KUALA LUMPUR: Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, arrived for questioning on Tuesday (Jun 5) at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya.
She was called in by the country's anti-graft authorities to assist in their probe into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) subsidiary SRC International.
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Rosmah arrived in a convoy of four private cars and was accompanied by her daughter Nooryana Najwa.
Flanked by security guards and her lawyers, she stepped out of a silver Mercedes carrying a bright red handbag that appeared to be a model made by Italian luxury fashion brand Versace.
MACC issued a notice to Rosmah last Friday to be at its headquarters at 11am to give a statement. The notice was handed over by an MACC officer at Rosmah and Najib's residence in Jalan Langgak Duta, said a source at the anti-graft body.
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Several MACC officers were also seen leaving the residence with a bag believed to contain documents taken from the residence.
Attention has focused on Rosmah after police discovered hundreds of luxury handbags and a stash of jewellery and cash during raids on apartments linked to Najib and his family.
Malaysian police have said cash of RM114 million (US$28.6 million) and more than 400 handbags were seized. Experts were being brought in to value the jewellery, watches and other seized items.
Najib, defeated in a stunning election loss last month by his mentor-turned-rival, Mahathir Mohamad, has become the subject of a money-laundering probe. He and Rosmah have been barred from leaving the country.
Najib also gave statements to MACC last month about a suspicious transfer of US$10.6 million to his bank account.
SRC International was set up in 2011 by the previous Barisan Nasional government and was a unit of the scandal-plagued sovereign fund 1MDB before it was placed under the Finance Ministry in 2012.
CREDIT CARD NOT UNDER ROSMAH'S NAME: LAWYERS
Rosmah's lawyers said on Tuesday that they were confident their client will be cleared by MACC.
"The credit cards are not under her name ... No payment was made into her accounts," said senior criminal lawyer K Kumaraendran, adding that his client was very composed and had expressed her willingness to cooperate in the probe.
This is the first time that the 66-year-old has been summoned to answer questions relating to the ongoing 1MDB probe.
According to a paper trail revealed by the former Attorney-General in January 2016, several credit card transactions linked to SRC International was made by Najib in December 2014.
The transactions were allegedly payments for his wife's shopping in luxury goods, which included handbags and jewellery.
Lawyers acting for Rosmah Mansor said the ex prime minister’s wife did not receive any payment into her bank accounts. The credit cards were not under her name. It’s been over two hours , the session with MACC continues pic.twitter.com/p7GMNXTh3t — Melissa Goh (@MelGohCNA) June 5, 2018
Additional reporting by Melissa Goh.
PETALING JAYA: When Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor arrives at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya today, it will be the first time that the wife of a former prime minister has been called to give a statement to the authorities over a corruption probe.
Rosmah is scheduled to have her statement taken by MACC officers at 11am, about two weeks after her husband Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was questioned in the investigation related to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Azam Baki confirmed that MACC would be recording Rosmah’s statement on the matter.
“Yes, the notice has been given to her and she needs to be present tomorrow (Tuesday) to facilitate investigations,” he told Bernama.
SRC International was a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which was subsequently placed under the Finance Ministry in 2012.
On Jan 26, 2016, the media quoted Attorney General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali as saying that no criminal offence was committed by Najib in cases involving an alleged RM2.6bil donation and funds from SRC International.
Meanwhile, the scene at Najib’s residence in Jalan Langgak Duta was quiet yesterday.
The crowds of reporters that once thronged the area had dwindled to a handful.
But many cars were seen coming in and out of the residence, which might indicate activity in relation to Rosmah’s questioning.
A vehicle believed to belong to Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent was seen leaving the house after nearly two hours there.
A man said to be Geethan was seen having a discussion with another man outside the house after his visit before the vehicle left at 4.40pm.
Najib’s Toyota Vellfire MPV was also spotted leaving the place at about 9.30am before returning two hours later.
Cars with similar number plates as Najib’s car were seen entering and leaving the compound multiple times, although their occupants could not be seen.
Najib has so far been questioned three times by MACC over SRC International.
On Dec 5, 2015, MACC took a statement from Najib over its probe into SRC and the RM2.6bil deposited into his personal account.
He was questioned again for five hours on May 22 and called back on May 24 for further questioning.
Yesterday, Najib wrote on Facebook that Ramadan is also a month for “penginsafan (repentance) and to value the meaning of blessings”.
“Whatever the challenges, remember God’s message in Surah al-Baqarah: ‘Know that God’s help is near’.”
The wife of former Prime Minister Najib Razak arrived at the headquarters of the anti-graft commission on Tuesday to give her statement on investigations into a former unit of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The multibillion scandal at 1MDB dogged Najib and his family in the last three years of his near-decade-long rule, and was a key reason for his shock defeat in a May 9 election.
Najib has already made a series of statements to anti-graft investigators.
Attention has shifted to his wife, Rosmah Mansor, after police found hundreds of luxury handbags, jewellery and cash during raids on flats linked to the family.
