Malaysia police raid ex-PM Najib’s home, other places

Police in Malaysia have searched five places linked to the country’s former prime minister Najib Razak for evidence related to money-laundering charges against him, a week after he was defeated by veteran politician Mahathir Mohamad in general elections.

According to Amar Singh, the director of police commercial crime investigations, police forces conducted searches through Wednesday night and into Thursday morning at the five places, which included Najib’s family home in an upmarket Kuala Lumpur district.

The police official gave no details about the location of the other four places, but The Star newspaper, a government-affiliated tabloid, said police had also swooped on Najib’s office, his official residence, and two other places, linked to his family in a luxury Kuala Lumpur condominium.

“The search is supposed to be under the money laundering act... They found nothing incriminating,” Najib’s lawyer Harpal Singh Grewal told reporters, who were camped outside the former premier’s house, adding that police took away some personal possessions, including a couple of handbags.

When asked whether Najib could be detained, the lawyer said that there was no indication that he would. He said the former premier and his family had been cooperative with police, who “also acted professionally.”

More than 100 people, including journalists and members of the public, convened outside Najib’s house after a dozen police personnel arrived aboard several vehicles.

Police had earlier raided other locations where Najib’s relatives resided.

PressTV-Malaysia police raid complex linked to ex-PM Najib

Security forces in Malaysia raid an apartment complex in Kuala Lumpur linked to former prime minister Najib Razak to search for potential confidential state documents.

Najib, once Mahathir’s protégé, is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars through his pet project state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and making deposits into his private accounts worth up to $1 billion.

1MDB is currently under international probes in at least six countries, including Switzerland and Singapore, over charges of money laundering and bribery. Najib denies any wrongdoing in connection with losses at the fund.

Mahathir, who has vowed to bring Najib to justice over the allegations, barred the 64-year-old former prime minister and his wife from leaving the country just a few days after he himself assumed power as the seventh prime minister of Malaysia. The 92-year-old new prime minister insists that there is sufficient evidence to investigate the scandal at 1MDB.

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