ROSMAH Mansor was shocked and taken aback at a “political donation” given to her by Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd for having helped the company secure a solar hybrid power project in Sarawak, her defence lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kadir said in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

Akberdin said this when cross-examining Jepak Holdings’ partner Rayyan Radzwill Abdullah, who earlier today testified that the former prime minister’s wife was given RM6.5 million in two tranches in relation to the project.

Akberdin said the idea of a political donation was made by Rosmah’s former aide, Rizal Mansor, and that his client wasn’t aware of it.

This was after Rosmah’s husband, then prime minister Najib Razak, had written a note dated December 1, 2015 supporting Jepak Holdings for the contract from the Education Ministry.

Akberdin put it to Rayyan during cross examination that after this letter, Saidi wanted to express his appreciation and offered 10% of the total project value of RM1.25 billion as a political contribution to Rosmah.

Akberdin: (This was) a sign of gratitude for Barisan Nasional to use in the next general election?

Rayyan: I only can agree with the fact that 10% was offered, I don’t know if it was a political donation.

Akberdin: As a matter of fact, your statement says that.

Rayyan: Yes. But I don’t know if it was meant for the general election.

Akberdin: After the suggestion given by Saidi, do you agree with me that Rosmah’s body language showed she was shocked when a political donation was mentioned?

Rayyan: She was quiet. 

At this point, Akberdin said that his client had instructed him that she was “taken by surprise” with the offer of money from someone who had come to the house for the first time to talk about projects.

Rayyan, when asked if he thought Rosmah was shocked, said he couldn’t predict how one would feel.

Akberdin: I put it to you that she was shocked.

Rayyan: I don’t think so. She just paused. 

Akberdin: So if I say she was shocked, you can’t say yes? 

Rayyan: I cannot predict how she feels and it depends on how people interpret it.

Rayyan had testified earlier that he, Saidi and Rizal met at the Lyon Bistro in Sunway Putra Mall, sometime between January and February 2016.

Akberdin put it to him that during this meeting, Rizal was the one who made suggestions on the percentages of the project’s value that should be offered to Rosmah.

The lawyer said Rosmah had no part in deciding the figures.

Akberdin: That evening, Rizal said that Rosmah had increased the offer from 10% to 15%? It came from Rizal’s mouth?

Rayyan: Yes. Rizal said it.

Akberdin: You didn’t know if it’s true because that came from Rizal’s mouth.

Rayyan: We believed what Rizal said.

Akberdin also said that Rayyan had crafted phrases in his witness statement with the intention of implying that Rosmah had committed a corrupt act.

Akberdin: In your statement, you mentioned that Rosmah had said the phrase “the current political situation requires a lot of money” and “We’ll see later”. I suggest that these words were not said and you created them so that you could link Rosmah to corruption charges?

Rayyan: Disagree. I remember the dialogue because the meeting was short. 

Akberdin said Rosmah didn’t utter the words and as such those words could not be attributed to her, to which Rayyan said those words were indeed mentioned but agreed that he may not have remembered them in verbatim.

Rosmah, 69, faces three corruption charges, one of which is for soliciting RM187.5 million from Saidi as inducement to help the company secure a RM1.25 billion solar hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak.

She is also accused of receiving bribes totalling RM6.5 million from Saidi in 2016 and 2017. – July 15, 2020.