Low likely bought Rosmah’s pink diamond necklace

PETALING JAYA: Court documents contradict claims by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak over who paid for the US$27.3mil (RM113.7mil) pink diamond necklace meant for his wife.

The indictment papers by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) against fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho stated that the necklace was purchased by a shell company owned by Low and several co-conspirators.

On Sept 28, 2013, Low asked a high-end New York jeweller to meet him, a “Malaysian Official #1” and the official’s wife at a hotel in New York to show the necklace made especially for her.

Reports suggest that the unnamed “Malaysian Official #1” is Najib, due to many circumstantial correlations.

This contradicts Najib’s claims that the diamond necklace was a gift from a United Arab Emirates prince.

He had told Al Jazeera’s 101 East in an exclusive interview recently that Sheikh Mansour, the brother of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, who is also the chairman of International Petroleum Investment Company, intended to present it to his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

In the same documents, the DOJ also alleged that Low and other co- conspirators transferred US$4.1mil to the bank account of the same jeweller to pay for gold jewellery for Rosmah.

The documents also revealed that Low described bribes as “cakes” for Rosmah, who was described as “madam boss”.

In a series of electronic messages in 2014, Low allegedly also discussed the need to entertain another official connected to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in order to help Goldman Sachs executive Tim Leissner secure a role in a proposed initial public offering of the company’s energy assets.

Low allegedly later asked a co-conspirator for money from a shell account to be transferred into the account of another company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands so that the co-conspirator could “settle madam cakes 2”.