KUALA LUMPUR: Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysia’s ex-premier Najib Razak, was found guilty of graft Thursday, just over a week after her husband began serving a 12-year jail term.
“The accused is found guilty of all three charges,” High Court Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said as Rosmah sat quietly in the dock.
The judge added that her defense was “bare denial and unsubstantiated.”
The Kuala Lumpur court began mitigation on Thursday afternoon, ahead of sentencing.
Even after that, Rosmah will not go straight to jail, pending what could be a lengthy appeals process.
Prosecutors said Rosmah had sought a 187.5 million-ringgit ($41.8 million) bribe and received 6.5 million ringgit for helping a company secure a solar power project for rural schools in the Malaysian part of Borneo during her husband’s rule.
She still faces 17 other charges involving tax evasion and money laundering.
The 70-year-old has long been reviled by Malaysians for her reportedly vast collection of designer handbags, clothing and jewelry, acquired on jet-set overseas shopping trips.
Born the only child of two teachers in the country’s south, Rosmah rose to become one of Malaysia’s most influential people.
She made headlines a decade ago for setting up a new unit under the prime minister’s office known as “FLOM,” an acronym for First Lady of Malaysia. The full-fledged department, which set critics’ tongues wagging, was tasked with handling Rosmah’s operational needs.
Her love for luxury, and in particular Hermes Birkin bags, came under the spotlight after 2018 raids in which police confiscated more than 500 handbags and 12,000 pieces of jewelry estimated to be worth $270 million.
On Thursday, dressed in a peach-colored traditional Malay dress and scarf with a floral print and matching face mask, Rosmah arrived in court escorted by police.
Her son and daughter also attended the court proceedings.
Her disgraced husband Najib was sent to prison nine days ago for an initial batch of charges linked to the multi-billion-dollar financial scandal at state fund 1MDB that brought down his government in 2018.
He is currently on trial over four additional charges. He faces a maximum of 20 years in jail for abuse of power and up to 15 years for money laundering, if convicted.
Rosmah’s reputation had contributed to accusations that the ousted ruling establishment had lost touch with economically struggling and middle-class Malaysians.
The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, whose financial systems were believed to have been used to launder the money.
The US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates.
Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysia’s former leader Najib Razak, convicted of corruption
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Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysia’s former leader Najib Razak, convicted of corruption
- But Rosmah Mansor will not go straight to jail, pending what could be a lengthy appeals process
- She still faces 17 other charges involving tax evasion and money laundering
Trump administration labels 3 Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations
- The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization
- “These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence,” Rubio said
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, imposing sanctions on them and their members in a decision that could have implications for US relationships with allies Qatar and Turkiye.
The Treasury and State departments announced the actions Tuesday against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said pose a risk to the United States and American interests.
The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization, the most severe of the labels, which makes it a criminal offense to provide material support to the group. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were listed by Treasury as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to Hamas.
“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were mandated last year under an executive order signed by Trump to determine the most appropriate way to impose sanctions on the groups, which US officials say engage in or support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm the United States and other regions.
Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they renounce violence.
Trump’s executive order had singled out the chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, noting that a wing of the Lebanese chapter had launched rockets on Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that set off the war in Gaza. Leaders of the group in Jordan have provided support to Hamas, the order said.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 but was banned in that country in 2013. Jordan announced a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in April.
Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said some allies of the US, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, would likely be pleased with the designation.
“For other governments where the brotherhood is tolerated, it would be a thorn in bilateral relations,” including in Qatar and Turkiye, he said.
Brown also said a designation on the chapters may have effects on visa and asylum claims for people entering not just the US but also Western European countries and Canada.
“I think this would give immigration officials a stronger basis for suspicion, and it might make courts less likely to question any kind of official action against Brotherhood members who are seeking to stay in this country, seeking political asylum,” he said.
Trump, a Republican, weighed whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2019 during his first term in office. Some prominent Trump supporters, including right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, have pushed his administration to take aggressive action against the group.
Two Republican-led state governments — Florida and Texas — designated the group as a terrorist organization this year.
