A PROSECUTION witness told Rosmah Mansor’s corruption trial today that he and his business partner took RM5 million in two bags to the Pavilion in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, in 2016, allegedly for someone called “RM”.

Razak Othman, the eighth prosecution witness, however, said at that time, he had no idea who was “RM”.

Razak was a business partner of Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Saidi Abang Samsudin. Saidi had allegedly offered him a partnership in one of his companies, Trace Tag International (Asia) Sdn Bhd.

A project worth RM1.25 billion was awarded to Jepak Holdings to install solar systems in 369 schools in rural Sarawak.

Rosmah, the 69-year-old wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, faces three corruption charges over this project. One of which is for soliciting RM187.5 million from Saidi as inducement to help the company secure the RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project.

She is also accused of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Saidi in 2016 and 2017.

Reading from his witness statement, Razak said he went to the Maybank branch in Jalan Medan Tuanku, Kuala Lumpur, in December 2016 to meet Saidi regarding funds to purchase a lorry for Trace Tag International.

They went into the bank together, and then came out when Saidi said they had to buy a bag to carry some cash.

They then left the bank in Saidi’s black Range Rover driven by his driver Shamsul Rizal Sharbini, who is the prosecution’s fourth witness.

Saidi bought two black luggage bags at a shop near Sogo Mall before they headed back to the Maybank branch.

Razak said they loaded each bag with RM2.5 million.

“Each bundle of cash was RM100,000. The money was wrapped in transparent plastic and I could clearly see that it was RM100 notes,” Razak told the court.

After leaving the bank and putting the luggage in the car, they headed to the Pavilion building instead of the mall. An unidentified man also got into the car with them when they left the bank, Razak added.

At the Pavilion building, they unloaded the bags and were guided by the unidentified man to a lift. Razak said he couldn’t remember which floor they were brought to.

They were taken to a room where he saw two people waiting. Razak said he could not confirm if one of them was Rizal Mansor, Rosmah’s aide at the time, because he (Razak) had never met Rizal.

Razak left the bags with money in a corner of the room and was told to leave by Saidi, who emerged 15 minutes later with instructions to take out the bags again.

They took the bags to the lobby where Saidi gave instructions to leave them in a black vehicle.

Razak said he obeyed and after that, both he and Saidi left the place. The unidentified man who had come with them from the bank did not follow them this time.

A few months later, Razak said he was informed by Saidi that the cash in the two bags had been for “RM”.

“At the time, I did not know who Saidi was referring to and at the same time I did not ask him because I felt that Saidi deliberately kept the matter as a secret from me,” he told the court. 

A similar account of the two bags of cash was given in the trial earlier by the driver, Shamsul, who testified about how he carried massive amounts of cash on two occasions in 2016 and 2017.

Shamsul said in late 2016, he had helped his boss, Saidi, stuff so much cash into two luggage bags that each bag could only be carried one at a time.

He said the bags were delivered to a private residence in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, which prosecutors said was linked to Rosmah.

Shamsul again delivered money to a residence in Taman Duta in late 2017, which belonged to Rosmah and her husband, former prime minister Najib Razak. On both occasions, Shamsul could not recall exact dates but said he had seen Saidi interact with Rizal.

The trial will resume on March 9, with the defence expected to cross-examine Razak. – February 20, 2020.