Police raided a deluxe Kuala Lumpur apartment block at which relatives of ousted Prime Minister Najib Razak had been staying as they searched for sensitive documents the new government fears may be taken out of the country, two senior police officers said.
The swoop on Saturday came as Malaysia’s new Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said he had stopped his predecessor from leaving the country because of suspected wrongdoing in connection with a multi-billion-dollar scandal at state fund 1MDB.
Police said they were acting after a complaint that a government vehicle had delivered dozens of boxes made to carry designer handbags and other items to the apartment for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.
Public disgust over alleged corruption was widely seen as one of the reasons behind the unexpected defeat of Najib’s long-ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in Wednesday’s general election, reports Reuters.
Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for Najib could not be immediately reached for comment. Najib himself, his wife, or other family members and close associates could not be reached on Saturday night.
About 20 police officers entered the marble-floored lobby of the Pavilion Residences apartment block in the Malaysian capital, just as Mahathir was holding a news conference to announce key members of his cabinet.
They were aided by at least a dozen other plainclothes law-enforcement officers. Security personnel from the building - which is owned by Desmond Lim, a wealthy Malaysian businessman and supporter of Najib - were cooperative.
“We are looking for government documents that may have been illegally taken,” said a senior police officer, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
“The government are worried they could be sensitive and important, and could be taken out of the country.”
He declined to say whether any documents had been found and described the operation as ‘ongoing’.
According to the police, members of Najib’s family had been staying at the apartments, but they declined to name them.
