Najib said 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.

“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.”

Yesterday Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Amar Singh revealed that the total value of the items seized in the raids was estimated at RM900 million to RM1.1 billion.

Apart from the watches, other items seized included RM116.7 million in cash, 12,000 items of jewellery, 14 tiaras, and 234 pairs of sunglasses.

Najib went on to point out that many of the items seized were contained in boxes labelled with the item’s description, photographs, date of gift and the identity of the persons who gave the gift.

The former Umno president said the family was willing to help the police identify those who had given the gifts over the decades.

The police conducted raids at several premises linked to the former prime minister after Pakatan Harapan took over Putrajaya in the May 9 polls, including at an upmarket condominium at Pavilion and Najib’s private residence at Langgak Duta.

They also raided his office and his official residence in Putrajaya. -FMT