FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has challenged the prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, to sue the Department of Justice (DoJ) for linking her with a 22-carat pink diamond necklace, which allegedly cost US$27.3 million (RM117 million). 

In a 45-second video posted on his official Twitter account @chedetofficial, Dr Mahathir said Rosmah, Najib Razak’s wife, should prove that the allegation was false.

“In Malaysia, we have heard about this RM25 million jewellery and until now, everyone believes that is true, if it isn’t, prove that it is not true. 

“If there is any, (she) should return the diamond,” he said. 

A day after DoJ filed a civil action to seize assets worth US$540 million allegedly acquired from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds, Rosmah threatened to sue those who produced “false, malicious publications or postings” against her.  

The DoJ suit, its third since last year, brings the total amount allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB to US$4.5 billion (RM19.24 billion).

The latest DoJ suit noted how Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, had purchased, using money from 1MDB, a 22-carat pink diamond necklace for the “wife of Malaysian Official No. 1” (MO1).

MO1 was previously identified as Najib by a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. 

In a statement issued by her lawyers, Messrs Noorhajran Mohd Noor, the law firm said those who made malicious attacks against Rosmah would face legal action without further notices or references.

The DoJ is seeking to seize, among others, Jho Low’s yacht Equanimity, worth US$165 million and rights to the film Dumb and Dumber To, produced by Red Granite, a production house co-owned by Riza Aziz, Najib’s stepson.

According to the statement, Rosmah’s lawyers are monitoring all postings on social media platforms and other publications in relation to the false and malicious attacks against her.

The Prime Minister’s Office has dismissed the latest DoJ suit as “unproven allegations”, while Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali said it was a repeat of last year’s US$1 billion suit, adding that his office had yet to be provided with proof that money had been siphoned off from 1MDB. – June 19, 2017.