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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 (Reuters) – A Malaysian court docket on Thursday sentenced Rosmah Mansor, the spouse of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, to a decade in jail for in search of and receiving bribes in alternate for authorities contracts, simply days after her husband was jailed for corruption.
The couple have been the main target of a number of graft investigations since Najib’s shock election defeat in 2018, when voters’ anger over a separate, multi-billion greenback corruption scandal ended his 9 years in energy.
A flamboyant determine by Najib’s facet, Rosmah was extensively scorned in Malaysia for her extravagant way of life and penchant for Hermes Birkin baggage, and confronted repeated questions over her affect in authorities issues.
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Rosmah will even have to pay a high quality of 970 million ringgit ($216.45 million) – a file quantity in Malaysia’s historical past – over three bribery fees, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan stated, including that the prosecution proved their case past an affordable doubt.
She will stay free on bail pending appeals to greater courts.
Rosmah, dressed in a yellow baju kurung – a conventional Malaysian lengthy shirt and skirt – and matching scarf, addressed the choose tearfully instantly after the decision.
“I must admit that I’m very sad with what happened today,” she stated. “Nobody saw me taking the money, nobody saw me counting the money…. but if that’s the conclusion, I leave it to God.”
Her legal professionals had requested for a one-day jail sentence, whereas prosecutors sought “maximum or near maximum.”
Rosmah, 70, had pleaded not responsible to the three fees of soliciting and receiving bribes between 2016 and 2017 to assist an organization safe a $279 million solar energy provide undertaking from Najib’s authorities.
Prosecutors say Rosmah sought a bribe of 187.5 million ringgit ($41.80 million), and acquired 6.5 million ringgit from an official of the corporate that received the undertaking.
(*10*)Rosmah has argued that she was framed by her former aide in addition to a number of authorities and firm officers concerned in the undertaking.
She additionally faces 17 fees of cash laundering and tax evasion in a separate case.
Her lawyer Jagjit Singh stated Rosmah was shocked with the decision.
“The fine imposed today is unprecedented…To say she is upset is putting it mildly,” he advised reporters after the sentencing.
HUNDREDS OF HANDBAGS
Last week, Najib started serving a 12-year jail sentence after Malaysia’s prime court docket upheld his conviction in a case linked to a multibillion-dollar graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He stays on trial in 4 different corruption instances. learn extra
Najib was voted out of energy amid public outrage over the 1MDB scandal, which is the topic of corruption and cash laundering investigations in at the very least six international locations.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that $4.5 billion had been stolen from 1MDB, about $1 billion of which made their method into Najib’s private financial institution accounts.
Some of the funds stolen from 1MDB had been used to purchase jewelry for Rosmah, together with a $27 million pink diamond necklace, U.S. lawsuits say.
Police discovered 12,000 particular person gadgets of jewelry, 567 luxurious purses together with manufacturers reminiscent of Hermes and Chanel, 423 watches and $26 million in money at properties linked to the couple following Najib’s surprising defeat in the 2018 election.
($1 = 4.4815 ringgit)
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Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; extra reporting by Hasnoor Hussain, Ebrahim Harris and Mei Mei Chu; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
