Foo Wei Min, Bukit Aman’s anti-money laundering criminal investigation division assistant director, said Rosmah’s claim against the government had no basis.
“The application to bring the government in as a third party is defective, not in order, and should be dismissed with costs,” Foo said in an affidavit filed in the High Court last month and sighted by FMT.
A defendant in a lawsuit can apply for a third party to be added to proceedings to claim a contribution, indemnity or other remedy in respect of any liability that may be owed to a plaintiff.
Foo said police seized 12,009 valuable items and jewellery pieces from an apartment in Pavillion Residence on May 17, 2018.
The seizure was carried out in connection with an investigation into the 1MDB financial scandal.
The government’s forfeiture application was rejected after the High Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to show the items were purchased using proceeds from unlawful activities related to 1MDB.
The items were ordered to be returned to Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak.
Foo said that during an inspection carried out while the items were in police custody, representatives from Global Royalty only managed to identify one of the 44 jewellery pieces which they had previously despatched to Rosmah.
“On Sept 15, 2022, the (one) item was returned to Global Royalty (the plaintiff),” he said.
Foo said Global Royalty had also acknowledged that the remaining 43 jewellery pieces, the subject matter of the suit, were not in the possession of the police.
“As such, the government has no link to the suit filed by the plaintiff,” he said, adding that Rosmah had no basis for claiming damages or seeking an indemnity from the government.
Justice Ong Chee Kwan will hear Rosmah’s application on Feb 19.
The suit was filed in April this year to recover the cost of unreturned jewellery hand-delivered to Rosmah by two agents on Feb 10, 2018.
In her statement of defence, Rosmah said that the police and the government ought to be held responsible if any of the 43 jewellery pieces was lost.