150 designer handbags, cash and luxury MPV seized from Johor official's house

The Star
Thursday, March 9, 2017

Within hours of his arrest, graft busters seized 150 designer handbags, cash and a luxury MPV from a Johor official's house. 

The seizure was made in a raid conducted immediately after the arrest of state Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Abdul Latif Bandi at 10.50am on Thursday by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers.

The handbags included luxury brands such as Chanel, Prada, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and Louis Vuitton.

Also seized was a Toyota Vellfire and RM41,000 (S$13,000) in cash. Abd Latif is expected to be brought to court on Friday to be remanded. 

Earlier, he had opted to go on leave from his state exco duties following a massive housing and land scandal in the state. 

MACC had been tailing Abdul Latif for days and keeping track of his whereabouts, prior to the arrest. 

The MACC urged the public not to speculate on the case and to allow anti-graft officers to carry out a thorough probe.

On Feb 24, Abdul Latif's eldest son Ahmad Fauzan and his special officer Muhammad Idzuan Jamalludin, were detained by the MACC in a swoop. 

Following the arrest of his son and special officer, Abdul Latif had kept mum on the matter. 

He had also not been seen in public. About RM15.5mil in more than 45 accounts was frozen as part of the probe. 

Also seized were 21 luxury cars, five high-powered motorcycles and stacks of documents. 

A lawyer, two developers, a contractor as well as another suspect were also arrested in a series of raids. 

All seven suspects, aged between 25 and 50, have been released on bail after their remand expired. 

So far, the MACC has called in 15 people to have their statements recorded. 

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin expressed sympathy for Abdul Latif over the arrest.

"We sympathise with him (Abdul Latiff) and leave it to the MACC in the interest of justice," Mohamed Khaled told reporters.