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
Philippines struggles to evacuate nationals from Middle East as attacks escalate across region
- Over 1,400 Philippine nationals in Middle East have requested for repatriation
- Filipinos are told to shelter in place, follow host government’s advice on situation
MANILA: The Philippines is in talks to evacuate its nationals from across the Middle East, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Tuesday, as an increasing number of Filipinos are seeking to leave amid growing destruction from US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counterstrikes against US bases in Gulf countries.
More than 2.4 million Filipinos live and work in the Middle East, where tensions have been high since Saturday, after coordinated US-Israel strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian officials.
Tehran responded by targeting US military bases in Gulf countries, and violence has been widening across the region.
Evacuating Philippine nationals across the region is not yet possible, Marcos said, as countries closed their airspace, leading to airport shutdowns and the cancellation of thousands of flights throughout the Middle East.
“For now, we are depending on the advice that will be given to us by the local authorities in the place where our nationals — where our people — are,” Marcos told reporters in Manila on Tuesday.
The Philippine government has received requests for repatriation from more than 1,400 Filipino nationals in various Middle Eastern countries, including 872 from the UAE and almost 300 from Israel. Similar requests have also been made by Filipinos in Iran, Bahrain and Jordan.
“Right now, the most dangerous area for our people right now would be Israel as attacks there are continuous,” Marcos said.
“The problem now is that no planes are flying and airports are being hit. That’s why the situation is very fluid, our assessment is that it may be too dangerous to mount flights.
“Even if we could charter an aircraft, we cannot do anything because number one, the airports are closed. They are all no-fly zones.”
As the Philippine government prepares for multiple scenarios, officials have secured buses and other vehicles for possible evacuation by land.
Filipinos in “danger areas” have been moved to a safer place, Marcos said, citing the targeting of Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery by Iranian drones on Monday morning.
“But essentially our advice to them is shelter in place and follow the host government’s advice … For now it’s extremely difficult to enter or exit the region because the only aircraft flying are fighter jets and drones, and missiles.
“That’s why it is not a place that you would want to put in a civilian aircraft to take out our nationals,” he said.
“But again, as I said, the situation is changing by the minute, by the hour. We just have to be in very good and close contact with the local authorities.”
