Rosmah Mansor: Wife of ex-Malaysian PM Najib found guilty of bribery

The wife of ex-Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has been found guilty of soliciting and receiving bribes.

Rosmah Mansor had previously pleaded not guilty to three charges totalling 194m ringgit ($43m; £37m) linked to a solar energy project in Sarawak.

But on Thursday a High Court judge found the former first lady guilty on those charges.

The judgement comes days after her husband Najib began serving a 12-year jail sentence for corruption.

Rosmah still faces 17 other charges of money laundering and tax evasion. She has pled not guilty to these charges.

The 70-year-old is known for her love of luxury goods and jewellery. When Malaysian police raided the couple’s properties in 2018, they found a $1.6m gold and diamond necklace, 14 tiaras and 272 Hermes bags.

She has been compared to former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos, who was also known for her love of shoes and other luxury goods.

Prosecutors claimed Rosmah had sought a bribe of 187.5m ringgit and received 6.5m ringgit from an official of a company that won the project, which was worth 1.25bn ringgit.

The charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to five times the amount of the bribe.

However, Rosmah could seek a stay on sentencing by the Kuala Lumpur High Court pending appeals to higher courts. She has argued that she was framed by her former aide as well as other officials involved in the project.

Her legal team had filed a last-ditch application on Wednesday to get the presiding judge overseeing her trial recused.

They argued that an alleged leaked document which stated that her guilty verdict had been decided ahead of time had left her with no faith in the judge’s ability to hear the case fairly.

Najib and his wife are at the centre of a sprawling investigation spanning six countries over their alleged involvement in state-owned wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

1MDB, set up by Mr Najib in 2009 during his tenure as premier, was meant to turn Kuala Lumpur into a financial hub and boost the economy through strategic investments.

But it started to attract negative attention in early 2015 after it missed payments for some of the $11bn it owed to banks and bondholders.

In 2020, a court found Najib guilty on seven counts – centred on a total of 42m ringgit which was transferred from SRC International – a former unit of 1MDB – into his private accounts.

He was sentenced last Tuesday to 12 years’ jail and a fine of 210m ringgit.