Assets Totalling RM114,000,000 From The Infamous Pavilion Residences Raid, Returned to Najib & UMNO

By Karissa Lund  •  05 Aug 2021 in News

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Assets totalling RM114 million, seized from Pavilion Residences on 17 May 2018, have been returned to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and UMNO. It is understood that the money was released to them on 17 June.

According to Malaysiakini, it was confirmed by Najib’s counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah when contacted this afternoon (5 Aug).

“It is true. The money has been released and received,” the lawyer said.

On 20 May, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the government’s forfeiture suit targeting RM114 million allegedly linked to 1MDB, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove that the money may have been laundered from the state fund.

The RM114 million was part of the RM680 million in cash, more than 11 thousand units of jewellery, 401 watches, 234 pairs of eyewear, 306 handbags and 16 other accessories seized from the condo unit in Pavilion Residences, Kuala Lumpur, owned by Obyu Holdings Sdn Bhd in 2018 after the collapse of the BN administration post-GE14.

Obyu Holdings is owned by Tan Sri Bustari Yusof, the younger brother of former works minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and a close associate of Najib. It is the sole respondent in the government’s main 1MDB-linked forfeiture suit.

However, UMNO and Najib are third-party claimants seeking the return of the RM114 million.

On the same day, High Court judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin did not make a consequential order in his oral ruling on whether the RM114 million should be returned to where it was initially seized. The main suit, which still targets the rest of the seized assets, is still pending before the High Court.

Following the court ruling, Najib was reported to have said that it has vindicated him of baseless and unproven accusations involving the 1MDB funds.

Besides UMNO and Najib, other third-party claimants are Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, and Lebanese jeweller Global Royalty Trading SAL.