This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 4, 2018
KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of embattled former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, will be charged today for offences relating to money laundering, three months after Najib made history as the country’s first former prime minister to be charged for graft.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), in a statement yesterday, confirmed that Rosmah is scheduled to be charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court at 8am today under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
This follows her arrest at its headquarters in Putrajaya at 3.20pm yesterday, the statement added, which occurred immediately after she was questioned for the third time by the anti-graft agency. However, the MACC did not reveal how many charges Rosmah would face, or how much the alleged money laundering offences involve.
News reports also quoted Rosmah’s lawyers as saying they are not aware of the charges that will be brought against her.
Rosmah, 66, was first summoned by the MACC on June 5 as part of investigations relating to the RM42 million allegedly siphoned from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former unit of the troubled state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). On Sept 26, Rosmah was recalled for a statement-taking session, which lasted around 13 hours. She was summoned again and turned up for another round of questioning yesterday, which took about four hours before she was arrested.
Her husband, meanwhile, spent about three hours with the police yesterday to have his statement recorded over investigations into 1MDB, where he was previously chairman of the advisory board. It marks the fourth time Najib, 65, was summoned by the police — twice on Aug 27 and 30, and once again on Sept 30 — to have his statement recorded, Bernama reported.
After appearing in court three times beginning July, Najib has been slapped with 32 charges related to graft and money laundering offences linked to 1MDB. Of that, 25 are related to the RM2.6 billion 1MDB-linked money that was found in his personal account. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He is also scheduled to turn up in court today for case management hearing on the charges he faces.
Previously the most powerful couple in the country, their fortune took a dive when Najib, dogged by allegations of corruption linked to 1MDB, led Barisan Nasional (BN) to a devastating defeat at the national polls on May 9. BN was routed by Pakatan Harapan, led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib and 1MDB’s most vocal critic.
Immediately after the polls, Najib and Rosmah were barred from leaving the country as the new government resumed investigations into 1MDB as well as Najib, who was previously cleared of any wrongdoing by the former attorney-general.
Later that same month, Malaysian police raided several properties linked to the ex-PM in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, including his private residence in Taman Duta. Following the raids, police later announced they had confiscated, among others, cash in 26 currencies, 12,000 pieces of jewellery, 284 luxury handbags and 423 watches. The total haul was valued at up to RM1.1 billion.
The seized bags included those from brands like Bijan — one reportedly cost about RM1.6 million — which fuelled speculation about Rosmah’s penchant for luxury goods.
As investigators reopened the 1MDB probe, the couple’s son Riza Aziz has also been summoned by the MACC for four straight days of questioning in July, believed to be related to his film production company, Red Granite Pictures Inc, which faced a civil asset forfeiture by US prosecutors on suspicion that it received some US$100 million (RM414 million) allegedly siphoned off 1MDB. In March, Red Granite filed a joint stipulation with US prosecutors and paid US$60 million in settlement without admission to any wrongdoing. The settlement was paid off last month.
Investigators have also brought in absentia money laundering charges against fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or better known as Jho Low, said to be Riza’s close friend and a central figure in the 1MDB scandals.