Rosmah was unpopular due to her imperious manner and reported love of going on costly overseas shopping jaunts at a time middle-class Malaysians were struggling with rising living costs.
She arrived Tuesday morning in a convoy of four private cars at the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Flanked by security guards and her lawyers, she stepped out of a silver Mercedes carrying a bright red handbag that appeared to be a model made by Italian luxury fashion brand Versace.
Rosmah walked through a throng of journalists waiting for her arrival and was accompanied by her daughter Nooryana Najwa.
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Rosmah is expected to give her statement to anti-graft investigators in connection with a suspicious transfer of about US$10.6 million into Najib’s personal bank account that has been traced to the former 1MDB unit SRC International.
The sum is just a fraction of the billions of dollars allegedly siphoned from 1MDB, the state fund that Najib set up.
He has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared of any offence in an earlier Malaysian inquiry.
Earlier on Tuesday, some lawyers representing Najib and Rosmah on the SRC case said they had quit.
M. Puravalen, a lawyer acting for Najib and Rosmah in connection with the SRC investigations, told Reuters on Tuesday he had “ceased acting” for Najib and Rosmah.
He said a second lawyer, Yusof Zainal Abideen, had also quit. News site The Malaysian Insight reported that Puravalen, Abideen and other members of their legal team had walked out because they failed to reach common ground with Najib on several issues.
Ex PM Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor has just registered with MACC reception ,now on way to see IO probing corruption case involving SRC Intl pic.twitter.com/MvJUvAgv7k — Melissa Goh (@MelGohCNA) June 5, 2018
Abideen could not be reached immediately reached for comment. Najib and Rosmah could also not be reached for comment.
In raids over the past weeks, police have seized 114 million ringgit (US$28.6 million) in cash and more than 400 handbags. Experts were being brought in to value the jewellery, watches and other seized items.
Najib and Rosmah have been barred from leaving the country and enforcement agencies have relaunched a probe into how the 1MDB funds went missing.
1MDB is also the subject of money-laundering probes in at least six countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse
PUTRAJAYA - Former prime minister Najib Razak's wife Rosmah Mansor left Malaysia’s anti-graft agency headquarters after being quizzed for five hours on Tuesday (June 5) as part of a probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds at SRC International, a former subsidiary of state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The 66-year-old, wearing a blue floral baju kurung with a red veil and carrying a matching red Versace handbag, left at 3.45pm after her statement was recorded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Datin Seri Rosmah had arrived at the agency at 10.45am accompanied by her lawyers K. Kumaraendran and Geethan Ram Vincent, and daughter Nooryana Najwa, who left in a separate vehicle at about 11.35am.
Madam Rosmah, who left without taking questions from reporters, was driven away in a silver S-class Mercedes Benz.
But Datuk Kumaraendran, who spoke to reporters, said the MACC officers had completed recording her statement. "Datin Seri Rosmah gave her utmost cooperation during the process and was treated well by the investigating officers," he said.
"Our client will extend further cooperation as and when sought by the agency," he said.
Madam Rosmah's attendance at the MACC comes two weeks after her husband was called up to have his statement recorded. Mr Najib has been questioned by the MACC three times over the SRC case - once in 2015, and twice in May 2018.
SRC was an energy company that was a subsidiary of scandal-hit sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, RM42 million (S$14 million) originating from SRC was transferred to Datuk Seri Najib's personal bank accounts between 2014 and 2015.
Mr Najib was also reported to have charged US$130,625 on a credit card issued to him by SRC International for expenses at high-end fashion store Chanel during a trip to Hawaii in 2014, which saw him and former US president Barack Obama playing a round of golf.
Mr Najib has also been linked to the scandal at 1MDB after RM2.6 billion was found in his personal accounts. He has denied all allegations and was cleared by the Malaysian authorities in 2016 of any wrongdoing.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed several civil suits alleging more than US$4.5 billion (S$6 billion) was misappropriated from 1MDB by its high-level officials and their associates between 2009 and 2015.
In a June 2017 filing, the DOJ claimed that nearly US$30 million was used to buy jewellery for Madam Rosmah, including a rare 22-carat pink diamond set in a necklace. The diamond necklace was bought in 2013, months after the RM2.6 billion was transferred to Mr Najib's accounts in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Najib has said the funds were a donation from the Saudi royal family.
Madam Rosmah had in 2015 denied any links to funds from 1MDB and has said she has not committed any criminal offence or misappropriation of funds.
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The renewed probe into 1MDB comes after Mr Najib's coalition Barisan Nasional suffered a shock election defeat on May 9.
New prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has vowed to recover billions of dollars allegedly stolen from the state fund, and to investigate whether Mr Najib had abused his power as prime minister and finance minister.
The former premier and his wife are also currently barred from leaving the country.
Since May 18, the police have searched 12 premises linked to Mr Najib in its probe into the 1MDB scandal. Investigators have seized 284 boxes filled with designer handbags, watches, jewellery and RM114 million cash in various currencies from three condominium units at Pavilion Residences in Kuala Lumpur which are linked to Mr Najib and his family.
