Treasure trove seized from ex-Malaysia PM

KUALA LUMPUR: A vast trove of valuables seized in raids on homes and properties linked to Malaysia´s scandal-mired former leader, including cash, jewellery and luxury handbags, are worth up to $273 million, police said Wednesday.

Malaysian police said they would soon question former prime minister Najib Razak and his wife after finding nearly $275 million worth of jewellery, handbags, watches and other items at premises linked to the couple. The searches, part of investigations into scandal-hit sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, netted 12,000 pieces of jewellery, bags containing almost $30 million in cash across 26 different currencies, more than 400 watches worth $19.3 million, and other high-end designer goods.

“I think this is the biggest seizure in Malaysian history,” said Amar Singh, the police´s head of commercial crime investigations, after officials completed the mammoth task of valuing all the items they uncovered in raids around Kuala Lumpur last month. He said the items were worth between 910 million ringgit ($225 million) and 1.1 billion ringgit ($273 million). The official salary of Najib Razak, the former premier, while in office was 22,827 ringgit ($5,670) a month. Allegations of massive corruption were a major factor behind last month´s shock election loss of Najib´s long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance headed by Mahathir Mohamad.

The items were seized in raids on six premises linked to Najib, including luxury apartments in Kuala Lumpur and his main residence in an upmarket part of the city. The huge collection of jewellery included 1,400 necklaces, 2,200 rings and 14 tiaras. The most expensive item of jewellery was a necklace, which was estimated to be worth 6.4 million ringgit ($1.5 million), Amar said. A total of 567 handbags were also seized, including 272 Hermes bags worth 51.3 million ringgit, police said, adding that the value of the other handbags was still being calculated. A total of 423 watches worth 78 million ringgit were also discovered, along with 234 pairs of sunglasses. It took officials five weeks, from May 21 to June 25, to count up the items and calculate their value, Amar said. When items are uncovered in raids, police typically try to put a value on them on site, Amar said. But this was not possible with the Najib-linked searches due to the vast quantity of valuables. “The next best option is to seal the items, to bring them back to a secure place and ensure that these items are not compromised,” he said.