Malaysia: luxury gifts, bribery allegations among revelations at trials of Najib Razak and Rosmah
- Two witnesses say Rosmah, the self-styled former ‘First Lady of Malaysia’, pushed to expedite a solar energy project related to her bribery charges
- At former premier Najib’s trial, court was told ‘donations’ from Saudi Arabia’s former ruler were used to purchase a US$120,000 Chanel watch for Rosmah
In Rosmah’s trial, two witnesses so far have claimed the self-styled former “First Lady of Malaysia” had pushed to expedite the solar energy project related to the bribes she is charged with receiving, in line with the prosecution’s continued bid to paint her as holding undue sway over matters of governance.
Former education secretary general Madinah Mohamed on Thursday told the court Rosmah had ordered her to “look into the project a bit” and “speed it up a little”.
Mahdzir Khalid – who served as education minister in Najib’s Barisan Nasional administration – had previously told the court he had been pressured by Rosmah into approving a firm called 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.
Rosmah stands accused of three counts of dishonestly soliciting 194 million ringgit (US$46.8 million) in bribes connected to contracts for the project, as well as 12 charges of money laundering and five counts of failure to declare income to the country’s tax authorities, bringing the total number of charges against her to 20.
Her trial, now in its sixth day, got off to a rocky start last week when Rosmah submitted a doctor’s letter claiming she was too ill to present herself to court. After a brief hospitalisation, she showed up for her trial with an ambulance in tow.