Former PM’s Wife Charged With Money Laundering
Rosmah Mansor spent the night in detention and pleaded not guilty to all charges on Thursday.
The wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged with 17 offences, including money-laundering, as anti-corruption agents investigate billions of dollars missing from state coffers.
She said little on Thursday but smiled and waved at reporters as she was escorted into court.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission arrested her on Wednesday and she spent the night in detention but pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Her bail was sought to be set at $2.4m by the prosecutors and her passport was seized.
She was prohibited to contact any witness, requested by the prosecution to the court; as lead prosecutor, Gopal Sri Ram told the court that Rosmah had approached a witness with a request to give a statement in her favor.
The money laundering charges carry a penalty of up to 15 years in jail and a fine of not less than five times the value of the proceeds of any illegal transfers or $1.2m, whichever is higher.
However, Rosmah’s bail was set at 2 million ringgit ($482,500) by the judge.
“I think these charges are highly significant,” said James Chin from the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute. “This is the first time the wife of a prime minister of Malaysia has been charged with corruption.”
It has been analyzed as per some reports that she spends money oversees lavishly. Also, according to some reports, political decisions are made by her on behalf of her husband.
Including a vast collection of designer handbags, jewellery and watches, Malaysians have been outraged by the seizure of about $275m worth of cash and goods from properties linked to Najib and Rosmah.
Saudi gift
Najis is facing 32 charges ranging from money laundering to abuse of power and criminal breach of trust as a result of uncovering how billions of dollars have been missing from 1MDB (Malaysa Development Berhad); because of which he is making a court appearance on Thursday.
US investigators say Najib’s associates stole and laundered $4.5bn from the fund, with some $700m landing in Najib’s bank account and $30m used to buy jewellery for his wife.
He has denied any wrongdoing. Rosmah’s arrest came after three rounds of questioning by anti-corruption agents over 1MDB. The then-attorney general cleared Najib in 2016, saying the money in his account was a donation from the Saudi royal family and most of it was returned.
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