During her husband’s nine-year tenure in power, Rosmah had a First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM) division created for her directly under the prime minister’s office for the first time in the country’s history.

Huzairi Zainal Abidin, director of secretariat and services management in the prime minister’s office at the time, told the court in his witness statement that he had been ordered to set up Rosmah’s FLOM division, although he said he did not remember who gave the order.

“Prior to Najib’s administration, the wives were only given the help of a private secretary to coordinate the programmes of the prime ministers that required their attendance. Before this, the FLOM division never existed within the prime minister’s office,” he said.

‘Can I advise you something?’ Rosmah Mansor’s scolding of Najib is talk of the town

There was widespread public criticism when the newly formed division came to light, forcing Najib’s administration to remove it from the government’s public directory and rename it a “special division” in 2011. This was seized upon by the current ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition, who pointed out while in opposition that the FLOM division had six staff members, making it “even larger in size than the economy division which is supposedly of prime importance to Najib”.

Last week, Mahdzir Khalid – a politician who served as education minister under Najib’s Barisan Nasional administration – told the court that he had been pressured by Rosmah into approving Jepak Holdings as the contractor for a solar hybrid project involving more than 350 rural schools in the state of Sarawak, although he said he had his doubts about the company’s ability to carry out the job.

“She told me something like: ‘Can you take a look at [this] project? Can you speed it up?’” Mahdzir told the court, saying that he felt it was a “serious” directive by the wife of the then-prime minister to speed up approval for the project.

Mahdzir also said that a businessman linked to the project had “threatened” him by saying he would not remain education minister for long if he did not follow orders.

Other revelations that arose last week included the driver for Jepak Holdings managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin revealing that he had transported two backpacks stuffed with money to one of Rosmah’s residences in 2017.

“Saidi told me to put the bundle of cash in 100 [ringgit] denominations into those two bags,” said driver Shamsul Rizal Sharbini.

After Najib was ousted in the 2018 elections, subsequent police raids on his and Rosmah’s homes uncovered about US$275 million worth of goods to be confiscated – including 284 boxes of designer handbags, 2,200 rings, 1,400 necklaces, 14 tiaras, 423 watches, and 234 pairs of designer sunglasses – seen by many as a vulgar symbol of the former government’s detachment from grass roots issues and in stark contrast to the economic woes and discontent faced by ordinary Malaysians.

Rumours of profligate spending and her supposed control over her husband have tarnished Rosmah’s reputation in the eyes of the Malaysian public, with these negative impressions further bolstered after anti-corruption authorities released recordings of phone calls they say took place between her and Najib, where she was heard to be “scolding” him.

Lead prosecutor for the government Gopal Sri Ram described the letter as an act of bad faith to avoid attending court, stating that Rosmah only suffered from “an overdose of publicity and wealth”.