KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today granted an order for the prosecution to call any interested third parties to contest ownership of items seized from former prime minister Najib Razak, other individuals and companies after May 9, 2018.
Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan made the ruling after deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Shukri Hussain said they have served the amended notices against those named in the forfeiture application.
Lawyers for Najib and the 15 individuals and companies named in the forfeiture bid told the court they did not have any objection against the prosecution’s application.
“I hope the court will give us about one-and-a-half month’s time to publish the gazette for third parties (to contest ownership of the items) so they can have some time to come to court,” Shukri said.
The court set Oct 26 as mention for any interested third parties to contest the seized items.
After the proceedings, Shukri told reporters that previously, no third parties had come forward to contest the seized items when the government gazetted the notice in August last year.
“We previously filed an application to amend our forfeiture application by making changes to bank accounts’ details, and the court granted our request.
“If no third parties come to court on Oct 26, we will proceed with the full hearing,” he said.
The government is seeking to forfeit hundreds of items seized from the former prime minister, 15 individuals and companies in 2018.
Among the individuals named in the forfeiture application are Rosmah Mansor, Riza Aziz, Najib’s children, former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and fugitive financier Low Taek Jho’s mother, Goh Gaik Ewe.
The items seized includes luxury handbags, cash in different currencies, watches, shoes and 27 vehicles.
They also included a sum of RM18 million in various bank accounts, and a bungalow belonging to Low’s family in Tanjung Bungah, Penang.
Meanwhile three individuals linked to Low named in the forfeiture application – Kee Kok Thiam, Tan Vern Tac, and Geh Choh Hun – have been classified as absconded persons, and under Section 63 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act, the prosecution can dispense with the service of a notice of the lawsuit. - FMT
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