Najib: 'Most expensive watch' was in a box with royal crest

Former premier Najib Abdul Razak said the police should not have omitted certain facts with regard to the seizure of jewellery and watches from residences linked to him.

“For example, the police stated in their press conference that the most expensive watch was a Rolex Daytona which they say is valued at RM3.4 million,” he added.

According to Najib, this item was a recent 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.

“The police should have also stated that this item along with several others was contained in a box with the royal crest of a foreign country.

“This fact should not have been omitted,” he added in a media statement this evening.

On March 15, it was reported that Saudi Arabia's Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz Saud Al-Saud called on Najib at his office at the Parliament building.

The meeting was the last on the prince's itinerary during his three-day visit to Malaysia.

Political vengeance against family

The former Umno president then dubbed the "over-inflating" of the quantity and value of the items seized, as well as the press conference conducted to announce it, as "political vengeance" against his family.

According to Najib, many of the items seized were contained in boxes properly labelled by staff members with item description, photographs, date of the gift, as well as the identity of the person who gave the gift.

Most of the gifts were also from friends, foreign dignitaries and royalty for various occasions, including official visits and family events like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and engagements, he added.

"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 very distorted picture as these items were received as gifts over a period that spans decades."

Najib, who is also Pekan MP, then pledged to accord full cooperation to the police on the matter.

"Should the police call our family for questioning...to the best of our ability, we shall help the police identify those who have given the gifts over the decades." -Mkini