Amar Singh, who led the department from 2017 to 2018, said CCTV recordings that they obtained showed 23 individuals were involved in transporting the items over two days, from May 11 to 12.
He added that government vehicles were deployed to move the items.
“My deputy, Ahmad Noordin Ismail, briefed me and said he saw on CCTV at Pavilion Residences that two maids and several other people were carrying the items into Unit 45,” Amar said, noting that the unit was under renovation at the time.
Amar was testifying for the police, made a third party in a lawsuit filed by Lebanese company Global Royalty Trading SAL against Rosmah Mansor.
In the suit, filed in 2023, Global Royalty is seeking the return of 43 items of jewellery, or the sum of US$14.6 million, their purported value.
How the raid began, items found
Amar told the court that on May 16, 2018, he assembled a team of experienced senior officers to conduct searches and raids in various locations as part of investigations into 1MDB matters.
He said that prior to the raids, he, then 1MDB investigating officer R Rajagopal and then inspector-general Fuzi Haron met with then solicitor-general Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek to discuss 1MDB matters.
It was decided at the meeting that the police would search and raid all premises linked to Najib, he said.
According to Amar, the raid at Pavilion Residences began in the early hours of May 17, with his subordinates entering Unit 45 where they found bags containing different foreign currency notes and jewellery packed in individual plastic bags.
Amar said they also found orange boxes containing luxury handbags.
“The cash was not properly packed, and when we opened (the bags), the cash spilled out onto the floor. The same happened with the jewellery.
“We had to push them back into the bags,” he said, adding that the police decided to bubble wrap all the exhibits and bring them back to Bukit Aman for further action.
Amar maintained that the exhibits were properly handled and preserved from the moment they were taken out from Unit 45 to the moment they arrived at Bukit Aman.
Asked by Rosmah’s lawyer, Rajivan Nambiar, whether police had sought the presence of Rosmah and Najib at Unit 45, Amar testified that his subordinates attempted to contact them as well as the landlord, but were unsuccessful.
Former Bukit Aman commercial crime deputy director Sakri Arifin also testified at the trial, telling the court that he received instructions from Amar on May 16, 2018 to lead a raid at a unit in Pavilion Residences, purportedly the home of Najib’s son.
However, he said nothing was found in the son’s purported home, so they moved to Unit 45.
“The building manager and his staff were present when we engaged the services of a locksmith to open the door to Unit 45.
“The unit was under renovation. We found bags there, and they contained jewellery and cash. There were also orange boxes,” he said.
To a question from Rosmah’s lead counsel Rajan Navaratnam as to whether Sakri or his subordinates recorded the entire process, Sakri told the court that a police photographer was present with them but he did not know if videos were also taken.
The hearing continues before Justice Quay Chew Soon.