Cash, valuables seized in ‘Sabah Watergate’ only second to 1MDB, court told

 

An MACC officer told the court that RM44 million in cash, 921 pieces of jewellery, 86 luxury watches and 93 branded handbags were found during a raid on Ag Mohd Tahir Ag Mohd Talib’s house, office and vehicles on Oct 4, 2016. (MACC pic)

PETALING JAYA: The huge stash of cash and valuables found in the office, house and vehicles of former Sabah water department director Ag Mohd Tahir Ag Mohd Talib was topped only by the 1MDB case, said the head of a team that raided Tahir’s home.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officer Hishammudin Esa told the Kota Kinabalu special corruption court today that the 2016 bust was the “biggest among all the enforcement agencies at that time”.

“Before that, no enforcement agency had ever found that many exhibits,” he said in a report in The Daily Express.

“After that, the record was broken by the 1MDB case,” said Hishammudin.

He was testifying at the trial of Tahir, Tahir’s wife Fauziah Piut, and former state water department deputy director Lim Lam Beng, who are standing trial on 37 counts of money laundering involving RM61.5 million, in what has become known as the “Sabah Watergate” scandal.

They have pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts.

Hishammudin, 48, previously told the court that some RM44 million in cash, 921 pieces of jewellery, 86 luxury watches and 93 branded handbags were found during a raid on Tahir’s house, office and vehicles on Oct 4, 2016.

Hishammudin said some RM23 million in cash was found in Tahir’s office, RM8 million in his house, RM9 million in a Mazda car and RM4 million in a Mercedes Benz. - FMT