MEASURES have been taken to prevent Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor from leaving the country, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources close to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The precautions were taken after details in a flight manifest leaked yesterday, showing that an aircraft from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airportin Jakarta was scheduled to land at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport in Subang at 6am today and due to leave with Najib and Rosmah on board at 10am, were confirmed. 

It is reported that the aircraft, a Legacy 650 Embraer jet, is operated by Premiair, which is owned by Peter Sondakh. Indonesian tycoon Sondakh also owns the Rajawali Group, which sold a 37% stake to its plantation company PT Eagle High Plantations Tbk  to Felda for US$505.4 million (RM2.26 billion at the exchange rate at the time). The deal raised eyebrows in financial circles because Felda had earlier walked away from plans to buy the shares upon advice from American banks. Sondakh is also believed to be a close adviser to Najib.

Though it is unclear what measures have been taken to prevent Najib and Rosmah’s departure, MalaysiaKini reports that a check on the Immigration Department’s travel status website listed the couple as barred from leaving the country. However, the portal reports, the website was inaccessible in Malaysia without the use of foreign proxies and it is unclear if the Immigration Department or the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was responsible for curbing access to the website.

The media has camped at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah airport in anticipation of Najib and Rosmah’s departure.

Earlier last night, Najib attended an Umno’s 72nd anniversary celebration at its headquarters in PWTC. He joined members for prayers and dinner, and had a meeting with top leaders before leaving without talking to the press. 

The leaked flight manifest emerged on social media later last night, eliciting anger from Netizens fearing that Najib and Rosmah were attempting to flee the country following Pakatan Harapan’s victory at the polls. The new government has pledged to investigate the scandals plaguing Najib. 

A party source told the media that Najib was taking a two-day break and would return to Malaysia. – May 12, 2018.