Rosmah denied jewelry, handbags, luxury accessories were bought as a result of illegal activities
05/07/2024
Rosmah, 72, also said this clearly shows that the plaintiff's actions were premature, frivolous and only intended to put pressure on him, besides claiming that it was mala fide (with malicious intent).
KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor today insisted that the jewellery, handbags and other luxury accessories in her possession were not bought with money from illegal activities.
The wife of the former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak responded to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) claim statement against her, saying the High Court on 14 November 2022, clearly stated that the goods in question were not the result of the use of illegal money or any breach of trust.
The court had previously rejected the Government's application to confiscate property worth approximately RM80 million allegedly as a result of the misappropriation of 1MDB funds, after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove that the confiscated items were the result of money laundering activities.
The property involved 2,435 pieces of jewellery, seven watches and 29 handbags seized from a unit at Pavilion Residence here, owned by Obyu Holdings Sdn Bhd on 17 May 2018.
The watch was also claimed by Najib, while Rosmah claimed the jewelery and the handbag.
Rosmah, who filed her statement of defense on July 4, said that 1MDB and its five subsidiaries and four others as plaintiffs have completely failed to detail what goods they allegedly received or purchased.
Rosmah, 72, also said this clearly shows that the plaintiff's actions were premature, frivolous and only intended to put pressure on him, besides claiming that it was mala fide (with malicious intent).
"The plaintiff is bound by the decision of the High Court (on 14 November 2022), even if examined, the plaintiff, which is an entity wholly owned by the government at that time, acted through the Attorney General's Office to deprive me of the right to goods in my possession.
"Nevertheless, the Attorney General's Department itself acted to return some of my jewelery on the basis that it had nothing to do with the plaintiff, therefore the plaintiff was prevented from stating otherwise.
"In fact, on 22 August 2019, a notice was published in the Federal Government gazette summoning third parties interested in the confiscated property to appear in court to show reasons why the property should not be confiscated. The plaintiff failed to appear to present an objection," he said.
Rosmah also denied that Shabnam Naraindas Daswani (also known as Natasha Mirpuri), who was named as the second defendant in the suit, was her agent or proxy.
According to Rosmah, the entire action of the plaintiff is prevented by the legal principle of 'res judicata', which prevents the same party from re-presenting issues that have already been decided by the previous court.
All the plaintiffs in the suit are 1MDB and its five subsidiaries, namely 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited, Global Diversified Investment Company Limited and SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Plaintif lain adalah syarikat pesisir luar iaitu Affinity Equity International Partners Limited, Alsen Chance Holdings Limited, Blackrock Commodities (Global) Limited, Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Limited dan Brightstone Jewellery Limited.
The plaintiff claimed that the luxury goods in question, which were among others thousands of items of branded jewellery, watches and handbags, were bought by or for Rosmah, not with her own money but with funds embezzled from a 1MDB subsidiary.
According to the plaintiff, the funds were channeled through various offshore entities including Affinity Equity, Alsen Chance, Blackrock, Blackstone and Brightstone before being paid to 48 different vendors from 14 jurisdictions for the purchase of luxury goods in question, amounting to 320 payments totaling US$346,010,489.
Blackrock and Blackstone are companies linked to an associate of fugitive businessman, Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, namely Eric Tan.
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