Rosmah Unfazed, Simply Responded with “Hmmm..” When Told About Cash-Bags in Her House, Witness Tells Court

By Karissa Lund  •  19 Aug 2020 in News

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According to NST, a key prosecution witness in Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s corruption trial yesterday confirmed how he had given RM5 million and another RM1.5 million to the former prime minister’s wife to secure a RM1.25 billion project in Sarawak.

The witness who is a managing director of Jepak Holdings Bhd, Saidi Abang Samsudin said that he had given the first payment to Rosmah’s former aide Datuk Rizal Mansor in December 2016 while the second cash payment was taken directly to her house in two bags in September 2017.

While explaining regarding the second payment of RM1.5 million which happened on 7 September 2017, Saidi said Rosmah did not touch the bags but she had acknowledged the payment when he mentioned it to her.

“She just said ‘hmmm’ when I told her about it. She did not look surprised… on the contrary, she was very normal about it all,” he said to a question on whether Rosmah had been taken aback when he mentioned about the money to her.

As the trial before High Court Judge Mohamad Zaini Mazlan continues, Saidi also mentioned that he never saw Rizal handing the first cash payment of RM5 million to Rosmah himself while the accused also never touched the two bags which had been delivered to her house as a second payment.

He said all of this when Rosmah’s lawyer Datuk Akberdin Abdul Kader cross-examined Saidi to acknowledge that it was Rizal who demanded all the money by using Rosmah’s name.

Currently, Rosmah is accused of soliciting RM187.5 million from Jepak Holdings as an inducement to help the company secure the project. She is also accused of receiving bribes amounting to RM6.5 million from Saidi between 2016 and 2017.