Rosmah's rocks: Undeclared jewellery may be confiscated, says Malaysia's Customs Director-General

Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak, leaves a courtroom in Kuala Lumpur on July 4, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK)- If jewellery from a Lebanese firm that was sent to Rosmah Mansor were not declared to the Customs Department, the items may be subject to further seizure.

According to a Malaysiakini report, Customs director-general Datuk Seri T. Subromaniam said this when quizzed about the consignment of 44 jewellery pieces that are currently being held by the police.

When contacted by the news portal, Subromaniam said the police had not contacted them yet: "Any items not declared may also (be) subject to seizure."

He was responding to Jelutong MP R.S.N. Rayer who had queried if the consignments were declared to the Customs Department when they were brought into Malaysia.

"Who was the consignee? Was the Customs excise duty paid? How is it that these consignments reached Rosmah safely considering the enormous worth of this jewellery?" Rayer had asked in a statement on Friday (July 13).

On Tuesday, Beirut-based jewellery firm Global Royalty Trading SAL filed a suit against Rosmah over a consignment of "missing" jewellery.

It is seeking a mandatory order for the 44 jewellery items, amounting to US$14,787,770 (RM59,831,317.40), to be returned.

The Lebanese firm named the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak as the sole defendant in its lawsuit.

The firm claimed that Datin Seri Rosmah confirmed the receipt of the 44 items in a letter dated May 22.

However, Rosmah's lawyers have stressed that she did not buy any of the jewellery that the Lebanese firm is seeking.

On June 27, the police told a press conference that the cash, jewellery, luxury handbags, watches and sunglasses seized from premises linked to Datuk Seri Najib are worth up to RM1.1bil, making it the biggest seizure in Malaysian history.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.