Police say haul “too much to determine” for now.
From Pavilion Residences condos:
- Five trucks of 284 luxury handbags, 72 luggage bags of cash, gold and jewellery
From Langgak Duta bungalow:
- 52 luxury handbags, including 14 Chanel, 10 Gucci, eight Versace, five Oscar de la Renta, four Louis Vuitton, two Prada
- 10 luxury watches, including Rolex, Patek Philippe, Hublot
- Cash, including £2,700 (RM14,514.12), 2.8 million Sri Lankan rupees (RM7,2233.52), ringgit, RM537,000.00
Pavilion Residences condo where haul was found not owned by Najib, but by a ‘Tan Sri’
A police report has emerged listing at least four dozen luxury handbags seized from the private home of ousted prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Taman Duta in the first raid on Wednesday.
The haul includes 14 Chanel, 10 Gucci, eight Versace, five Oscar de la Renta, four Louis Vuitton, two Prada as well as handbags of other prestigious brands.
Besides the handbags, 10 luxury watches comprising seven Rolexes and one each of the Patek Philippe, Hublot and Richard Mille brands were seized.
Cash amounting to £2,700 (RM14,514.12), 2.8 million Sri Lankan rupees (RM7,2233.52) and RM537,000.00 was also confiscated.
The high-end goods and cash were found in the surau (prayer room), storeroom and a bedroom occupied by one of Najib’s children.
“The items were confiscated because we have reason to believe that all the items were involved in a money-laundering offence under section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001,” stated a police report sighted by the Malay Mail.
Yesterday, in a raid that began shortly after 7pm, police seized 284 boxes filled with designer handbags, watches, jewellery and cash in various currencies from three luxury condominiums at Pavilion Residences, Kuala Lumpur, the value of which is impossible to estimate at this point of time due to its sheer volume.
Police needed five Black Marias, which began arriving at midnight, to cart away the haul.
All the seized items were taken down from the condos in shopping trolleys and loaded onto the police trucks, which left the scene at around 2.15am, filled to capacity with the bags and boxes.
Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Amar Singh, who led the raids at Pavilion Residences said this was part of its investigations into 1MDB.
This follows a police check of six locations linked to Najib, including the Prime Minister’s Office, his official home as well as four other residences.
“Our seizures included 284 boxes containing designer handbags. Our personnel checked these bags and discovered various currencies, including Malaysian Ringgit, US Dollars, watches and jewellery in 72 bags” he told reporters at the scene in the early hours of Friday (May 18) morning.
Amar said the designer handbags were of various brands, including Birkin bags from Hermes.
The price of Birkin bags starts at US$12,000 (RM48,000) and can go beyond US$200,00 (RM800,000) each.
Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, is known for her fondness of the exclusive Hermès bags and is rarely seen without one in public.
“Though we have finished searching these apartments, the operations will continue. Our team has been working tirelessly for two days investigating the case,” he said.
He revealed that one of the three condos where the items were found was not owned by Najib but a ‘Tan Sri’.
“It’s not proper for me to reveal the identity of the owner but the search was conducted in relation to the 1MDB investigations being carried out by Bukit Aman CCID,” he said.
Amar said the task force also seized documents connected to 1MDB from the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday (May 16).
When asked if police had managed to open the safe at Najib’s residence at Taman Duta, he said work to crack it was still ongoing.
On Najib’s lawyer claims that Najib felt that he, his family and staff were harassed by police checks at his residence, Amar said police have conducted themselves in a professional manner throughout the investigation.
“Our motive is not to harass or disturb anyone but this is a high-profile case and we are conducting a thorough investigation. If our search has to take a certain amount of time, it will take that amount of time. We are doing it as meticulously as we can,” he said.
Earlier reports:
May 17, The Marathon Search at Najib’s Home Continues
May 17, Police Search Five Premises Linked to Najib
May 14, Police Cordon Off Entrance and Exit to Najib’s Private Residence
May 12, Purported Bid to Hide Rosmah’s Alleged RM10M Birkin Collection