4 October 2018
Rosmah Mansor, wife of the former Malaysian prime minister, appeared in court on Thursday to face 17 charges of money-laundering and unpaid tax. She pleaded not guilty and was granted bail of RM 2 million (US$2.4m). She must surrender her passport and has been instructed not to contact any prosecution witnesses, because of allegations she had tried to get a witness to write a statement in her favour. One of her lawyers expressed surprise over a claim of witness tampering by Rosmah saying it had not surfaced during investigations until today and that she was not given a chance to refute the claim. He added that the police report was not made by the alleged victim himself, but by an investigating officer from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Najib paid RM 500,000 as partial payment of the RM 2 million bail imposed on her. The charges include five counts of failing to declare taxes and 12 counts of receiving proceeds from unlawful activities. She claimed trial to the charges involving nearly RM 7.1 million in illegal proceeds deposited into her local bank account between 2013 and 2017. The prosecution says the money was proceeds from illegal activities.
Najib was at the High Court for his own case involving seven charges over RM 42 million funds belonging to a former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He faces a total of 32 criminal charges for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, money laundering and corruption. SCMP reported.
