Najib says Deepak’s claims ‘complete fabrication’

(FMT) – Former prime minister Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor have instructed their lawyers to challenge two suits filed by businessman Deepak Jaikishan who accused the couple of causing him to lose millions of ringgit worth of land as well as forcing him to take some RM200 million in loans.

“Deepak’s accusations against us in his suits are a complete fabrication, an afterthought and baseless,” Najib told FMT today.

“His accusations against us are illogical and nothing more than an attempt to cast aspersions against us through the filing of these civil suits,” he said, adding that the suits would be “vigorously” opposed.

Beside Najib and Rosmah, Deepak is also suing Boustead Holdings Sdn Bhd and Bakti Development Wira Sdn Bhd accusing them of interfering in a property deal in Selangor that caused his company Astacanggih Sdn Bhd to suffer huge losses.

Deepak wants the court to award him RM656 million in damages or to return two pieces of land covering 223 acres in Kapar to him.

In another suit, Deepak and his brother Rajesh are suing Najib, Rosmah and three others for RM52.6 million, saying they were forced to take a RM198.8 million loan from Bank Rakyat.

The three other defendants are Najib’s brother Johari, former Tabung Haji chairman Azeez Rahim and Bank Rakyat chairman Shukry Salleh.

“My brother and I were acting as ‘proxies’ for Najib and Rosmah for the 2008 loan and the couple were supposed to settle the loan for us,” Deepak said in his suit.

Deepak came to prominence when he was linked to the late P. Balasubramaniam, a private investigator hired by Abdul Razak Baginda, the former aide to Najib who was charged and later acquitted of the 2006 murder of Mongolian citizen Altantuya Shaariibuu.