Malaysia’s former first lady Rosmah Mansor’s seized handbags damaged and government should pay, lawyer tells court
- Rosmah became a lightning rod for public anger during the rule of her husband, Najib Razak, who was accused of plundering state coffers
- During 2018 raids, police confiscated more than 500 handbags and 12,000 pieces of jewellery estimated to be worth US$270 million
Rosmah Mansor became a lightning rod for public anger during the rule of her husband, Najib Razak, who was accused of plundering state coffers while prime minister.
But Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said police had subsequently written exhibit numbers on the bags with permanent marker and “showed absolutely no respect for the goods”.
Officials had been “careless about the way they handled the precious exhibits” and may have caused millions of dollars in damage, he told a Kuala Lumpur court at a hearing in one of Najib’s trials.
“Now the government should be responsible to pay for the damage or replace the products,” the lawyer said.
The couple noticed the damage during a recent inspection of the items, held in a vault at Malaysia’s central bank, which was permitted for Najib to prepare his defence. But there was little sympathy among Malaysians for a woman who came to symbolise the rot in the country’s ruling elite during Najib’s time in power.