Jewellery found in 1MDB-related raid too many to itemise, witness tells court

KUALA LUMPUR – The police were unable to itemise the jewellery seized in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigation at a luxury condominium owing to its sheer massiveness, Malaysia’s High Court heard on April 14.

Former Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Amar Singh Ishar Singh testified that the police found 71 luggage bags, a plastic box and 200-plus boxes in the unit at Pavilion Residences in 2018.

“Initially, we wanted to count each and every exhibit. But the minute we opened up a few bags, the number of exhibits in each bag was just overwhelming,” said the retired police officer.

“When we opened the bags of jewellery, the jewellery bags were full to the brim. So we couldn’t count and tabulate these exhibits. There were just too many.

“Imagine if I tabulated the exhibits. I would just be writing one jewellery item, and there would be 12,000 pieces for one chain. There were so many chains.”

Datuk Seri Amar Singh was testifying in a lawsuit filed by Beirut-based jeweller Global Royalty Trading, which is suing former prime minister Najib Razak’s wife Rosmah Mansor for the return of 43 out of 44 pieces of jewellery, or the compensation of RM67.5 million (S$21.8 million).

The witness said the police also saw a bag filled with cash that was not properly bundled up.

“It was loosely packed and the contents just spilt over onto the floor. We immediately had to push back all the items and zip them back again,” he added.

According to Mr Amar Singh, the team did not bring a weighing machine and had no expertise in tabulating the exhibits.

“We were not experts in determining whether they were real gold, fake gold, diamonds or otherwise. We didn’t know anything. There were just too many for us to tabulate,” he said.

The team then decided to wrap the bags in plastic wrappers, similar to those used at airports, to ensure the bags were secured and the integrity of the exhibits was maintained.

The exhibits were placed in five Black Marias (police trucks) to be sent to the lock-up in Bukit Aman.

“Each vehicle was escorted by patrol cars. Our entire team followed the convoy to ensure the exhibits arrived at Bukit Aman in their original condition,” he added.

“Upon arrival, we followed the same process, escorting items in batches into the lock-up. Only after sealing everything did we allow everyone to leave.”

In his witness statement, Mr Amar Singh said the inspection and valuation of the jewellery were conducted between May 30 and June 25 in 2018 on the 34th floor of Menara KPJ. After the process was completed, the exhibits were escorted by the same team to be placed in the vault at Bank Negara.

“I was informed that the money laundering investigating officer, together with a representative from Global Royalty, had positively identified one of the jewellery items to be theirs,” said Mr Amar Singh.

“This jewellery mark has been positively identified and returned to them. If this is so, then it was together with a total of 1,041 jewellery pieces found in bags which were stored in a room at the premises.”

Global Royalty filed the suit on May 29, 2023, claiming that Rosmah falsely alleged that 44 pieces of jewellery – including diamond necklaces, bracelets, and tiaras – sent to her by the company’s agent were seized by the Malaysian authorities under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

The jeweller claimed only one out of the 44 pieces was retained by the police. It further claimed that Rosmah had shifted the blame to the Malaysian government when, in fact, the jewellery had gone missing.

The hearing continues before Justice Quay Chew Soon. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK