AS investigators dig deeper into the misappropriation of funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a portrait of Rosmah Mansor as the central force in the international scandal is taking shape, The Wall Street Journal reports.
In interviews with investigators and people close to the wife of deposed prime minister Najib Razak, the financial daily said Rosmah’s pursuit of wealth was a crucial factor in driving Najib’s government deeper into corruption.
WSJ said it spoke to people who told the paper that Najib had been more focused on obtaining funds for political use rather than personal spending.
It was Rosmah who told him to stand firm, describing corruption allegations against him as a “test from Allah”, when he had wanted to resign as prime minister.
The paper also said a source told it that Rosmah had sought the services of American lobbyists to get the Department of Justice to drop its 1MDB investigations.
Rosmah has maintained in a recent autobiography that her jewellery and handbags were purchased with her own money.
But she had a large collection of diamonds, a businessman had told WSJ, of which one alone was worth US$27 million (RM108 million).
WSJ also looked at how Rosmah came to now Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, whose family owned property near Najib’s residence in London. Low helped Najib set up 1MDB in 2009.
The DoJ is investigating US$4.5 billion stolen from 1MDB to purchase assets that include luxury properties in the US, a private jet and a film production company headed by Rosmah’s son from her first marriage.
It is trying to seize nearly US$2 billion of these assets in civil suits but has sought to suspend these proceedings to focus a criminal investigation.
In Malaysia, the new Pakatan Harapan government has reopened investigations into Najib, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
A week after the new government was voted in, raids on properties linked to Najib in Kuala Lumpur yielded RM114 million cash, jewellery, watches and 284 luxury handbags.
It still not known if Rosmah had personally directed the complex transactions that diverted funds from 1MDB. The anti-corruption authority has both hers and Najib’s statements. The couple is also barred from travelling overseas. – June 26, 2018.
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