Hussain Ahamad Najadi Was Protecting Temple's Interest says Pascal Najadi.

KUALA LUMPUR: The murder of Hussain Ahmad Najadi, a renowned banker and founder of the Arab Malaysian Banking Group, was not due to a property deal turned sour, but was premeditated, claimed his son.

Pascal Najadi denied that his father was involved in any property deal prior to his death after the Kuan Yin Temple's committee informed him that his father acted as a mediator between two parties on the day he was shot dead.

He said his father mediated for the temple and a group of people that he called 'somebody' who demanded money from the temple's trust fund.

"My father was a mediator between the two parties. There was no property deal turned sour in my father's murder as our company do not involve in such business," he told Bernama in a telephone interview from Moscow, Russia.

On Monday, Hussain Ahmad, 75, was shot dead while his wife Chong Mei Kuen, 49, sustained serious injuries when they were shot from close range at a parking lot, after leaving the Kuan Yin Temple in Lorong Ceylon, here.

Yesterday, police released photographs of the suspect known as Sci Ngan Zai or Ah Chian and detained a 44-year-old taxi driver who drove the suspect from the scene of the incident.

Suspect in the Hussain Ahmad Najadi murder case

Pascal, 45, who holds dual Swiss and British citizenships said during the negotiation on Monday, his father was adamant not to allow any party to take the temple's trust fund as it was the temple's money.

The banker said the temple's committee had informed him that the suspect who shot his father was waiting for him before the meeting took place.

His father had interest to protect the temple since 2008 as Chong was one of the temple's committee members.

Worried that police have yet to apprehend the assailants, Pascal said "I will not come to Malaysia until the suspect of my father's murder is arrested."

BERNAMA

Hussain Ahmad Najadi laid to rest: