Indonesian police rubbish claims of RM1b cash find on Equanimity
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FAHMY AZRIL ROSLI
New Straits Times7 March 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesian police have rubbished a viral message which claimed that RM1 billion in cash was found in the yacht, Equanimity, which was seized in Bali, Indonesia recently.
Daniel Silitingo, the deputy director of economic and special crimes in the republic's Central Police Department, confirmed that there was no truth to the claims, and that the Indonesian authorities did not find any cash in their inspection of the vessel.
He said the inspection involved other parties, including the marine police as well as the vessel’s captain.
“I was the one who led the misson in seizing the yacht (Equanimity). We did not find any cash. Had we found any cash, they (the other parties) would surely have been aware of it, but there was nothing.
“All we found were the crew and passenger manifest. The enforcement action was carried out based on the philosophy of ‘fight the crime, serve the people’,” he was quoted as saying in a Jawapos.com report yesterday.
“We also didn’t name anyone linked to Malaysia,” he added.
The false report came about after a Facebook user by the name of Miyoyo had uploaded an image of a stack of cash, accompanied by the status ‘Indonesian police found RM1 billion cash hidden in Jo Lo’s (Jho Low) vessel.’
The claims on the discovery of the cash went viral, soon after the Indonesian authorities seized the vessel.
The issue was subsequently politicised by the opposition, who linked it to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue. © New Straits Times
