KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 4): Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor did not protest against a monetary offer of RM1.5 million in 2017, despite there being an opportunity to do so.

This was what the 16th prosecution witness in Rosmah’s solar graft trial, Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah, revealed during a re-examination by senior deputy public prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram.

Rayyan was a consultant for Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd who helped the company secure a RM1.25 billion contract in 2016 to equip 369 schools in Sarawak with solar hybrid systems.

To expedite the process of securing the project, the court heard that Jepak’s managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin made various payments to certain individuals, including Rosmah, as a contribution for their assistance.

The court today heard of how Saidi had made two payments to Rosmah on two different dates, specifically RM5 million in December 2016 and another RM1.5 million in September 2017.

Rayyan said he was only present for the payment of RM1.5 million made by Saidi to Rosmah at her Langgak Duta residence in September 2017.

The witness verified that the meeting took place for a short amount of time, roughly just five minutes, and that a few words were exchanged between Saidi and Rosmah.

During those few minutes, according to Rayyan, Saidi told Rosmah he had given a small amount of money for now, and will provide more later. Rosmah responded with just “The political situation right now requires a lot of funds. We will see later.”

Sri Ram: At the meeting with the accused… did the accused ask you to get out of the house or utter any protest (after Saidi made the offer)?

Witness: No… she was quiet for a while. Then she said the political situation was uncertain, then she excused herself.

Sri Ram: When Saidi offered the money, did the accused protest?

Witness: No, she did not.

Earlier, during cross-examination by defence lawyer Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader, the witness agreed that he never saw the money in person and that there was no receipt to confirm the payment.

The witness also agreed that Saidi did not verbally tell Rosmah directly about giving RM1.5 million or RM5 million to her. Furthermore, although a ‘consultancy fee’ agreement between Jepak and Rosmah was supposedly prepared by lawyer Lawrence Tee, it has now since gone missing.

The witness also agreed with the suggestion that Datuk Rizal Mansor, Rosmah’s former special aide, had asked Saidi for monetary payments for himself. He revealed that Rizal had asked Saidi to fund his family trip to perform a religious pilgrimage, though the amount requested was not stipulated.

The trial continues tomorrow with Saidi expected to take the stand as the next prosecution witness.