Lawyer Hariharan Singh, representing Umno in its bid to claim the seized cash, said there is “not a shred of evidence” the money came from former party president Najib Razak’s AmBank account, ending with 694.

The prosecution has contended that RM2.23 billion that went into Najib’s 694 account in 2013, originated from 1MDB.

The court was also previously told that a sum of RM2.03 billion had been returned to Tanore Finance Corporation.

At today’s forfeiture hearing, Hariharan said the prosecution had not proven the forfeiture claim “on the balance of probability”.

“There is a gap in the prosecution’s case, where they also failed to show some of the monies have been converted into foreign currencies,” he said.

The government wants to forfeit RM114,164,393.44 and jewellery and high-end fashion items seized from the premises owned by Obyu Holdings Sdn Bhd. Besides Umno, Najib is a third-party claimant in the forfeiture application.

Hariharan said the cash was a political donation belonging to Umno, and that Najib managed the party’s funds back then.

“As the former Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman, he (Najib) had to fund the entire machinery for 222 parliamentary seats. And thus the ‘flexibility’ of cash was needed.

“In his (Najib’s) police report and affidavit, he confirmed the money was held in trust for Umno. And thus, we have a legitimate interest in claiming the cash,” he said.

Hariharan disputed the prosecution’s contention that Najib’s brother Nazir played a role in cashing out RM20 million from the disputed RM114 million.

“The prosecution presented a version where Nazir delivered RM20 million cash to his brother. This contradicted Nazir’s own witness statement to the police where he said he passed the money to one Othman Razak,” the lawyer said.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi said the prosecution needed time to respond to Hariharan’s submission.

The hearing before High Court Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin continues on March 29.