THE ʻFLOM’ FACTOR

THE prosecution’s opening gambit, and testimony about a special division for Rosmah in the PM’s Office, both antagonise and rivet attention at her graft trial.

THE corruption trial involving Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor got off to a fiery start with her lawyer accusing the prosecution of assassinating his client’s character even before any evidence has been presented against her.

Rosmah’s lawyer,

Datuk Jagjit Singh, said it was unbecoming of the prosecution to make remarks about her character in its opening statement for negative publicity in the media.

“I wish to object to some of the terms they have used in the opening statement against Rosmah.

“An opening statement is not a licence to defame a person. It should be confined to the nature of the offence and used to lay down the facts of the case,” he said after lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram finished reading the document.

However, Sri Ram said it was important for the prosecution to show Rosmah’s role in the corruption cases.

He said the prosecution needed to explain how it planned to present its case and denied any malice in the opening statement.

“There is no character assassination. The conduct of the accused must be established right from the beginning,” he said.

Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ruled that he had no intention to dictate how the prosecution should conduct its case. He shot down Jagjit’s request for words describing Rosmah’s character in the opening statement to be expunged.

“I don’t want to jump the gun at this stage,” he said.

Earlier, Sri Ram started his case by stating that Rosmah was the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“By herself, she occupied no official position. However, she wielded considerable influence because of her overbearing nature,” he said.

“She placed herself in a position where she was able to influence decisions in the public sector.”

He said the prosecution would show how the accused used her influence to obtain a project to provide solar energy panels to 369 rural schools in Sarawak in return for a bribe.

Rosmah, 69, is facing three counts of soliciting RM187.5 million and receiving a bribe of RM6.5 million from Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin through her former aide, Datuk Rizal Mansor, for projects to provide solar energy panels to 369 rural schools in Sarawak.

Sri Ram said the prosecution would adduce direct and circumstantial evidence to show the active role played by Rosmah to obtain the project for Jepak Holdings.

He painted a picture of how Saidi had initially sought the contract by approaching the then education minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, but was rejected.

Sri Ram said Saidi then approached Aazmey Abu Talib, who is Najib’s friend.

“With Aazmey’s help, Saidi managed to get a minute from Najib to support his application to obtain the contract, but this did not help speed up matters with the Education Ministry.

“They then turned to the accused, who they managed to contact through Rizal.

“Rizal arranged a meeting at Rosmah’s house in Jalan Langgak Duta between January and April 2016, where a large sum of money was offered to the accused in return for her help to secure the contract for the project.

“An offer of a political donation was also made to the accused’s husband as a gesture of gratitude for supporting the application.

“It is important to note that the accused did not hold any position of responsibility in any political party at that time.”

He said it was clear that the accused knew that the “political donation” was meant as a bribe.

“The payment was contingent on her using her influence to obtain the contract for Saidi’s company.”

He said the prosecution would show that Rosmah had, in December 2016, received RM5 million in cash, which was delivered to her official residence in Putrajaya.

“The contract was executed on June 20, 2017. The Education Ministry then released a series of payments to Jepak Holdings. Later, Saidi delivered RM1.5 million in cash to the accused at her Jalan Langgak Duta home on Sept 7, 2017.”

Sri Ram said after the meeting, Rosmah increased the sum of the “political donation” to RM187.5 million, which was 15 per cent of the value of the project, RM1.25 billion.

He said Rosmah used Rizal to make her demands and negotiate the bribe to be paid to her.

“Initially, she wanted 17 per cent of the value of the project, which was a sum in excess of RM200 million, but she agreed to accept 15 per cent upon Rizal’s advice.”

He said a sham agreement was drawn up by one Lawrence Tee to disguise the payment and conceal the name of the real recipient of the money.

Sri Ram said direct and circumstantial evidence would be led to prove that Rosmah was actuated by a corrupt intention at all material times.