Disclose if 44 pieces of jewellery were seized as mandated by High Court, says owner

PETALING JAYA (Oct 24): A lawyer representing the Lebanese jeweller said that police must first establish that they have the 44 pieces of jewellery owned by Global Royalty Trading SAL, before asking them to come forward with proof of ownership.

The Malaysian Insight reports that Lawyer David Gurupatham said that police must respect a court order and establish if they have the 44 pieces.

The 44 pieces of jewellery is said to be amongst the 12,000 pieces of jewellery seized from the premises linked to former prime minister Najib Razak.

Last week, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the government to disclose whether it had seized the 44 pieces of jewellery. The pieces comprise of a tiara, diamond necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings.

“Only after this has been established, then they can assert the claim to seizure under Section 53 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Once that is done, then the lawful process will take its course,” the lawyer was quoted as saying by the news portal.

Earlier today, Inspector-General of Police Fuzi Harun said that those who claim ownership over the jewellery must first prove the items belong to them.

Samer Halimeh, the Lebanese jeweller is suing Rosmah Mansor for RM60 million, the worth of the jewellery, due to failure to pay for the pieces.

The news portal reports that the court urged the government to come up with an affidavit in reply, within two weeks, and to get Rosmah’s help to identify the items. 

Gurupatham said: “The jeweller has been cooperating with the police, has given what they required. Once the police can established that these specific 44 pieces had been seized under AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Act), we will naturally proceed further.

“The jeweller wants the return of the jewellery or the value thereof, RM60 million from Rosmah.”

Another jeweller based in Dubai, Adi Hasan Al Fardan is reportedly seeking to recover jewellery worth over US$5 million (RM20.75 million), and claims that he has not been paid by Rosmah.

Seized in the raid were 2,200 rings, 1,400 necklaces, 2,100 bracelets, 2,800 pairs of earrings, 1,600 brooches and 14 tiaras. Also seized was RM100 million in cash.

Total worth of the seizure was valued at RM1.1 billion.