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Malaysia’s Najib may fly to Indonesia on tycoon's private jet
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Riot police stand guard outside an entrance to Subang airport near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday. (Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)
F
ormer Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor are reported to have boarded a private jet owned by Indonesian businessman Peter Sondakh that may be bound for Jakarta.
Najib's family has been hit by a scandal involving allegations of having embezzled huge sums from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a fund launched by Najib to promote economic development. The US Department of Justice has launched civil lawsuits seeking to seize US$1.7 billion in assets, from real estate to artworks, allegedly bought with money looted from 1MDB.
Read also: Former PM Najib, wife banned from leaving Malaysia:Immigration chief
Malaysia news portal malaysiakini.com reports that a leaked flight plan on Friday showed a flight scheduled from Subang Airport in Malaysia to Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in Jakarta at 10 a.m. on Saturday on a private jet operated by Premiair.
The airline is owned by tycoon Sondakh, the owner of conglomerate PT Rajawali Corp.
Read also: Indonesian tycoon's group denies links to Najib's canceled flight
According to Forbes, Sondakh is worth $1.84 billion, ranking him number 13 in Forbes’ list of the 50 richest persons in the country.
His businesses range from Rajawali Corpora, an investment firm founded in 1984, television network Rajawali Televisi (RTV) and internet service provider Velo Network, to palm oil company PT Eagle High Plantation, and several luxury hotels such as the St Regis Hotel and Resort in Bali as well as the Four Seasons hotel in Jakarta.
A director of Rajawali Corp has denied having any knowledge of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s canceled flight to Jakarta.
“We are unaware of the travel plan,” Satrio Tjai, the managing director of Rajawali Corp, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
“Mr. Peter [Sondakh] has been on leave outside of Asia for two weeks, having left on his private jet. As far as we know, there are no scheduled flights on our jets today,” he said.
He denied any links between his employer and the former prime minister. “Of course we have nothing to do with the former prime minister’s schedule,” he said. (gis/evi)
Editor's note: This article has been updated with a statement from Rajawali Corp's Satrio Tjai, who has denied any links to Najib Razak's canceled flight.
