ROSMAH Mansor has instructed her lawyers to look into the audio recordings released by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission today that uncovered a conspiracy to manipulate high-level government information on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal.

The recordings also revealed a telephone conversation between Rosmah and her husband, Najib Razak, urging the then prime minister to shield her son, movie producer Riza Aziz, from accusations of impropriety relating to the state investor.

“My lawyers will take care of it. My lawyers are looking into it and they will take care of it,” she told reporters after case management for her joint graft trial with former aide Rizal Mansor before judge Mohamed Zaini. The two are accused of receiving bribes in a solar project for Sarawak rural schools.

Asked if the conversation in the clips ever took place, Rosmah said: “I don’t know.”

MACC released a total of nine recordings of conversations that Najib and high-ranking government officials had in 2016.

One is a six-minute clip of a conversation between Najib and Rosmah that was recorded at 12.46pm on July 27 that year. It touched on Najib’s seeming aversion to settling a bond dispute with the United Arab Emirates’ Mubadala Investment Company and International Petroleum Investment Company in court.

In the recording, Rosmah expressed distress at then MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed’s move to investigate and issue statements about 1MDB, and his impending replacement by Dzulkifli Ahmad.

Abu Kassim had announced his desire to resign on June 23, 2016. He stepped down on August 1 the same year.

He was brought out of retirement after Pakatan Harapan won federal power in 2018, becoming director-general of the National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre.

Rosmah is also heard in the clip instructing Najib to call a meeting with Mubadala CEO Khaldoon Al-Mubarak to settle the dispute.

The following transcript has been translated from Bahasa Melayu in some parts and edited for clarity.

Najib: Datin.

Rosmah: Ah, Datuk, ya.

Najib: Hi.

Rosmah: Hi. (Raises voice) Can I advise you something?

Najib: Ya, ya, ok. Anything?

Rosmah: You still don’t listen to me. They tell you to slow down on Abu Kassim, but Abu Kassim is making statements. He is taking pictures with Pak Lah. He is looking like a hero and you, the villain. And all these five people, can’t they see that their first priority is you, not anybody else?

Najib: Which five people?

Rosmah: In your office, lah. (Mentions names, some inaudible)…Amhari, Tengku. We are painted as the villains.

Najib: No, no, I allowed Azwan to make the statement. (Inaudible)

Rosmah: Ok, make the statement, fine. Now, today, Abu Kassim is in Berita Harian. Why is it that they allowed Abu Kassim to take pictures with Pak Lah? He has the cheek to thank Pak Lah and everybody else except you, and that’s not fair.

Najib: Hmm, hmm, understand, understand. I’ve already signed the letter for Dzul’s appointment.

Rosmah: (Inaudible). I don’t like this. Darling, you are the prime minister, you should take charge, not anybody else, OK?

Najib: Yup, I understand.

Rosmah: You’ve got goons around you. I told (inaudible name), if you want to help Datuk Seri, why aren’t you helping him? The moment this happened you should have approached him, ask how can I help. Now, after one week, (inaudible). I don’t understand. I complained against Abu Kassim (inaudible) and now you come to inform. I don’t understand (inaudible).

Najib: That’s what Amhari told me. I said, you go and talk to Khaldoon. Try to convince him that there is no point going for arbitration. If we go for arbitration, everybody will get hurt. I can speak to the crown prince, but the Arab style is he needs to consult Khaldoon first.

Rosmah: You can’t blame the crown prince, that is their culture. We have to work around their culture. Maybe Khaldoon should come here and talk to you and Amhari and settle it. That’s how I feel. Not talking over the phone. Invite him, sort it out once and for all.

Najib: That’s a good idea, we can invite him here, I’ll tell him that.

Rosmah: And then in the meantime, we can also sort out Riza. Riza’s problem is that somewhere along the line, the (inaudible) was not completed. That’s all.

Najib: Sure, sure.

Rosmah: Bring him here, a lot of things can be solved.

Najib: OK, I can suggest it to Amhari.

Rosmah: Then we tell the crown prince that Khaldoon is here to talk to us and settle it once and for all.

Najib: A lot of things are moving already. These people, they want to see some movement on the other side, the Chinese side. The Chinese side is moving already.

Rosmah: Invite him here immediately. And tell the crown prince Khaldoon is here (inaudible) that Sheikh Mansour wants to solve this, we want to solve this.

Najib: OK, OK, I’ll speak to Amhari after this.

Rosmah: Or, or, you talk to Khaldoon, please come here, let’s solve everything at one go.

MACC chief Latheefa Koya said fresh charges await Najib and Rosmah following the release of the clips.

Besides the couple, the anti-graft agency, through forensic methods, has also identified others in the recordings – Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, former MACC chief Dzulkifli, Najib’s private secretary, Shukry Mohd Salleh, and two individuals from the UAE. – January 8, 2020.