Bags Of Cash, Jewelry Seized From Former PM Malaysia

Malaysian police said the total value of the bags of cash, jewelry, luxury purses, watches and other items seized from premises linked to former Prime Minister Najib Razak totalled up to $273m.

Datuk Seri Amar Singh, head of the police commercial crime division in Malaysia, told reporters on Wednesday that the retail cost of all the items seized from six properties linked to Najib totalled between $224m-$273m.
Malaysia: Bags of cash, jewellery seized from Najib’s properties
“We couldn’t do the counting at the premises because the numbers were too huge,” Singh said, adding that the seizures were the biggest in Malaysian history.

It took three days, six cash counting machines and 22 officials from the central bank to count the cash found at the premises, he said, adding the cash totalled $28.9m in 26 different currencies, including the Malaysian ringgit.

Authorities are investigating Najib as part of their probe into how billions of dollars went missing from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which was founded by the former prime minister.

Since unexpectedly losing a general election to Mahathir Mohamad in May, Najib has been barred from leaving the country, questioned by the anti-graft agency and has had his personal and family houses searched as part of the 1MDB probe.

On Wednesday, police said they will soon call Najib and his wife, Rosmah, for more questioning, according to Reuters.