THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has set August 24 to begin hearing in the government’s RM680 million forfeiture suit against Najib Razak and his family. 

Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan today also set July 21 for the prosecution to file its written submissions.

The former prime minister and the government, meanwhile, have August 11 and August 18 as deadlines to file their replies, respectively.

Neither Najib nor any of his family members was present during case management today. 

Deputy public prosecutor Faten Hadni Khairuddin leads the prosecution while Najib is represented by Nur Syahirah Hanapiah. Lawyer Azrul Zulkifli Stork appears for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor. 

Zaini previously set March 23 and then May 4 for case management, but both dates were vacated due to the movement-control order.

On May 7 last year, Putrajaya filed a forfeiture notice for hundreds of items, including handbags, watches, properties, vehicles and cash, seized from Najib, Rosmah and their three children, including Riza Aziz and several other individuals and companies.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission seized the items, allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, on May 17, June 11 and August 2, 2018.

On February 3 this year, Zaini allowed applications by Najib, Rosmah and their daughter Nooryana Najwa to inspect the items, which are kept in a vault in Bank Negara.

On February 22, Najib and his family went to the central bank, where they spent three hours inspecting the said items.

On July 18 last year, Najib filed a notice of motion to inspect and obtain particulars on the assets on the grounds that some of the boxes, handbags and containers seized had been removed from their original wrapping, and this caused confusion in the identification process.

Rosmah and Nooryana, meanwhile, filed an application for leave to be allowed to inspect the items. – May 19, 2020.