KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today set Jan 9 next year for decision on the prosecution’s application to forfeit RM2,479,300.18 seized from the Pahang Umno Liaison Committee.
The money was seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after it was allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin set the date after hearing submissions from deputy public prosecutor Farah Yasmin Salleh and counsel Mohd Shukri Ahmad Mansor, representing Pahang Umno Liaison Committee.
Farah Yasmin said it was the duty and responsibility of the respondent to return the property through two options.
“The two options are to either voluntarily return the property or through today’s application by allowing the court to forfeit the money to the government,” she said at the hearing of the application.
Earlier, Mohd Shukri said the seized RM2,479,300.18 was not from cheques given by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to the respondent.
“As stated in the affidavit of the respondent, all the money was used to benefit the people through the activities and programmes carried out by the respondent.
“The money seized is from other sources, not from 1MDB or Saudi Arabia’s government. It is political money obtained from other sources,“ he said.
In a previous press conference, MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said it had filed a forfeiture suit against 41 respondents in order to recover about RM270 million in funds linked to 1MDB.
Latheefa said the move was in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) as the MACC alleged the money had been transferred from the bank account of the former prime minister. - Bernama
