Dpp Says 1mdb Money Behind Rm80mil In Seized Luxury Items

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The luxury items seized at Pavilion Residences in Kuala Lumpur in 2018. The government has sought to forfeit the items. (Reuters pic)KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was told today that RM80 million in jewellery, watches and handbags seized from an apartment at Pavilion Residences, were the result of the misappropriation of funds from 1MDB.
There were 2,435 pieces of jewellery, seven watches and 29 handbags seized in a raid at the premises of Obyu Holdings Sdn Bhd at Pavilion, deputy public prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffry Ong said in a written submission for the government’s application to forfeit the seized items.
Harris said investigations had established direct dealings between former prime minister Najib Razak, businessman Low Taek Jo, or Jho Low, and his close associate Eric Tan, through Good Star and Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners.
“The principal source of the monies in Najib’s AmBank account ending in 9694 was derived from monies transferred from Good Star and Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners, which are companies controlled by Jho Low and Tan,” he said.
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He said Good Star, Jho Low, Prince Faisal and Prince Saud of Saudi Arabia, Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners and Najib did not have any connection or business dealings with 1MDB to justify their receipt of such amounts of money from 1MDB.
There were no business or commercial reasons for such movements of money, he said.
He contended that the money acquired by Good Star in its account number 1116073 at RBS Coutts Bank was obtained through criminal conduct, namely, criminal breach of trust (CBT) by an agent.
“The subsequent movement of monies from Good Star into the Riyad Bank account of Prince Faisal and Prince Saud and ultimately into Najib’s AmBank account ending in 9694 satisfies the elements of money laundering, and the offence of dishonestly receiving stolen property,” he said.
Harris further said that the opening of Najib’s AmBank account (9694) was solely to receive 1MDB monies from Good Star and Aabar and followed by Tanore, and the subsequent layering by the opening of Najib’s AmBank account (1880), and AmIslamic accounts (1906) and (1898).
He said the absence of any justification afforded by Najib, satisfied the element of money laundering.
The items seized by police from Pavilion Residences in May 2018 were allegedly linked to the 1MDB financial scandal. In 2019, the prosecution filed the forfeiture application to seize the items.
Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor are the third parties wanting to claim the jewellery and luxury watches in the forfeiture application filed by the prosecution against Obyu Holdings, which is owned by businessman Bustari Yusof.
Najib’s lawyer, Tania Scivetti, argued that seven pieces of Richard Mille luxury watches were gifts to Najib and there was no nexus between the seized watches and 1MDB funds.
She said based on an affidavit of 1MDB investigating officer Foo Wei Min, he confirmed that some of the luxury watches were gifts but there was no conclusive evidence as to the same.
“In the circumstances, we pray that the application be dismissed and the seized watches be immediately returned to Najib,” she said.
Najib’s lead counsel, Shafee Abdullah, said that among the seven luxury watches was one purchased by Global Oriented Bhd under an individual named, “Datuk Francis”, as proven by the cheque issued by Taman Equine (M) Sdn Bhd.
Another luxury watch was purchased and paid for by Desmond Lim via credit card, and another watch purchased by a “YTL Datuk Francis” and the mode of payment was a cheque issued by a construction company, Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn Bhd, he said.
Before the hearing of submissions today, Harris informed the court that one of the 2,436 pieces of jewellery had been returned to Global Royalty Trading, a Lebanese jewellery company.
Lawyer David Gurupatham representing Global Royalty Trading, said the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) was satisfied with the representation made in claiming a diamond-studded white gold bracelet.
“The bracelet, kept in the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) vault, was then taken out and has become the property of that company. Hence, we are withdrawing our claim before the court,” he added.
Judge Jamil Hussin fixed Nov 14 for a decision on the forfeiture application. - FMT

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