Gov't's forfeiture case against Najib, wife, 16 others rescheduled to May 19

The government’s forfeiture suit against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, his family and several others has been rescheduled to May 19 for case management.

High Court deputy registrar Catherine Nicholas told Bernama all parties had been notified of the new date via an email.

The case was scheduled for case management today before High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan but it was vacated following the implementation of the movement control order by the government.

On May 7, 2019, the government filed a notice of forfeiture over hundreds of items, including branded handbags, watches, several properties, other assets and 27 vehicles that were seized from Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor, their three children and 13 individuals and companies.

The MACC had seized the items, which were allegedly linked to the 1MDB financial scandal, on May 17, June 11 and Aug 2, 2018.

On Feb 3, this year, Justice Mohamed Zaini allowed the applications by Najib, Rosmah and their daughter Nooryana Najwa to physically inspect the items, which were kept in a vault at Bank Negara.

Mohamed Zaini ordered the prosecution to allow Najib and his family to physically inspect the items and held that they should be allowed to inspect the confiscated items.

On Feb 22, they went to the central bank and spent more than three hours inspecting the items.

On July 18, 2019, Najib filed a notice of motion to inspect and obtain particulars on the said assets because parts of the boxes, handbags and containers that were seized had been removed from their original wrappings, and this has caused ambiguity in the identification process.

Rosmah and Nooryana Najwa, meanwhile, applied for leave to be allowed to physically inspect the items.

Among the items mentioned in both the notices are 315 handbags of various brands, 14 watches and 27 pairs of shoes of various brands, as well as cash in various currencies, including RM537,000, Sri Lanka rupee 2,870,000, RM187,750 in old ringgit notes and 320,500 pound sterling. - Bernama