Malaysian police stand in front of former Prime Minister Najib Razak's residence in Kuala Lumpur on May 17 (Photo: AFP/VNA) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – The Royal Malaysia Police seized 72 bags filled with jewellery, cash of various denominations, watches and other valuables at an apartment of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, which have suspected links to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund scandal.
Director of Police Commercial Crime Investigations Amar Singh Ishar Singh said that 284 boxes containing luxury handbags were also seized during the raids, together with many documents related to the fund.
Police have carried out raids on six premises, which include the prime minister's office and Najib’s official residence in Putrajaya and four private residences linked to the former premier, Singh said.
The multi-billion-dollar scandal over the fund founded by Najib is being investigated by police in at least six countries, including the US.
Najib started the fund in 2009 to stimulate Malaysia’s economic growth through global partnerships and foreign direct investment. However, the fund became the centre of a money laundering scandal, allegedly causing losses of up to 3.7 billion USD and leading to probes into the financial markets in several countries such as the US, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia and China.
The Federal Court of Malaysia on April 9 affirmed that there was no evidence to accuse 1MDB leaders and Najib was not involved in the scandal.
The ruling was expected to give a boost to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition of then PM Najib in the recent general election. But, the opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan (PH) and the Malaysian Islamic Party of Mahathir won 113 seats of the parliament’s 222 seats while the BN secured only 79 seats.-VNA
VNA
